This is turning into a major headache. Long story. I got a flat on the Parks Hwy on the way home from Anch so when I dropped the Jeep off for the work to get done it had the spare on. I haven't been doing a 5 wheel rotation so the spare's quite a bit bigger in the tread. That's what they first tried to blame for the problem. I can understand an odd sized tire binding the gears after shifting into 4 and not allowing the gears to disengage back to 2. So after I brought the patched tire back and they put it on it seemed OK. Well, no, not really. 1st problem was the new t-case was actually resting on the crossmember. Laying right on it. Not just the mount, but the front output side too! I heard the clattering when I started the engine to drive off and had to point this out to the "factory trained master technicians". I know the old one didn't do that because it was the first thing I looked for when I started hearing the noises back in Apr. They took the crossmember off and beat the living $#!t out of it but now that seems OK. The crossmember has taken a beating so I'm sorta OK with this, but why didn't the old one hit? I go to drive off again and the shift linkage feels wrong. It was binding between 2 and 4 again. Another mechanic looked at it, adjusted it, and it seemed OK again. I then drove home in 2 with no problems. Close to home on the gravel roads I decided to play with the gears. BIG problem. Not shifting right. 4 not disengaing right. Loud clunking when it does. Stick hitting N where it should only be 4hi.(forward left stop in the Z shaped gate) Now I think it's just an adjustment thing. I get underneath and adjust the lever to where it should be and the shift pattern at least looked right from everything I see externally. It still wasn't shifting out of 4 cleanly. Sometimes it would be in 2 but then almost felt like 4 was grabbing a little. (Hard to describe.) I dropped it off the next morning. HaHaHaHa. I get it back with them saying the service manager took it for a test drive and it's "operating as designed". Hahahaha. Now it's jumping in and out of 4 randomly without moving the stick from 2. I brought it back, raised some hell, took one of the service advisors for a ride so someone would see what I was talking about. He took the service manager for a ride and they came back agreeing that it wasn't shifting right. It seemed to be in 2 so I said I'd not touch the stick at all, leave it in 2, and bring it back when I had time. I had to get back to work and play music at the Governor's picnic. He made an appointment for a few days later. From there, to work, to Pioneer Park it jumped in and out of 4 at least three times by counting the teeth rattling cluncks. It did it once while turing onto Airport and just about caused an accident by jerking the steering wheel and sending me into oncoming traffic. I get home OK and call the manager. I tell her about the near accident and that I'm removing the front driveshaft for safety until they get this fixed. Aftre laying on my back in the pouring rain I got the shaft out. But now a new concern. It looks like the front driveshaft has been hitting the exhaust. It's been hitting the upper tube just past the forward cat and I'm guessing that's what loosened up the manifold bolts causing the leak. (but thats another story) So I ge the shaft out and when I go to drive down the driveway I hear a ratcheting, clattering, rattling noise that about made me loose my mind. With the front axle turning the shaft the problem wasn't obvious. The drivechain gears are not fully disengaging. Now without the axle turning the front output about the same speed as the rear you can hear the teeth clattering against each other. That explains the jumping from 2-4. I had it towed back since I had to work and just had no time to deal with those people. That's where it sits today.
Congratulations and thank you if you made it through my long rant.
Congratulations and thank you if you made it through my long rant.
![[-]](http://www.arcticoffroad.com/images/collapse.png)