Hi everyone. I have a 2001 Dicso 2. Just got back from a work trip and my wife told me she heard a chirping when backing out of driveway and some vibrations when driving. I immediately looked at the front driveshaft and it’s toast. A miracle it didn’t break off. Anyway, with the help of my BIL I was able to remove the front drive shaft. I have a replacement ordered but it will not be here for a week. I need to drive a few miles to pick my daughters up from school, and it’s on back roads that I can keep the speed down to under 40 if necessary. I do have the CDL on top of the transfer case, and I can move it into what I think are three positions. Few questions. 1) since we have move it, I am not sure what the original position was, where does it need to be before I replace the driveshaft, meaning what is the default position. Question 2, I thought that I could drive it without the front driveshaft, but we tried all three positions (I think) and no movement in drive. What position would allow me to make a short trip, and is there anything else I need to do other that adjusting the CDL (does it need to be in High or Low on the other shifter?). I drive lightly and almost never off-road so I have never used the H-L shifter, always just put it in drive and go. With my wrench on the CDL it seems to have 3 positions, about 10-12-2 o’clock, is this all it moves?

edit 1. From my research on this forum it looks like I need to turn the bolt on the transfer case clockwise (counterclockwise from under the truck on my back). It turns rather easily and seems to have 3 positions. When I turn it, I can hear movement in the transfer case. When I turn it the entire way counterclockwise and then let pressure off the wrench it bounces back slightly. I am doing all of this with the ignition off and in park. However when I start it up I am getting no lights and putting it into drive or reverse does nothing. Does the ignition need to be started or in Neutral to manually change the CDL. It is definitely turning, but seems like nothing is happening. I only need to drive a few miles next week, so just looking for a temporary fix so I don't need to rent a car.

 

There are two mechanisms inside the transfer case; H-N-L - three postions - , and Lock-Unlock - two positions. In an "equipped" truck those are both controlled by one lever. For and aft movement shifts H-N-L, and side to side locks or unlocks. If you don't have the CDL shifter, but do have a CDL case, then you control range normally, but have to actuate the CDL directly on the case. That is the shaft on the top near the front output shaft. That has two positions; lock and unlock. The gears and shafts and other bits might have to move in order to engage the lock, but once locked, you are all set. You can drive at any speed and distance you choose without fear of damage when you have either driveshaft out and the CDL engaged.

 

The truck does not have to be running to change the CDL. The CDL nipple should be rotated clockwise (when viewed from the top) to lock it. It only has two positions.
You should have the range lever inside your truck. That has three positions, so ensure that it's in H. You don't need to touch that one otherwise.

It can sometimes take a little movement in order to engage everything so if you can roll the truck, that might help (since it sounds like you can't move the truck via the engine).
You won't get a CDL light on the dash since your truck didn't come with it enabled. If you change range to neutral you should get the warning chime and light as the truck moves and the t-case changes range.

 

Also check the front output shaft / bearing of the transfer case for lateral play. I had a damaged drive shaft without noticeable vibration when driving until it started chirping and then the bearing was toast. Also get a drive shaft with greaseable U-joints. I got one from BPUtah 6 years / 40k miles ago without any issues. I grease it at least every 5k miles.

 

The wrench selected **** on top of the transfer case allows driving without the front driveshaft. I have found only two positions: lock/unlock.

 

I actually did get the light on my ‘00 I added the CDL linkage to. And I did zero wiring.



Yes, I was dumbfounded. What I think is fairly well known is that if you keep it engaged and turn it off, you’ll get 2 Amigos (as seen in the above pic). I thought it was hilarious.

I didn’t know when I did the upgrade in my ‘00 that the complete way to do the CDL upgrade is to update the SLABS to one from an ‘04 to get the best of TC and CDL.