driving with out front drive shaft???? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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driving with out front drive shaft????

jlrapp8

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Year, Model & Trim Level
2002 mercury mountaineer
OK so i have an 02 mountaineer AWD 4.0L i had to remove the front drive shaft to diagnois a problem. i believe the vairious coupling in transfer case went out. my question is WIll IT HARM THE CAR DRIVING WITHOUT FRONT DRIVE SHAFT FOR A FEW MONTHS UNTIL I GET MONEY TO FIX IT. IM GOING ON A TRIP ITS ONLY ABOUT A 350 MILE DRIVE. BUT I JUST NEED TO KNOW IF ITS GOING TO HARM THE CAR????? THANKS
 



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Short answer is, no, it wont harm your Mounty driving around without the front driveshaft. BUT, try this: Find a hill, park truck at the top, but dont get out. Sit in truck for a good 15 minutes or so. The truck has probably moved downhill (the reason why you are still in it). If you do this temporary mod, set your parking brake every time you get out of the truck, and all will be fine.
 






I drove around for at least 6 months without the front driveshaft.

I only put it back in because we were driving across the country and the posibility for snow was up there.

I saw NO ill effects. Heck I saw NO positive effects, either, though. (Well the surge from the mis-matched tires went away, but replacing the tires fixed it too )
 






Mine has been out for a month or so. No problems and if anything, I feel like I gained 100HP because it's so easy to spin the tires. But the weather is starting to turn to crap so it's going back in. Also, check to make sure your u-joints are not going bad. After I took mine off, I noticed the front one is bad;)
 






lol dumb question, how can you tell when the U-joint is bad? mine didnt look funky or anything lol. ANYWHO, yeah i have ran mine all summer w/o mine, these things REALY like to break the back tires loose lol.
 






I took my 97 out more than four years ago when I had to replace the starter at the side of the road in a snowstorm. Never made it back. Sold the car a few years ago and just asked the guy last week if he ever put it in. No and he doesn't think he will.

My transfer case was near empty due to a rear seal. No visable signs of a leak but was real funky on turns. Recovered without further problems after refill.
 






so... if i removed my front driveshaft out of my 03 4wd expo .. it will be a 2wd truck , with no affect or warning lights , and wont feel anything when it engages ... sheese im shocked it doesnt break under heavy load its so small compaired to the rear one, i also have seen the front diffs broken in half on those 3 gens ( when i worked for ford at one point )
 






lol dumb question, how can you tell when the U-joint is bad? mine didnt look funky or anything lol. ANYWHO, yeah i have ran mine all summer w/o mine, these things REALY like to break the back tires loose lol.

All I did was spin the little cap on the u-joint and one was rough when turning it. There are 4 caps, 2 you can access, 2 you have to take clip out in order to get to them. Mine has 118,000 miles on it and I am going to replace them for the peace of mind.

so... if i removed my front driveshaft out of my 03 4wd expo .. it will be a 2wd truck , with no affect or warning lights , and wont feel anything when it engages ... sheese im shocked it doesnt break under heavy load its so small compaired to the rear one, i also have seen the front diffs broken in half on those 3 gens ( when i worked for ford at one point )

Yeah you should be fine. No lights or anything funky feeling, just having the rear kick around on you when you are not careful;) After driving it in the rain, I am glad that I have auto 4x4 because it will spin easily if you are a little hard on the throttle. Winter is coming and we are supposed to have rain/snow this weekend plus I have people to haul around, so I need to get it back in tomorrow.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!
 






what about that ugly looking joint in the front of the t/c??if i take out the front drive shaft will anything leak out??
 






what about that ugly looking joint in the front of the t/c??if i take out the front drive shaft will anything leak out??

If you are referring to your '99, you should be fine as well. I know a member Techiman33 drove for a long time with his 2nd gen without a front driveshaft.

The only issue would be if you are AWD, then I would advise against removing the front driveshaft because it could allow the vehicle to roll even though it's in park.
 






The only issue would be if you are AWD, then I would advise against removing the front driveshaft because it could allow the vehicle to roll even though it's in park.

Actually not true. I've had the front out of my AWD for nearly 2 years and I never had that issue. I even had a point in time where my parking brake was not working all that well and it never rolled.
 






Yes they will roll. My cousin has his out and has found it at the bottom of hills a few times since. He sometimes forgets to set the brake.
 






I don't question the truth of your statement, but I question whether the true cause is removal of the front driveshaft. Sounds to me like there is something else going on with his vehicle, whether that be the transfer case or the transmission itself.

All I can go by is my experience, and my vehicle has NEVER moved with the front driveshaft removed.
 






I've had my front driveline out for almost 4 years now,due to to my explorer not wanting to come out of 4x4 high.i have never liked touch drive 4x4.i prefer the stick on the floor as opposed to a button.my question is,how do i get the front differential out of 4x4 high and back to awd.if you have ever felt this you will know the difference.4x4 high is actually really cool in my explorer,climbs like crazy,but a pain in the ass to run all the time not to mention very hard on the vehicle.im stuck on what i should do to correct the problem,any answers or others with the same problem?
 






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