Transfer case neutral? (BS/brainstorming)

Hey all, got a random curious question for ya.

While idly pondering on the pooper today, I started thinking about the newfangled elekamatronic transfer cases we have, and how there's no 'neutral' option. Made me curious as to "why?" Wondering if there might be a way to add some kind of mechanical stop/detent on the fork travel(or position sensor to mod in electronically) to make this an option. Or is there simply no mechanical space between gears to have both hi and lo drive disengaged?

Yeah, I'm well aware of the FJ swaps. But while I'd love a twin stick setup, it's a lot of heavy lifting to fab up and I personally have no pressing need for disengaging the entire driveline; it just piqued my interest. Supposing it is possible, would it then permit the truck to be flat towed without dropping the rear shaft? Or does the t-case also depend on input rotation to stir up the lube?

 

Having a true neutral would not offer much benefit since the oil pump is driven by the outer gear on the planetary spline piece. For flat towing, a driveshaft disconnect is your best bet. I've not had the tacoma transfer case apart to see if there's an intermediate spot it could be shifted to to obtain a neutral but my thoughts are likely not possible. If you intend to keep all the electronics, even if there was a neutral on the case, the trouble you would go through to have the actuator be able to access this position is way worse than just swapping in an FJ case.

 

I think it might be possible if something like an arduino board served as a middleman between the 4wd ecu and the actuator itself, similar to the popular 2lo module. If you switched the actuator motor out with a stepper motor instead of limit switches, it'd be able to report the exact position of the shifter to the arduino, giving it the ability to hold it in whatever position is desired. Would take some experimentation to figure out exactly what that position is(again assuming there IS a true neutral).

But that way, it could be as simple as flipping a jumper switch to tell the arduino "ignore the 4wd ecu outputs, move the stepper motor to X position". Bing bang boom, selectable neutral. Much better than having to drop/install the driveshaft when you detach from the RV on vacation.

Of course this is all moot if there's still no oil being moved while in motion. But it's fun to theoretically play with these ideas. Hell, I think it'd be cool to invent a dash panel and controller that replaces the current 4wd knob, with switches for each component. ADD, Hi/Lo, 2/4/N, and even extra space to accomodate a crawlbox and lockers. All of the the mechanical drivetrain controls in one central location without fabricating and cramming 2,3,4 sticks into the center console.

 

There is a neutral position just like normal the electronic shift setup just doesn't utilize it.

The pump will still operate in neutral as it's driven directly through the low range planetary carrier which is always in mesh with the input gear.