AWD front driveshaft disconnect?

[302Xplorer]

For those of you that have done this, do you remove the driveshaft to the front diff. completely or just disconnect it from the front diff?

Has anyone had any problems w/ this, like reconnecting it?

And did you see an improvment in mpgs?

Thanks,

Ted

 

[everythintech]

big mistake man, i had a fds failure and just left it out. now (as of yesterday) my tcase is making wierd noises and sounds like it grinds, my advice leave it in, or do a swap to a manual tcase. in the long run you wont save the money on gas either...just my two cents
Chris

 

[tmsoko]

I have run my Ranger with an explorer AWD t-case without front dirve shaft for 48K miles. No issue other than a little fluid loss out the breather on the t-case. I think something must be spinning internally and throwing fluid out. Not major, just a slow dripping. I just keep an eye on the trans fluid level.

As for MPG change, I cannot say, as I have always run without the shaft. I never changed to live hubs after the V8 swap, so I had no reason to put the shaft in - plus, it make it easier to find dyno's when only RWD!

 

[Jefe]

For those of you that have done this, do you remove the driveshaft to the front diff. completely or just disconnect it from the front diff?

Don't just disconnect it from one side, It'll still spin Remove it completely.

 

[tmsoko]

Not only would it spin, it would beat the holy crap out of everything surrounding it! Very bad idea!

 

['97 V8]

wouldnt there stil be power going to what is intended to be the front driveshaft. the awd t-case splits power 35/65, be it you disconnected the f.d. or not.

 

[gijoecam]

If you have AWD and a V-8, removing the front driveshaft will not only hurt your mileage, but it will cause the front diff to slip constantly, grinding it into a bloody pulp. Additionally, you'll never be able to rely on the parking pawl in the transmission to hold the vehicle in park. You will always need to use the parking brake when parked.

If you have a v-6 with the control-trac, you can remove the front driveshaft with no ill efffects.

If you have an AWD Explorer transfer case in a Ranger, (First of all, WHY??) and you're running with no front driveshaft, you'll have the same problem. It will slip constantly generating tons of heat (which would explain the fluid spitting out the breather) and I can guarantee you're getting worse mileage and less power to the ground because of the slippage.

-Joe

 

[IAmTodd]

If you have AWD and a V-8, removing the front driveshaft will not only hurt your mileage, but it will cause the front diff to slip constantly, grinding it into a bloody pulp. Additionally, you'll never be able to rely on the parking pawl in the transmission to hold the vehicle in park. You will always need to use the parking brake when parked.

If you have a v-6 with the control-trac, you can remove the front driveshaft with no ill efffects.

If you have an AWD Explorer transfer case in a Ranger, (First of all, WHY??) and you're running with no front driveshaft, you'll have the same problem. It will slip constantly generating tons of heat (which would explain the fluid spitting out the breather) and I can guarantee you're getting worse mileage and less power to the ground because of the slippage.

-Joe

Maybe because of the fact he has an Explorer drivetrain in his Ranger

Many have done this with no ill affect.

 

[gijoecam]

From the '00 service manual:

The constantly activated, automatic, all-wheel drive transfer case has no external controls. A two-piece aluminum case houses the assembly. The unit is chain driven. A non-repairable viscous coupling provides torque distribution to the front and rear transfer case outputs. The viscous coupling contains slotted alternating plates through which a high viscosity fluid flows. The resistance of the fluid shear causes the plates to transmit torque at the approximate ratio of 35 percent to the front output and 65 percent to the rear output.


Operation

Torque flows through the input shaft to the front planetary gear assembly outward to the ring gear to the upper output shaft. Torque also flows through the front planetary gear assembly to the overdrive sun gear outward to the upper drive sprocket. The torque flow continues from the upper drive sprocket through the drive chain to the lower drive sprocket to the front output shaft. The viscous coupling provides the connection between the ring gear and the overdrive sun gear

So, if you remove the front driveshaft, does it automatically transfer 100% of the torwue to the rear wheels? Don't think so..... It'll slip. Take the front driveshaft out, and park it on a hill. It'll slowly creep downhill. That's the transfer case slipping. The same thing happens when you step on the gas with no front driveshaft.

No ill effects? The transfer case was never designed to see a significant difference between the front and rear axle shaft speeds. Force the transfer case to slip at all times, and nothing bad is going to happen? If you only want to drive one axle, you don't need a transfer case, and you'll put more power to the ground by removing it.

Then again, what do I know....

-Joe