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Hi y'all, firstly I'll just say I've tried searching for the answer for endless hours but can't seem to find the info I need. Anyway firstly my car is a 2" lifted Brumby which has an ej22 motor and I think an
ea81 5-speed manual. Well it has the rod that engages low and high range running along the top.
My problem is that I can't change back down to 2wd after engaging 4wd mode. Repairs by myself were desperately needed when I bought this a coupla months ago so I've changed the left hand CV and also the hub as the teeth were completely worn out. Bearings in the steering knuckle look the biz too. Left hand ball joint on tie rod also has a tiny bit of movement.
What happens when I lift the front of the car up onto stands it seems to relieve pressure on the gearbox and then I can get the gear stick back to 2wd. I haven't had all 4 wheels off the ground yet to test it works in 4x4 but a friend and I are going to give that a crack today hopefully with another set of stands.
It's doing my head in, I've been flippin around with these cv's, on off on off too many times now. If I don't figure it out then can anyone recommend someone or a mechanic in Perth that knows what they're doing with cars modded like this.
Thanks for any info in advance!

Have you got the same size tyres on all 4 wheels? Sounds like it is binding up, doesn't help if you are engaging 4wd on dry bitumen either. Need some slip as you don't have a centre diff.

Yeah I have the kuhmo 28" tyres on all 4. Yeah I've only been putting it into 4x4 while on the bitumen to see if it's working so maybe I need to really give it a go on the dirt. Now that you mention it, it only felt like rear wheel drive while low and high were engaged. In one way I hope your right but that means I've been doing weekend routine maintenance on the front wheels. Aw man that'll be funny if that's the case. Atleast it's pretty clean under there now though

Hey Ethi,
as others have hinted at about it binding up, if the gearbox/front diff has changed (EA-81's did not have a 5 speed), then the rear diff might not have the same gear ratio as the transaxle diff which would make it very nasty once in 4wd unless on a very loose surface.

Can you try lifting one rear wheel on a jack and rock that wheel back and forth to see if the 4WD selector then goes back okay? Even just jacking the wheel off the ground might result in it working okay, be aware there might be some pent up energy in the wheel you jack up so keep clear of it.

Ethi69 wrote:Yeah I have the kuhmo 28" tyres on all 4. Yeah I've only been putting it into 4x4 while on the bitumen to see if it's working so maybe I need to really give it a go on the dirt. Now that you mention it, it only felt like rear wheel drive while low and high were engaged. In one way I hope your right but that means I've been doing weekend routine maintenance on the front wheels. Aw man that'll be funny if that's the case. Atleast it's pretty clean under there now though

Regards,
Peter, now brumby-less

I have today off pedro so I'll give that method a crack and I'll let you know the outcome once I've tried it. Thanks for the warning

Oh yeah I'll just add that I'm clueless of what gearbox is in it also. Unfortunately no stickers/numbers to indicate. Only info I have is that it is 5 speed, 23 splines coming out each side and a low/high range rod on top of it. Most likely it's an ea82 gearbox rather than an 81 then I guess. So hard to find out obout all engine and transmission types/data on the Internet as they mostly have different names/descriptions to what wiki calls them

Hi Ethi,
I have always wanted to do a gearbox swap but never had the courage to take it on as there are so many variables with splines, ratio's gear selectors and clutch selection. Might have had the gut to do it 20 years ago but now I get to worried (56 y/o now).

Hope you find the answer.

Peter in the Barossa valley S.A

Try putting it in reverse and then while driving slowly push the 4WD lever back to 2WD it should disengage with a loud thud.

And try to get in touch with RSR555 in Rockingham.

TOONGA