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M35A2 Transfer case woes.

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2004 1:10 pm
by mikeo
It snowed here last night so I thought I'd chain up the M35A2 and take it out for a ride. Well, I couldn't even get the darn thing to go up the driveway! The rear tires just spun, even with the chains. Seems the front end will not engage. I tried low range and high range to no avail. Finally, I turned around and backed up the hill and I could feel the sprag engage the front axle immediately and the truck went right up. I drove around for a half hour and thought I'd try the hill again going forward. No dice. The rear wheels spin but the front does nothing. Backwards it works fine but it won't work going forward. This was really disappointing as I was thinking of this as my foul-weather truck. If it can't even go in the snow it'll be pretty useless. There must be something wrong with this thing. Certainly the US Army doesn't go around driving backwards every time they see mud or snow? Any advice would be much appreciated. This thing has me pretty annoyed.

Fiddled with it some more,no luck.

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2004 4:31 pm
by mikeo
Well, I went back and fiddled with it some more with no results. I checked the oil in the gearboxes, looked at all the shift linkage and everything looks alright. Drove it some more just for the hell of it. The front locks in MOST of the time going backwards up a hill. If you let off the throttle a bit and then go again, the front drive disengages and the rear tires spin like crazy. I have to roll slowly forward and sort of pop the clutch a little to get the front axle to pull again. So, in reverse it kind of works. Unreliable, but it does work sometimes. I can forget about going forward. The rear wheels just spin and spin. Nothing I do can get the front axle to engage going forward. This transfer case system is a big POS in my opinion. Extremely unreliable and lets me down when I really need it. What junk. It's a shame that such a nice running and looking truck is plagued with such a garbage transfer case system. I think I'll stick with Jeeps. At least I'll know that when I shift into four-wheel drive the front axle will actually work. Sorry for the rant put I'm really disappointed in this truck. If anyone has any suggestions on what I can do to fix this thing, I'd really appreciate it. I'm so bummed right now that I can't even stand to look at it. :evil:

transfer case woes

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2004 6:33 pm
by Seth
Hi Mikeo,
Sorry , I can't help you with your problem. You shouldn't be so down on your truck. I've had my truck for over two years now and other than problems I've caused and some incompetent mechanical work I perfomed that took a little while to straighten out this has been the most reliable vehicle I 've owned. I drive it daily and use the six wheel drive alot and it works fine every time..I think you'll get this problem figured out and you to will like your deuce. I live in a very rural area. It is the second largest subdivision in VA., with 90 miles of private road, mostly dirt. I bought my truck in the sring and thought this would get me out in any weather . I love playing in the snow. The first time it snowed I planned on visitiing some friends . Well , I don't have chains for mine. I couldn't get out in 2" of snow. I to was very dissapointed. Then all winter I had to deal with everyone making comments like ," boy , I bet you didn't have any problems getting out " . Maybe someday I'll have chains ,I couldn't even go backwards !
Cheer up and good luck,Seth :P

Thanks Seth.

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2004 9:01 pm
by mikeo
Thanks Seth. I shouldn't have been so negative in my last post, I was just very disappointed that my truck is not working properly. I did some checking on the net and found some info on the sprag clutch system. It looks like it has a maunal over-ride in reverse that locks in the front axle so that explains why it works going backwards. I still don't know why it doesn't work going forward. I have to assume that the sprag assembly is defective in some way. I've resigned myself to fixing this problem so I guess I'll have to remove the T-case (doesn't look fun- looks HEAVY!) If anyone has any advice for me or if you can tell me what to look out for, I'd really appreciate it. Can this unit be upgraded to air-shift or would that require a whole new T-case? I'm not sure I'll ever trust the sprag system. Thanks for any help you guys can give me.

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2004 8:21 pm
by Jason
There is a procedure for adjusting the sprag linkage with one front wheel off of the ground. You do not have to remove the transfer case to do this. I would check into purchasing a service manual. You can also find the procedure in "Reo Tech Tips" by Bob Kettler which is available for less money.

M35 transfer

Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2004 6:52 pm
by vf4x4
You can replace the "sprag" assembly without removing the transfer case.
It is located at the front output shaft. I had to replace this on my truck many years ago.

M35 transfer

Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2004 6:52 pm
by vf4x4
You can replace the "sprag" assembly without removing the transfer case.
It is located at the front output shaft. I had to replace this on my truck many years ago.