I got the axle housing off and went into rebuilding the disconnect. Found the gear on the axle shaft was rounded off. It was only rounded off about a quarter of the way into the gear. Makes me think that it was not fully engaging the front axle. (photos later). How much of the slide gear actually slides over the axle and how much stays on the gear on the diff side??? Everything else looked fine. I did replace everything with the kit from AAM.
Went to put it all back together and had a little trouble with the axle cable not seating in the slide clutch. Put on the new CV axle shaft. Still need to replace the fluid, looks like about one half cup drained out during the rebuild.
Need to replace the front tires, they were worn out on the inner tread on both tires, and will do that in a couple of weeks and a front alignment too.

The gear issue is why I only had 4wd in reverse and not in drive. It was the way the gear was rounded off.

Bill

 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure partial engagement is what killed mine also. Throw in a bravada shaft, and be done with the whole disconnect deal altogether!

 

I have been talking with Outfitter Design and they assure me their kit is plug and play. If I can't get the partial engagement problem resolved, I may purchase their kit and like you say, be done with it..

Still need to test it to see if it still has the problem or not. Wanting to top of the fluid and put the new tires on first..

Just curious as to how much the slide gear goes over the the axle gear. What is the correct position of that slide collar on that gear??

Bill

 

Here are the pics of my gear:

How much of the slide collar is supposed to fit over the gear when it slides over it?????

Is it all the way or just part way like the way it is worn down??