New to the forum and appreciate the help it looks like this community can provide.

I have a '00 Disco II that I have done some damage to today. I have not crawled under yet as I dont think I will see anything and its cold and snow on the ground.

Event that lead to the issue: A friend was following me out of the woods from a cabin we rented for the week, we got 10 inches of snow and that was unexpected before they drove their little car to the cabin. I lead the way out knowing there might be sections where a tow will be needed for the little car. Sure 'nuff there was. With my Disco strapped to their car and with my Disco in Low we were still spinning, in fact I did not even take into account how fast I was spinning cause I was making a little ground. Then BAM, huge knock from either my transfer case or my rear end but all of a sudden I had full traction and pulled the little car for about 40 yards until we hit a dirt clearing with no snow. Unstrapped the car hoping I did no real damage.

Symptoms of issue: Sadly I had done some damage. After unstrapping the car and shifting back into High I noticed the rear end did not feel the same, didnt track right in the corners (I continued a journey to the grocery store before returning to the cabin), just felt "off" from the normal feel. When I was leaving the grocery store and applied reverse a HUGE knock from underneath, transfer or rear I am not sure. When shifting from reverse to drive, HUGE knock and then a little bit of grinding until I got over a few miles an hour. I had to pull a u-turn in the parking lot and, you know that bump bump bump feeling you have in the front end when in 4 LOW of any 4 wheel drive vehicle when you are turning to sharp with Low 4 engaged? That was happening, though even more pronounced, while I was in High and I have never felt that before in High. Stopped mid u-turn to turn it into a 3 point turn cause of the bump bump bump freaking me out and KNOCK into reverse, KNOCK back into drive.

How bad have I screwed up my Disco and in what way? When I do get under it what should I be looking for or is it pointless to get under because its all contained in the case or rear?

Thanks for any direction/advise/knowledge on this issue.

 

Do you still have the cdl locked?

 

i only have the L, N and H option on my transfer shifter, not the H pattern that includes locking the diff on L and H that I hear exists on some.

Thank you for taking the time to help.

 

You should have the CDL tcase, just not any linkages to actually engage it which is... dumb. On the top side of the case you should be able to feel a nipple, see the pic below.

 

Hard to say what you did, but l'd be checking the driveshaft joints, front and rear. Could be the cardan joint on the front shaft, which if it comes apart completely will knock a hole in your transmission case. I would not drive it again, until you look things over underneath. Check the rear joint on the rear shaft closely, it's rubber and can fail also.

Brian.

 

it sounds like the transfer case is locked. i know you can't do that from the cab with your model year truck unless a PO changed that, of course, so, you may need to climb under the truck and manually check the locking mechanism.

 

Highly unlikely, since it doesn't seem like this is the first time the OP has driven the truck and a locked transfer case would probably have complained long before now.

I would get down on the ground and look for obvious signs of displacement along the rear driveshaft. As someone else mentioned, the coupling is rubber and can give way if it gets old and cracked.
It's highly likely that your truck has the locking transfer case. That will help with diagnostics. You should be able to lock your transfer case by turning the nipple on top. You could then drop the rear driveshaft entirely and be able to drive as front wheel drive only. If the noises go away, it confirms that something is wrong with the rear driveshaft or rear axle. If the noises persist, reinstall the rear driveshaft and drop the front one. If they're still there, that probably confirms it as a t-case problem.

 

ok, so i was able to get under the truck today and everything looks fine in terms on the shafts, yokes, u-joints. and after replaying everything that happened in my head i am sure that the CDL just got engaged during the pulling. i do have experience with CDLs but not in this truck or even LRs. I did not know one could just become "engaged" under a load of sorts. I am trying to find the "nipple" to switch it to off but having difficulty. Is it easier to come from the top through the console?

 

No, it's easy enough from under the truck. Check out the picture above posted by Saturnine. It's probably easiest to lie under the truck with your feet pointing tot the passenger side (LHD) or toward the back. Reach up to the driver's side of the front driveshaft and feel around for what's in the pic.

 

thanks. yeah, i cannot get my hand up the right side (of that photo) cause of something (transmission pan i think) and trying to get up the left side and over is no good either. but i do have good news. i drove the truck up some neighbors ramps to get more room and noticed (since it was in the right position to notice) that i have a busted u-joint on the front shaft closest to the transfer case. so now i should be able to reach the lever just fine after i remove the driveshaft. :-( :-( :-(