Yesterday on my way into work I got stuck behind a slow moving school bus on a steep hill (in icy/slushy conditions). I noticed my X starting to fishtail. I'm thinking...what the hell is going on, I've got it in 4H. I glanced over at my 4X4 indicator on the dash and noticed that it was blinking on and off. Sure enough, I obviously did not have it shifted fully into 4H. Throughout the course of the trip, I spent a lot of time shifting it in and out of 2H/4H (with the hubs locked) depending upon the road conditions. I guess this time, I had it somewhere in-between 2H and 4H. Funny thing is, no grinding noise was ever present. I'll use a little more shifter force next time.

i've never heard of anything like that. i guess you are lucky you didnt kill your gears...

With a tiny bit of fresh snow in Cincinnati this morning I locked the hubs just-in-case something came up. I am just curious, but what keeps the gears in 4H? I know you move the lever moving the gears in the transfer case but what keeps that from moving without you doing it on purpose?

A simple detent in the mechanism.