'85 Ram 150 4x4 problem

I use this truck mainly as a farm truck, and lately I've been getting stuck in fields and such. It's an automatic, with the 4-wheel drive gearshift on the floor. It goes from 2H-4H-4L. Going to 4H is smooth, but when you try to go to 4L, it feels like it's still trying to engage while running. Anyway, to the problem at hand, when I go to 4H, the real wheels lock, or at least theres a posi-track thing where both turn if one is spinning. But the front is not engaging. I looked underneath and the shaft going into the front differential is turning, but the ones going to the wheels are not. I don't know if something needs to be locked manually, but on the front wheels, threre is a tube with a aluminum cap on it coming out of the middle of the wheel. Does that have anything to do with locking the front tires? Any help would be appreciated and I may not have named the parts correctly above, but I gave it a shot.

I'm not completely sure, but I think your Ram has the automatic locking hubs, from your description. There's a chance that one of your auto hubs are bad and it's not locking to engage the four wheel drive. Hope this helps.

Hey I was gonna ask if you were a Chiefs fan? Just wondering because of the nick.

Is there a simple way to troubleshoot the problem? Could the front diff be low on oil, or is the whole thing shot? I'd like to at least figure out what the problem is and decide just how much I need 4x4. And if I decide not to fix the front, would tire chains on the back tires make much of a difference? Again, any help is appreciated.


Not a Kansas City fan, but a high school handle that stuck!

I'm not really sure if that's your problem. I had a friend that had a 1977 Ramcharger that had the auto lockers and his went bad and caused the 4wd not to work. I think the lockers are fairly inexpensive at any parts store like Autozone or something. I also don't think they're that difficult to change, but then again I've never changed any. As far as chains go I'd much rather have the 4wd working.

thanks, I'll give that a try