Cheap.. That is sort of a relative term. It probably will not cost you all that much, but simple it may not necessarily be. It is possible that something inside the axle tube has just become disconnected, but you will not know until you take things apart.

 

AH ha. I found the culprit. I took the cable loose from the front axle and found that the shaft the actuator cable hooks to is sheared in two. Is it hard to replace that shaft or could i possibly weld the two pieces together?

 

Could you snap some pictures of the piece you are talking about. If it is the collar that does the physical coupling of the passenger side axle shaft, then I would replace it with new or used.

*Moving to Steering, Suspension, & Drivetrain*

 

Here are the pics of the broken piece. This is the part the actuator cable attaches to at the front axle. Hard to replace?

 

Looks like the end of the shift fork, #14 in the exploded view below:


If there is enough metal there to allow you to get a good structural weld on it, it might work. But it is cast iron so it may not be too good. You typically have to preheat cast iron to weld it properly.

As you can see in the exploded view above, you should also have some springs in there.

 

OK great diagram!! When I took the cable housing off, the broken piece fell out but there was only the clip. I did not see any springs. Maybe previous owner removed it. Could that have caused it to break or could it have been from trying to shift on the fly?. I'm going to pull the shaft out from the axle and clamp on some vice grips to hold it so I can test 4wd. Will that be ok?

 

You may loose some diff lube in the process.

 

OK! pulled shaft out and clamped on vise grips. WA LA! I got my 4wd. Now my problem is the gear oil leaks out from the seal around the the shaft. I've attached a make shift cable (choke cable from Autozone $3) and ran it up thru the floorboard next to 4wd shifter. It works fine, but it leaks. Am i going to have to take the front axle assembly apart just to replace that seal? If I have to do that ,I might as well replace the broken shift fork. Sounds like alot of work that I may not can find time for. I drive this truck daily to work.

 

I am sure you are leaking out of that opening where the original cable attached. But to repair your problem properly, you should replace the shift fork. You could try welding it back together, but you will need to get the springs, etc that go back in there. Your best bet would be to snag the parts off of a junkyard axle

 

ok thanks! I'll work on it and post my results soon