Every once in a while my four wheel drive won't disengage for 10-15 miles, and then after it does disengage it makes a huge clunk and feels like the front end falls in a big pot hole. Took to the dealership and they could not replicate the problem, said it could be my tires. The fronts are re-capped and the backs are not. My question is would a re-capped front tire that is just slightly bigger than the non-recapped rear cause the transfer case to bind because the front is moving faster than the rears? If this is the problem should I swap the fronts to the back or will this cause another problem?

Thanks for the help!

what speed are you traveling at when the 4x4 will not disengage? That could be part of the problem, and is the truck under load when it clunks?

I find that when disengaging 4X4 while rolling it works nicely by maintaining the same throttle, hit the 2hi button, let off the pedal for a few seconds, then resume throttle. I notice right away that it is disconnected. (by the lack of serious diff groan)

Speed and outside air temps might make it take a little longer, but not 10 to 15 miles.

When I disengage I am at a slow roll (turning from a slick county road to a dry highway) and let off for a little bit for everything to work and then take off. I wouldn't say it was under heavy load but it was slightly more than idle while accelerating. Miles 9-14 of the 15 miles was also driven down a hill with a 7% grade so there was no need to touch the accelerator, and it still took an extra mile for it to disengage.

Was the 4X4 light on the pushbutton still lit for the 15 miles, or was the light out and still feeling the front end working?

Blip the throttle next time to get the front end a chance to disconnect. Being on a downhill under no throttle would STILL have the frontend under load (engine/tranny using grade braking feature).

i normaly toss mine into neutral while slow rolling for mine to disengage...seems to work well

The two wheel drive light comes on almost immediatly, but the front end still feels hooked up. I will try the throttle blip thing as well as the N thing. Lately I have been going with out it just so I don't have to mess with the 4x4 (not the brightest idea i've ever had) but I dont' want to mess up the transfer case, or anything else for that matter.

If the front and rear tires are not the same size, you will be asking for trouble. In 4WD the transfer case essentially locks the front and rear axles together. If the front tires are a larger diameter than the rear tires (or vice versa) ............your putting allot of strain on the components, even on semi slippery roads. The tension needs to be released often even while driving straight.

DEWFPO

So by the sounds of it the only solution to the problem is to get two new tires to go with the other new ones I just put on. If I am mistaken in the solution to the problem please let me know.

Thanks for all the info and great input. Tried the previous tips and they seemed to work, everything disengaged just fine earlier today.

What is the differance in tire size?I' know that you can run about a point differance on front and rear gears without problems,(4.10and4.11,3.07 and 3.08 and so forth)so unless they are way differant sizes,that shouldn't be your problem.In my OP recaps are bad,especially in front.