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Old 04-21-2015, 01:10 AM   #1
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Irritating rattle from 4x4 shift levers

Not sure if anyone has ever encountered this strange irritant, but my 4x4 shift lever arms produce a rattle any time I am on the gas... sounds like dog tags rattling together at high speed. To stop it, all I need to do is let my hand weight rest on top of them. The top bulbs are not loose... if I apply a slight pressure between the posts (pushing them apart) the rattle stops; if I apply a slight pressure to pull them together, the rattle stops.

Any idea what the hell this could be? And... of course, how I can fix it without some crappy rigged bungy chord or something. Seems goofy and fixable, but I can't figure out what it is. I am alone when driving it, so I can't have another person get down on the floor and investigate it while driving.

Thoughts?

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Old 04-21-2015, 07:07 AM   #2
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Re: Irritating rattle from 4x4 shift levers

I have the same issue and question.....
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Old 04-21-2015, 07:13 AM   #3
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Re: Irritating rattle from 4x4 shift levers

Go underneath and check if the linkages are loose or if there's a nut/washer that needs tightening. You may want to also remove the boot around the levers, check that the levers or something else isn't hitting on the side of the cutout.
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Old 04-21-2015, 08:35 AM   #4
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Re: Irritating rattle from 4x4 shift levers

I have no idea how the SMB levers are designed, but if there is slop between the levers perhaps you could install a plastic/teflon/etc washer on the pivot shaft to remove the play.....or better yet a wave washer, or a bellville (crescent) washer.
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Old 04-21-2015, 09:39 PM   #5
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Re: Irritating rattle from 4x4 shift levers

Grumpy,

Check this post
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1029

What finally solved it for me was new u-joints and having my drive shaft balanced.

Steve
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Old 04-21-2015, 11:05 PM   #6
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Re: Irritating rattle from 4x4 shift levers

Quote:
Originally Posted by outopawn
Grumpy,

Check this post
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1029

What finally solved it for me was new u-joints and having my drive shaft balanced.

Steve

BALLS!!! It better not be a matter of U joints or drive shaft balance!!! It's brand-frickin' new!!! ACK!!!

Thanks for all the replies. At least I am not the only one that has had this irritation. If I was closer to Fresno I would simply take it back in, but I am not.

I will be taking it out this week again and will try to pin something down in my down time between photo hours. Those "ny-liners" from the old post could be it... but taking apart those levers may be beyond my mechanical courage to mess with (I'll jump out of airplanes or bungy jump or rock climb, but I am debilitatingly terrified of messing with my vehicles!)

I may have to give a shout to SMBW and have them find someone here in Denver to fix it for me. Shouldn't be my problem for what I paid for the jingle-assed thing. Between their junk gaucho design (both ends broke on the fourth deployment of the bed) that I had to fix, the sagging Aluminess swing-outs (apparently with a little wash-board driving in Utah they can't handle the weight of the spare or even the box they put on), and this little silliness, I am losing patience with the thing.
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Old 04-21-2015, 11:46 PM   #7
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Re: Irritating rattle from 4x4 shift levers

Whenever I notice mine doing that it's because one of the shoulder bolts is about to break off at the threads. It's happened to me twice and it's a serious PITA and IMO a flawed design.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11545&hilit=shifter+pivot

Basically, make sure they're both tight and greased. The bolts are plain carbon steel and the pivot mount is uncoated AL, so if there's no grease, you're on borrowed time until they seize up.

Pull the shifter boot and make sure the front lever's bolt is tight. You'll have to cut down a 1/4" hex key to get it though the floor hole.

You can reach the bolt for the rear lever from under the van if you shift the front away from Neutral.

Make sure there are plastic hat bushings on each end of both bolts (4 total).
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Old 04-22-2015, 12:17 AM   #8
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Re: Irritating rattle from 4x4 shift levers

Beyond my vehicle skills, Bogus-man... if it breaks on me, I would hope SMB would pony up to tow it and fix it - I have less than 5K miles on the thing!!! If that is the case, it was put together wrong/poorly and they need to fix it for me. It has done it since day one. I just finally took a couple longer road trips and got sick of listening to it.

Geez... if this turns out that is the problem, it's pretty pathetic for a $100K vehicle. And I may seriously consider bailing on this thing. I am not interested in being fearful of what else they may have hosed up.

Hope it is not that complicated.
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Old 04-24-2015, 09:22 PM   #9
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Re: Irritating rattle from 4x4 shift levers

Mine does the same thing, what Ive come to find out is the atlas transfer case is a bit on the rough side in terms of gear drive, meant for slow off road stuff. When we put them in a van that sees a lot of smooth high way use we hear and feel that vibration from the internal workings from the case itself. Mine has done it from day one, then I bought the fancy aluminum billet knobs it seemed to amplify it. Ive just learned to live with it, it comes and goes and has never gotten worse.
Hope this helps.
Tracey
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Old 04-24-2015, 09:52 PM   #10
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Re: Irritating rattle from 4x4 shift levers

Quote:
Originally Posted by TraceyAZ
Mine does the same thing, what Ive come to find out is the atlas transfer case is a bit on the rough side in terms of gear drive, meant for slow off road stuff. When we put them in a van that sees a lot of smooth high way use we hear and feel that vibration from the internal workings from the case itself. Mine has done it from day one, then I bought the fancy aluminum billet knobs it seemed to amplify it. Ive just learned to live with it, it comes and goes and has never gotten worse.
Hope this helps.
Tracey
Hope that's all it is. I'm going to have to pull off the boot some time in between my travels and take a look inside and see if any of the other suggested possibilities are exhibiting (if I'd even recognize anything amiss, that is).

I'll probably give Peter DT at SMBW a jingle and see what his experience has been. Obviously mine isn't the first manifestation of this gremlin.
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