4x4 to 4x2 and back?

[mynameisaric]

So heres my story:
i want to regear my truck and put lockers in it. I got 4.56 gears froms Randy's R&R coming in the mail, and the rear locker is sittin in a box at home. i stumbled upon the front locker thread, and decided i must have one. and the guy i want to regear my truck said he charges 140 per axle, but hes never done IFS. Every shop i call wants to charge me a grand for just gears.

So heres my question:
Can i do a "brown wire mod" (which i need to do with the front locker anyway) and then remove my front dif, and drive my truck without a problem? or is it more complicated than that? i'm trying to save myself 600 bucks, especially considering i just dropped another 400 on a front locker. and then when this guy regears my truck and installs the lockers, i want to just put everything back together. So all i want to know is if this will work? its alot of work, but its worth it to save 600 bucks and have someone else install my lockers too.

Thanks
Aric

 

[mynameisaric]

bump

 

[Jefe]

You can run around without the front diff if you don't mind sacrificing a couple of half-shafts. Check out this post:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1172161&postcount=37

 

[mynameisaric]

hmm.. well that makes alot of sense. good thing you did it before i did just kidding. thanks for the tip. any ideas on what i should do? cause getting this front dif re-geared is costing me way tooo much money. considering the rear is soooooooooo cheap. (after hearing quotes of over 2k, $140 is dirt cheap)

 

[V8BoatBuilder]

Bust up your old halfshafts and run without the front diffy, then buy new halfshafts at $60/ea, and return your busted ones as cores.

Or - just use another vehicle while the guy regears the front.

 

[boominXplorer]

The time it takes to put gears in is less than the time it would take cutting halfshafts and running to the parts store. For the front end of a 98+ it should take no longer than 30 mins to do the actual re-gearing

 

[mynameisaric]

so your saying i should just regear my truck myself? i heard it takes like 5 hours. but i actually thought about it. dont i need special tools and stuff? i'd much rather do it myself than pay someone.

 

[boominXplorer]

it takes some special tools that cost about 80$ from harbor frieght minus a 12 ton press for the bearings. Getting this diffy out of the front isn't hard. Getting it back in is a PAIN

 

[Hartman]

it takes some special tools that cost about 80$ from harbor frieght minus a 12 ton press for the bearings. Getting this diffy out of the front isn't hard. Getting it back in is a PAIN

God is it ever a pain.

 

[mynameisaric]

i'm thinkin the pain is worth the saved money in labor fees. so i guess my pops and i get to see what this is like. i gotta wait till the weekend after the 14th to do this. i dont think trying to break the gears and lockers in offroad is a good idea. and is installing the gears and powertrax at the same time a bad idea? or should i be fine? cuz i'd rather do them at the same time. then have to open and drop everything again. whats the 12 ton press for? i skimmed over a writeup on how to regear and didnt see what i'd need the press for.

 

[bmxking5]

It should be fine to have them installed at the same time. I don't see why it would be a bad thing. After reading that sig...your truck is gonna be amazing offroad when you suddenly are locked front and rear!

 

[mynameisaric]

yeah thats what i'm hoping. i was only going to lock the rear, but i read a thread on here about locking the front and how amazing it was to just crawl over things with no momentum and such.... so i just HAD to have one. i'm putting my graduation money to good use .. hahaha. dont you think? my sweet job helps too. but i definitely want to try and do this myself because i've got 125k on the clock and need to start saving for an emergency rebuild fund. but sas locked with 37's will make for an even better truck. very nice. i'm jealous.