Hey all,

I hate the transfer case shifting cable - this is a piss-poor design. Does anyone make/has made a solid linkage replacement?

 

Speaking from lots of experience when everything on a car from the throttle to the clutch was linkage operated, the cables aren't too bad. They are marginally engineered, but if care is used in shifting the cable WILL last. The old linkages would wear out, cotter keys would come out, and return springs break. Believe me , they had their problems, too. This transfer case setup will work well if the shift is accomplished with the tranny and tranfer case in sync. You must wait for the case to accomplish the shift. Forcing the shifter will exceed the design limits of the cable. I'll bet this done to prevent damaging the transfer case by improper shifting. I'm not saying people are improperly shifting, but perhaps some are being too BRISK on the shift.Don't try to shift at a standstill, the cable will not take it....

 

x2 on the OP's question

 

"Don't shift at a standstill."

Sometimes you have no choice. I want to know why my 12 year old Toyota shifted smoothly all the time, but my Jeep does not. Something is going on here.

 

There's a lot of different setups on other brands, even withing Chrysler. Older 2500 dodge trucks from the late 90's had a vacuume operated sleave on the front axle that disengaged the front wheels from the drive train so the transfer case did not have to sync since the only rotating mass you had to deal with were the gears in the transfer case themselves, and not the entire front drivetrain. The sleave would engage after the case went into gear. Not sure about the FJ, but the trucks had auto locking hubs that also disengaged the front drivetrain. The problems with those devices is added complexity, and one more thing to break off road. So don't compare the way one vehicle shifts against another unless it has the exact same 4WD setup. Follow the directions for the setup you have and it will work fine. Or figure out how to adapt some front locking hubs to your JK to match what your Toy had.