help please pathy swap no drive in 2wd

[sociopath]

hi! i need serious advice! hope you have a pillow this is a read!... Ok first thank you Im happy to be here and grateful for advice from everyone. so....I had a 94 AT pathy LE 4x4--- the trans went out on me so now I have a 92 manual trans pathy 4x4 and it runs pretty good. I decided to use parts from the 94 and i switched the dash panels -i put the 94 in the 92. all the electrical was disconnected and the dash is installed as best I could...

 

Also the 92 (new) pathfinder has 245-75 with 16 rims ...and the 94 has 15's

I just got a ticket for my front tire tread so I put the 15s on the front of the 92 which has 16 rims on the back. I havent driven it except one block and parked it again .

 

MY ISSUE IS that my 92 will not drive except in 4wd

 

Is there some specific wiring i missed under the dash somewhere that engages the vehicle to go forward in gear in 2wd??

Is it not driving in 2wd for the tires being mismatched??

 

the 92 has bigger wheels and it seems lifted ?? and when i drove it on the hwy before it would rock side to side bam bam bam until i slowed down

 

 

 

I really insanely loved the 94 pathfinder it was solid sturdy stable gripped the cliffs offroad and cornered like no other. I thought i was getting the same vehicle just with a better transmission (manual) but in this 92 i dont feel secure with going offroad with it . I want the confidence like i had in the 94. the motor is strong though idk

 

so i need to figure out why the 92 is not moving in 2wd after replacing the dash and hooking up what i could see of the wiring.

 

also I have a question about the mismatched tires- how bad is that ? is that a culprit?

 

 

...and i appreciate all of your comments and your time for me as well

thanku

I

[Slartibartfast]

There's nothing electronically controlled that could cut power to the rear end, so none of your dash wiring could've caused this, and there's no traction control to throw a hissy fit if your tires are mismatched. (Mismatched tires aren't a good idea, but there's no way that's what's keeping power from making it to the rear end.) The only time the rear end is not connected to the transmission is when you have the transfer case in neutral (between high range and low range). My suspicion is that something has gone wrong in your transfer case, but if you're not sure, put it in gear in 2x (when it won't move) and see if the driveshaft spins. If it does, and the truck isn't moving, the rear end is blown. If it isn't, there's something wrong with the transfer case. Neither is a common failure on these trucks, but who knows what the PO did to it.

 

The rocking or wobble you describe sounds like what they do when the bushings in the control arms for the rear axles go out. Not uncommon, and from what I've seen on here, not that difficult to fix, either. If the control arms in your parts car are still good, you could just swap those in, at least for now. The front suspension bushings (strut rod bushings especially) probably weren't helping matters, especially if you were driving it on the highway with just the front wheels getting power.

[Citron]

Solid advice above.

 

You do not want to run with tires of different diameters.

[Macrow]

I would have to agree with what Slartibartfast said above & would look into getting those tires to all be the same size.