That happened to me the other day with my 87 Samurai. In desperation I thought maybe I needed to lift the shifter like in some cars. Guess what. The shifter came out of the box and was in my hands in thin air. I removed the shifter cover, stuck the shifter back into the socket and it worked fine. Don't know what happened, but I hope it doesn't happen again. Didn't know it would come right out of the transfer box like that.
Eugene
"If it's broke, call a tow truck".