trouble grabbin gears

[New87jeeper]

Does anyone have a little difficulty putting their '87 cherokee in 4wd? I go to hit the 4wd and as I try to move the lever from normal 2wd through 4 high to N and to 4 Low there is a great deal of resistance from the get go. Sometimes it goes through as smooth as budda' on toast. Other times its like I'm gonna bend some linkage if I were to fourse it. I don't go that far of course, I simply try to drive a frw feet in 2wd and then stop and try it again. I have read the manual jthat states to roll at 3-5mph to go from 2 to 4 high then stop and put the trans in N and then move the transfer case lever through N to 4high. Whats the hold up, I have recently bought the jeep and I changed all the fluids including the transfer case. So I know it has fresh topped off fluids. Any advice or experience would be a nice hepl. Thanks Fellow Jeepers.

[fredjacksonsan]

You can shift from 2Hi to 4Hi while moving up to 55mph.

Shifting from 4Hi to 4 Lo is where you want to be coasting 3-5mph, put the trans in neutral, and move the 4wd shifter from 4hi past neutral to 4lo.

The trick is to be moving while you're shifting the transfer case.

[New87jeeper]

That makes sense to move or roll while going into 4w lo to alow the gears to find their places and engage smoothly. I guess I should know that but sometimes it still isn't as smooth as I'd want it to be even when moving so I was messing with the process. But I'll stick to the right way from now on.

[LittleHoov]

I believe you should also be completely engaged in 4wd High before attempting to shift to low, trying to go straight from 2wd to 4 Low at a low speed is not recommended.

It can sometimes take a bit of moving to actually fully engage 4wd high, these are shift on the fly t-cases, and so moving slowly or not at all can make it hard to engage.