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I just got finished with a transfer case rebuild with a new chain, clutch cones, seals and correct fluid. It turned just fine on the bench but after installing it in the truck and torqueing the output shaft nuts to the 120 ft-lbs specified in the manual it completely locks up. Regardless of what gear the transmission or transfer case is in. The truck ran and drove before we pulled the transfer case. It starts and runs fine but in gear it acts like its still in neutral.
I noticed in my recent QT rebuild that I hadn't driven one of the seals in far enough and when I went to turn the yoke after torquing the nut it was super tight. I pulled the yoke back off, drove the seal in a little deeper and put the yoke back on, everything turned freely. Fortunately for me the seal was undamaged. There's a shoulder on the yoke that's a larger diameter and the seal was riding on the taper and not on the machined surface. I was bummed to have to remove the nut but after I got it back together and all was well I was relieved I'd gone ahead and done it.
Not sure if that's what you have going on.
1964 Triumph TR4 with 1964 Olds 215 heart transplant
1977 Wagoneer
2009 BMW GS1200
I managed to figure it out, turns out there were 2 seals on the front output shaft instead of one causing a similar issue to yours. Pulled out the redundant seal and it works just fine now. Kind of an embarrassing mistake but at least it wasn't something catastrophic.