I fixed my truck on accident?

2005 Tacoma TRD with an auto...

I was offroading in very wet conditions while in 4H. After a couple hours I tried to switch back into 2H for the drive home and it would only switch between 4H and 4L, no 2WD.

I drove the truck home on pavement and parked it in my driveway. It's not my daily so I drove another vehicle and let it sit for a few days.

I was aware of the issue with the actuators and so I let the truck dry out and tried again, still no 2WD. I pulled the front and rear actuators and inspected and tested them both, both motors spun like a brand new unit. Reinstalled the front, the rear is still sitting on my bench.

The shaft on the back of the transfer case thats only visible with the actuator removed wouldn't go in & out like it's supposed to with all the wheels on the ground so I parked it with a battery tender connected while I accumulated budget for some parts and found time to install them (30-40 days?).

Tonight I got some beers and pizza and started installing some new front coils, tie rod ends and brake pads and after finishing one side when I went to put the wheel back on I noticed my truck was somehow back in 2WD.

Could there be something wrong with the xfer case? The rear actuator? I'm stumped. Please help. I'm worried the issue will surface again at an inconvenient time so I'd like to address it while the truck is my driveway instead of hoping that the magic fix is going to hold up.




TL;DR: Got stuck in 4HI/4L. Put truck on jackstands to install coils, rod ends and brake pads. When putting the wheel back on I notice the truck is magically in 2WD. Please help.

 

I say try switching back into 4HI/4L multiple times to try and recreate the issue. If the problem doesn’t reappear, then I wouldn’t worry. Sometimes these trucks can pull some whack shit that magically disappears.