Clutch and/or Transfer Case Mystery...

[GMorbey]

I posted earlier that I bought a 1967 Series 2a. So here's the story...When I took it for a test drive, the vehicle drove and braked fine, but the clutch was slipping excessively. I bought it knowing that it required a new clutch - amongst many other things. I trailered it home and parked it on my fairly steep driveway with the nose facing uphill. I blocked the front and rear wheels and started to disassemble...

• Removed Seats
• Removed Floor Boards and casings
• Removed Seat Box
• Disconnected clutch slave and stowed
• Removed hand brake and all linkage
• Removed clutch linkage
• Disconnected rear drive shaft at rear axle and stowed shaft
• Disconnected front drive shaft at transfer case and stowed
• Installed engine hoist and fastened lift chains
• Removed transmission bell housing nuts
• Removed transmission mounts and hardware.

I then lifted the transmission slightly and pulled it back. This was very easy because the vehicle was parked on a hill. My vehicle has the RoamerDrive, so I moved the transmission back and blocked it on main cross member with a piece of plywood against the RoamerDrive. This left about 6" of room to remove the clutch. I proceeded to remove the clutch, cleaned the flywheel, replaced the pilot bushing, and re-installed the clutch. At this point, I did a number of other repairs while the transmission was stowed...

• Cleaned all grease oil
• Re-wired front marker lights
• Re-wired front signal lights
• Re-wired Right Rear Signal Lights
• Rebuilt fuse box
• Removed all erroneous wiring
• Acquired bucket seats and rebuilt them
• Installed new Alpine Glass
• Installed new Rear Door Glass
• Removed front wheels and inspected calipers (has a disc brake conversion) - noted the wheel nuts were very loose

I then struggled to put the transmission back into place (uphill), but it was generally quite simple. I re-installed clutch slave, adjusted clutch per the manual, installed new transmission mounts, re-installed drive shafts and had brake linkages. Then I started it up and the clutch allowed me to disengage the engine, I put it into 1st and reverse but just let out clutch slightly to feel the engine work hard... this let me know the clutch was working. I then put the interior back together, re-wired the dash, replaced the oil pressure line, re-wired the turn signal switch, re-wired the ignition/headlight switch, Installed vacuum to the brake booster and installed the bucket seats.
I went to move it yesterday in prep for our holiday. But "Grover" wasn't having any of it. The vehicle would not move. It felt as if the hand brake was on, or it was placed against a brick wall. The engine and transmission struggled, but it was not moving anywhere.
Then I had the same issue as a previous post. The red lever was forward, so I moved it full backward then full forward. No difference. Then I moved it partial backward, but this made 1st and reverse grind a bit. so then I pulled the red lever all the way back. This allowed me to move the vehicle l straining. I back it up into a flat gravel parking space beside the house. It has a 4" landscaping tie to climb, which should be easy in 7.50x16's. I had to give it all she had. Once in the gravel, the rear wheels just dig into the gravel. So it appears Grover's front axle is just "stuck".

Here's my trouble shooting...

• Thinking the brake booster was engaging the brakes, I disconnected. This made no difference.
• Thinking the front calipers were impacting the wheels, I lifted both front wheels (separately) to find they rotate fine
• Thinking the rear brakes were engaged, I lifted both rear wheels (separately) to find they rotate fine

So I am very perplexed. It drove in fine... All I did was a clutch (and some unrelated stuff). There is no grinding, the vehicle acts and sounds as if it wants to move, the clutch appears to work properly, you can feel the truck try to move forward or backward - it just feels like there is a brake on. It seems to work better in 4 Wheel Low... What the heck could be wrong? I'm hoping that someone out there could shed some light on this for me - I have no idea what else to check. As a next step, I was going to lift both rear wheels to see if they rotate fine forward or backward. Then I was going to to the same with the front, then I was going to remove the front drive shaft, then rear drive shaft. After that.. I'm out of ideas. What could have happened during a clutch replacement to have caused this??

[siiirhd88]

Is the parking drum brake free to move? You might need to remove the rear driveshaft to check but the rum should easily turn in neutral. Your issue sounds different than the other posting. If you do remove the driveshaft you can eliminate the axles being the problem. Since the wheels spin the issue is not the wheel brakes. You can place the transfer case in neutral which is half way between Hi and Low Range on the Rad lever, and the truck should be able to roll.

[vlad_d]

You’re on the right track, but you need to test one item at a time.
Then, work outwards…that’s what I’d do(not the only way, but makes sense to me):
1) Check transmission brake(as siiirhd88 said). It literally stops the gearbox from spinning, so if it’s on, it will stop power from there. Check your linkage to that, in case it’s engaging, as well.

2) You said you have an overdrive on there. Is it working? Is it full of oil. Actually check all oils: Gearbox, Transfer case, overdrive, swivel balls, rear differential. Why not? These things leak like crazy and you said it’s been sitting a bit.

3) Remove prop shafts and put in gear. Do the output shafts spin? That rules out the tranny. Put in 4WD. Does the output from the transfer case spin?

4) Lift each axle(rear and front, separately. Spin the wheels by hand. Does the differential input flange spin(note: depending on gear ratio, you have to spin the wheels a lot to see change…but put a stripe of white paint on it and watch if it moves. That rules out the transaxle out to the wheels.

I had a blown U-Joint and worn front half-axle in my front transaxle that was grinding bad and slowing things down in 4WD mode. But it made an aweful clunking, so I was incentivized to open it up and find out. Got all new parts to rebuild everything up there, but it was a big job. Not bigger than your clutch job…just, I hate to have you tear apart your axles if it’s not them cause if you’re like me, you’ll probably get stuck into a new project sooner or later. After 60 years or so, EVERYTHING needs replacing. But, at least you should have some fun driving it around in between jobs and have the freedom to decide WHEN to replace stuff.

Good luck! I have a perfectly new Transmission brake, if you want it. I got it from our hosts with a Gearbox rebuild, but immediately took it off and replaced it with the X-Brake setup(which I can recommend for simplicity and a bit more holding power). DM me if you want it(I just want it to go to a good home rather than the dump).

Good luck! Keep us posted.