Also, chrisbh17, keep in mind that there's significant fluid shear between the clutch plates.
Thd fluid shear will keep both halves of the clutch rotating, but not with enough force to actually transmit power.
Interesting. So while the driveshaft is spinning it might not actually be turning anything in the diff? I dont think my GoPro can pick THAT up
Got a vid of the front of the diff side of the front driveshaft...nothing looks out of the ordinary. It leads me to another question - can this truck be driven with the front driveshaft removed? Since the rear joint isnt a standard u-joint, if the whole thing is removed, will the output of the xfer case get messed up with no driveshaft installed?
Also, re clutch shims....there are a bunch of DIYs about rebuilding a similar Ford version of our xfer case. They make a special tool (that looks just like a handle of sorts) to weigh down the clutch pack then you put the "handle" up to the whole works to determine the gap that needs to be filled with a shim. Feeler gauge to determine the actual shim thickness then install the shim and you're done.
Does that "by hand" process really happen on every single xfer case clutch coming out of the factory? If so, I think its pretty easy to see how some can be worse than others. On top of the fact that there are a finite number of stock shim thicknesses....then is it a judgement call to go too thick or too thin?