somepriests
New member
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- Location
- Palmdale/California
I wanted to share a story that occurred today. I went down to LA to purchase an M1008 that was lifted and slightly modified for off-roading. Not a big deal, although the real reason I was interested in this vehicle was that the owner stated that the transmission, transfer case, shafts, and differential were all rebuilt professionally.
Upon my arrival, I inspected them and they appeared rebuilt as stated. They seller even gave me the shop name to verify their work since it was still under warranty. So far so good. The truck had 147,000 miles on it, and drove solidly. Even was able to push it to 75 on the freeway. Impressive.
Now the big test came, and this is the point to my story. I discussed that I was going to shift the truck into 4H, and that I would need him to make sure that the truck was "locked and ready" to do that. A confused look came over his face. I asked whether he had ever driven the truck in 4-wheel drive. He stated he never had. So I dug out the TM I printed off of this website. I showed him the procedure from the manual. He said, OK, let's do it. The sale was contingent on it.
To my dismay, after inspecting the lockers, he had been driving the truck for a solid eight months with one wheel Locked, and the other Free. I asked if he had ever switched the lockers, and he stated he had never known they were there. Not losing faith yet, I followed the EXACT procedure to get the truck into 4WD per the TM.
Now the bad part. As I relieved the pressure off of the accelerator, which the manual stated to do, I attempted to shift to 4H. Nothing. I didn't force it, and I stopped the truck. I attempted to shift to 4H, and the shifter went to that position. I attempted to move the truck forward, but the front wheels were skidding on the pavement. I shifted it back to 2H, but the front wheels were still locked up tight. At this point, we were wondering how he was going to get the truck home like this. I don't know what happened between the rebuild and now, but this truck was stuck, and broken before I got to it. In any case, the note within the TM said to move the truck forward or backward a bit so that the lockers would release. We tried that, and wouldn't you know, we were able to get the lockers to Free (both of them this time).
Long story short, I kept my cash, he went away a sadder but wiser man, and I think the transmission shop will be doing some extra work this week.
The manuals worked as advertised, and Ops checking the truck during the sale saved my butt. Thanks to the poster of those manuals.
Upon my arrival, I inspected them and they appeared rebuilt as stated. They seller even gave me the shop name to verify their work since it was still under warranty. So far so good. The truck had 147,000 miles on it, and drove solidly. Even was able to push it to 75 on the freeway. Impressive.
Now the big test came, and this is the point to my story. I discussed that I was going to shift the truck into 4H, and that I would need him to make sure that the truck was "locked and ready" to do that. A confused look came over his face. I asked whether he had ever driven the truck in 4-wheel drive. He stated he never had. So I dug out the TM I printed off of this website. I showed him the procedure from the manual. He said, OK, let's do it. The sale was contingent on it.
To my dismay, after inspecting the lockers, he had been driving the truck for a solid eight months with one wheel Locked, and the other Free. I asked if he had ever switched the lockers, and he stated he had never known they were there. Not losing faith yet, I followed the EXACT procedure to get the truck into 4WD per the TM.
Now the bad part. As I relieved the pressure off of the accelerator, which the manual stated to do, I attempted to shift to 4H. Nothing. I didn't force it, and I stopped the truck. I attempted to shift to 4H, and the shifter went to that position. I attempted to move the truck forward, but the front wheels were skidding on the pavement. I shifted it back to 2H, but the front wheels were still locked up tight. At this point, we were wondering how he was going to get the truck home like this. I don't know what happened between the rebuild and now, but this truck was stuck, and broken before I got to it. In any case, the note within the TM said to move the truck forward or backward a bit so that the lockers would release. We tried that, and wouldn't you know, we were able to get the lockers to Free (both of them this time).
Long story short, I kept my cash, he went away a sadder but wiser man, and I think the transmission shop will be doing some extra work this week.
The manuals worked as advertised, and Ops checking the truck during the sale saved my butt. Thanks to the poster of those manuals.
