I thought only the Dodge PowderPuff pak had a switch to engage 4wd. In my home state of West Virginia those switches are outlawed due to operational cunfusion.

 

Good thing Commando you were in a Ram!

 

Sawboy, we ol' cowboys (and I mean old) have to keep it as easy and simple as possible.

 

Well, I notice that NO ONE has mentioned having ANY problems with the current electric transfer case not going into 4wd. As the Wayans (sp?) brothers say, MESSAGE!

I'm not a really heavy duty 4wd user myself, but I do put my dually in 4wd every now and then to get through mud or pull something out of the ground. I have yet to have any problems with it.

 

I think electric shifters and manual shifters are very similar to auto trannys and manual trannys, except Dodge makes a electric shifter that works. To each his own.

 

I vote for the manual shifter mostly because of reliability and simplicity. Sure the electronic case works well the first year or maybe even a few years but it WILL fail. Of corse the extra $545 for the electronic up front is a good reason to me as well!

 

at -20 degrees mine still shifts perfectly in the mornings. loving it.

 

Hell, the manual linkage will fail too. Anything will fail if you use it enough. What's the point? In this thread, we have lots of talk about electric transfer cases failing to shift-chevy and ford. Like I said before, NO ONE has mentioned the electric transfer case in the 3rg gen dodges failing. Has it ever happened? I'm sure it has. Has a manual linkage ever failed in one of these trucks? I'm sure it has too. My basic point is, we don't yet have enough information to say that either the manual or the electric transfer case is more reliable than the other. All we can say with certainty is that one costs more money than the other, one uses a mechanical linkage, and the other uses electrical components. Until there's a verifiable rash of failures with one or the other, that's ALL we can say.

 

I went with manual because of my experience with my old 96 Suburban. Dang electronic actuator cost me $125 to replace

I didn't have any experience with Dodge 4X4, so I went with the KISS method. The lever hasn't failed me yet

 

Actually the electrical set-up can fail without use. As with any electric motor, no different than a windshield wiper, fuel pump, fan, windows, etc. If given the choice would I pick an electric motor to shift my trans, NO; steer my front tires while I drive down the road 70mph, NO; engage my 4wd when I'm 70 mile down the Texas beach in the middle of no where, HELL NO; roll my windows up and down, YES.

Your right though mechanical linkages can fail as well, not likely but I guess anything is possible. Difference is they will almost always give you somekind of warning. Looseness, tightness, or in other words "just doesn't FEEL right".

Unless the manual set-up got reverse engineered on the 3rd gens it is already proven to be reliable. I have been around many an old 4x's that still work just fine. The engagement might be a little sloppy maybe but still work. Personal vehicles with well over 200K abused miles. THAT IS MY POINT!

Again still only personal preference, nothing more, thanks for asking though!

 

I guess we'll have to wait and see if there's a rash of failures from the electric transfer cases compared to the mechanical cases.

 

I guess it all boils down to trust and labor. I used to believe that a truck was a truck. It should not have power windows, seats, mirrors or even air conditioning. That was 25 years ago when I was a lot younger and tougher and frankly electronic stuff was not reliable. Fast forward to today. I love my power seats, power windows, and mirrors, and what the heck was I thinking no AC?, you gotta have AC!! I would never have another vehicle without at least power mirrors and AC. I have to admit I still like manual locking hubs (wish the Dodge had them) and manual 4X4 selectors. Pushing a button for 4X4 might be nice but I would rather have that good ole feel of doing it myself, at least for now. I can still trust my arm to be able to pull the lever. And if things are binding or not working as smooth as it should I will know right away and fix it. Wish now I had a 6 speed instead of an Automatic………that’s another story.