Shift lever assembly

A shift lever assembly for a vehicle is provided. The shift lever assembly includes a vertically oriented detent plate having a Z-shaped slot defining a 2-wheel-drive (2H) position, a 4-wheel-drive (4H) position, a neutral (N) position, and a 4-wheel-drive low-speed (4L) position. An actuator pivotally mounts to the detent plate and transfer case, the actuator including a first arm including a connector adapted to connect to a shift mechanism on a vehicle transfer case, and a second arm. A lever subassembly pivotally mounts to the actuator second arm and includes a detent pin adapted for movement in the Z-shaped slot. The lever subassembly is biased so that the detent pin engages the Z-shaped slot. As the lever subassembly is moved along a first path, it drives the connector on the actuator along a corresponding second path to shift the shifting mechanism. The Z-shaped slot and detent pin cooperate along with the actuator and lever subassembly to allow the operator to shift the lever from the 2H position through the 4H and N positions to the 4L position with a continuous "pull-down" type motion by the operator, which motion is ergonomical and readily performable by the operator, but which motion prevents accidentally "crashing-through" the positions from 2H through 4H and N positions to the 4L position.