Should I replace missing front drive shaft?

[koda2000]

imp, for what it's worth, my daughter has a very steep driveway. she never uses the parking brake and her AWD has never moved one inch.

maybe when AAA drops off the truck tomorrow i'll find what ever she ran over cracked the t-case. then i'll get to remove it and take it apart (i hope not though...)

 

[imp]

Thank you for confirming what I've always believed! You may have, though, unknowingly opened up a new can of worms! Let's go fishing! imp

 

[obie]

I've also parked my AWD on steep hills, including my slanted driveway, and never had creep without the parking brake. I can't use it because the cables were seized and I waited to do the restoration before bothering to fix it.

 

[masospaghetti]

the 2 qts of Mercon ATF lubricates the moving parts in the transfer case. there is some sort of viscous coupling (none serviceable) which allows the necessary slippage for the AWD. i

Thanks for the explanation. Never knew there was a sealed coupling inside the unit.

My 96 5.0 also is missing the front shaft, it also creeps in park. I just ordered a new shaft. Will be interesting to see what happens when I install it.

 

[koda2000]

Thanks for the explanation. Never knew there was a sealed coupling inside the unit.

My 96 5.0 also is missing the front shaft, it also creeps in park. I just ordered a new shaft. Will be interesting to see what happens when I install it.

if i were you, i wouldn't be holding my breath for a good outcome... sorry.

 

[masospaghetti]

if i were you, i wouldn't be holding my breath for a good outcome... sorry.

I'm not, but if something is broken this will tell me what is wrong.

Otherwise I'll have a 2WD Explorer that drifts in park, with all the weight of an AWD, with none of the benefits.

 

[imp]

Thanks for the explanation. Never knew there was a sealed coupling inside the unit.

My 96 5.0 also is missing the front shaft, it also creeps in park. I just ordered a new shaft. Will be interesting to see what happens when I install it.

Maybe the creeping can of worms will be smaller this time around! Anyhow, please DO let us know the outcome. If I remember my '96 correctly, it had the C-V joint at T.C. end of the shaft, held in place by 6 metric bolts; I'm wondering if the V-8 used the same thing, mine was V-6.

The differential (front) end of the shaft used funky short bolts, they were SAE thread, though, I believe 1/4" X 28 threads per inch, about 3/4 or 1" long. Those I replaced with Allen Screws. imp

 

[sulaco83]

Well I finally got the front shaft off. All the grease in the CV was either cooked off or sprayed all over the underside of the truck from the boot coming apart. The bearings inside were all chewed up. Detroit Axle seems to be giving me a little bit of a runaround but hopefully they will replace this shaft and I can finally get this thing running in all its AWD glory after a trip down to Delaware!

 

[Attacking Mid]

I edited my original post, but the cheap Advance Auto Parts shaft failed in short order. I have now ordered an OEM shaft from automotivepartsunlimiteddotcom. It's under $300 including shipping. I hope that solves this problem for good.

AM.

 

[Torqueranger]

Just remember guys they make a CV rebuild kit for the drive shafts.. But just make sure to look at the splines on the shaft and make sure they are still their and not worn like mine ...

 

[sulaco83]

I edited my original post, but the cheap Advance Auto Parts shaft failed in short order. I have now ordered an OEM shaft from automotivepartsunlimiteddotcom. It's under $300 including shipping. I hope that solves this problem for good.

AM.

Are you sure the transfer case is good? My replacement shaft also failed quickly but it's hard to say whether the issue was with the shaft itself or the transfer case going bad.

I just received my CV rebuild kit yesterday... After I fix the shaft I will probably swap in a different transfer case just to be sure.

 

[imp]

"Bad" Transfer Case?

Just wondering how a "bad" transfer case can cause a driveshaft to fail repeatedly. imp

 

[delexploder]

Just wondering how a "bad" transfer case can cause a driveshaft to fail repeatedly. imp

If the front output of the case gets stuck or somehow slowed by drag the front wheels that are moving as fast as the rear will keep turning the shaft from the other end and at that point somethings gotta give and its probably gonna be the shaft .

 

[imp]

If the front output of the case gets stuck or somehow slowed by drag the front wheels that are moving as fast as the rear will keep turning the shaft from the other end and at that point somethings gotta give and its probably gonna be the shaft .

Wait, wait. Front output, you mean output shaft which drives the front driveshaft?

OK, I think I see what you mean. If the transfer case output shaft gets "stuck", the shaft may try to break off, or break something else, that's what you mean?

So, yeah, that's a possibility, but I think remote. The type of bearings used in the T.C. are extremely unlikely to "lock-up", rather they will fail by breaking into pieces, at the extreme, which still lets the shaft turn, (but wobble around a lot). Way before that would happen, though, hellacious horrible noise would make even the biggest damn fool stop driving the vehicle. imp

 

[delexploder]

Look past the bearing, there are other things that can jam up in there

 

[Attacking Mid]

Are you sure the transfer case is good? My replacement shaft also failed quickly but it's hard to say whether the issue was with the shaft itself or the transfer case going bad.

I just received my CV rebuild kit yesterday... After I fix the shaft I will probably swap in a different transfer case just to be sure.

I don't think I have a TC problem. The shaft worked fine for a while, but eventually (30ish days) the cheap/thin CV boot tore and all the CV grease was slung out of the joint resulting in CV joint failure.

New OEM shaft arrives this Thursday. If that one fails in short order, I'll reconsider if I have other issues.

AM.

 

[sulaco83]

That's the same thing that happened to me. Hope you have better luck than I did. I just tried to repair the CV on my shaft but the splines are too beat up for me to get the old assembly off. Looks like I'm going to have to get a whole new shaft again!

 

[imp]

Look past the bearing, there are other things that can jam up in there

Well, I did (a little). Chain driven by sprockets, much weaker than the driveshaft, aluminum case, which allows "spread" if things mechanically lock-up, just looks to me like the driveshaft ought to be the last thing to break. Maybe I'm wrong.

But, how many broken driveshafts have you removed, where a lock-up of the T.C. caused that? imp

 

[delexploder]

None in explorers but several in f series, I have had a front diff go bad in an explorer and cause a front shaft to break, and about two years ago I helped a guy on the side of the road who's case locked up ( 5.0 eb explorer) and broke his rear drive shaft, I think its luck of the draw as to what breaks, but with the awd setup on these trucks if something isn't right then something is gonna break

 

[bill06447]

A common theme here is a torn boot. Any CV joint is gonna fail real quick once the grease flies out.

Bill