tokelyn

So me and my buddy have a 88 and a 86 xj an our four wheel drive is not engaging The rear axle will go into a lower gear ratio bt our front axle won't lock in can some one please help us????
Also four wheel light not turning on
We are headed up to wy and hit snow tryed to lock in 4H and had a miss gear tcase gridded a little and the 4wd stopes working (was working 2 days ago)

skife

verify all the bushings in your linkage are still good.
pull the vac actuator and see if that is still working.

EvstaG

My bet is going to be on the Central Axle Disconnect you have- it's a vacuum actuated motor which puts a collar to join the front axle shafts when in 4WD. Even if your transfer case is engaging properly, you will have no 4WD if this vacuum switch isn't activating. Many users simply delete this vacuum switch and lock the collar full time (all XJ's after 1991 had a 1 piece axle shaft instead of the 2 which are connected by this vacuum motor.)

Don't worry about the 4HI light not coming on, in my 89' it hasn't come on since about 1995.

Also, it is certainly important to ensure that the transfer case is actually engaging properly, and that your linkage is adjusted properly.

tokelyn

Thank you for the input can anyone help me step by step on how to lock my front axle
I thought about going a pulling 1991 or newer d30 and getting an ox cable locker anyone use these
If I lock my front now I will have a shorter turning radius right?
This is my dd and weekend wheeler so I would like to make it as easy as possible to drive on pavement and as capable as I can on the trails

tokelyn

How do I check that my tcase engages
When I'm in 4l I have a lot of toque so I no my tcase is locked in just not my front

caged

pull the vac motor on the passenger side of your front diff. then slide the ring to the left and use a hose clamp to tighten up against it so it won't slide back. throw the vac motor back on and call it a day.

it may hold fine for years or months, all depends on how tight you can get the hose clamp.

mine lasted a few years before i had to open it up and tighten it again. that's with the posi lok cable installed that didn't work worth a damn. two, actually, with upgraded fork to boot. lol.

ditched it for an 89 axle from a limited with no disco and larger u-joints (abs shafts). never looked back.

cruiser54

Here's how to fix it and never look back:

http://comancheclub.com/topic/17377-cad-fix-1/

Outlaw Star

I moved this to oem section for you.

tokelyn

So pulled on my ADD and cleaned it up
Saw that my fork is broken at the bottom
Is there anyway to just replace the fork or do I need a hole new ADD????
Please help

xjwheeler777

I say try a bigger hammer !!!!! Bahahaha I'm pretty sure you can go to the yard and just pull a fork off another system!! Don't quote me on that though

cruiser54

Another fork will be fine. And then, do the bypass and eliminate the vacuum crap.

caged

if you do it my way, you won't need to go get another fork...

skife

You can also swap shafts.

Your vac disconnect can be harvested from any xj/mj/yj with vac disconnect.

tokelyn

What's ur way

tokelyn

How do I swap shafts can I use the same gears and diff housing or do I have to change the hole entire axle