Front differential delete/driveshaft removal. Anyone heard or tried this? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Front differential delete/driveshaft removal. Anyone heard or tried this?

Joined
May 17, 2012
Messages
26
Reaction score
8
City, State
Florida
Year, Model & Trim Level
1998 Explorer 4.0 SOHC
I have a '98 Xplorer 4.0 SOHC 4x4 who drives everyday on the streets here in south Florida, and no plans on off road. A neighbour told me he had a '97 Cherokee 4x4 and by removing the front driveshaft the truck was better on gas mileage. He also said that in the Explorer both of the front CV axles can be removed to save wieght and by drag caused by the front differential internal parts. Of course the differential output holes should be sealed with a custom block off plate. I don't know how in the real world it would work or not. The theory sounds interesting. Anyone heard about this before? Anyone tried to delete the front diff to be better on gas?
 






you can remove the front diff/ tcase / change the output shaft and housing and rear drive shaft to make it a 4x2...

removing 2 axles is just silly.
 






Its really not going to make a noticible difference at all. as far as the jeep goes he probably has full time 4wheel in which it would slightly benefit him. if you were to remove the front axle and drive shaft, the only 2 safe way to drive it are to dissassemble your cv axles so you can still have the stud nutted thru your hub assembly or to swap in 2wd knuckles/hubs. but all in all..... not worth it. Except maybe youd make $100-$200 in parts to sell.
 






Well, it has been exactly one year since I opened this thread, and last weekend I figured out that YES, I can delete the front diff. Lol.
I've suffering from a noise from the front diff...read my post--> http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3018345#post3018345

After all the parts I've changed, I never find out what was causing the noise until last Saturday when my diff committed suicide.
I was driving in the highway and heard a tak! noise from under the car, like when you hit a rock or something hard. Check immediately to the rearview mirror and nothing was on the road.
I parked the xplo outside of a store and when I step out, I smelled the particular diff oil smell....ahhhhhhhhh there was my front diff oil on the parking lot floor!!!
Definitely it wasn't hit by a rock.
First thought it was the axle seal but it was coming right from the sticker the diff has on it. check pics.
676094521_o.jpg

When I peeled the sticker I found the crack:mad:
676094550_o.jpg

http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/8/0/0/5/0/9/webimg/676094550_o.jpg
So, Sunday morning I was a the local u-pull junkyard looking for some cv axles to get just the outer cups, (I didn't want to ruin mine in case I go back to 4wd).
Disconnected the front diff from T case by removing the front drive shaft.
Removing both front CV axles and replacing them with just the outer cups to hold the hub all together.
If you don't do this, the hub will separate and big trouble will come.
676094585_o.jpg

http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/8/0/0/5/0/9/webimg/676094585_o.jpg
676094645_o.jpg

http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/8/0/0/5/0/9/webimg/676094645_o.jpg
676094669_o.jpg

http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/8/0/0/5/0/9/webimg/676094669_o.jpg
If you are experiencing a noise in your front diff, I recommend a major build up, replace all your bearings.
I ignored the diff carrier and pinion bearings.
I didn't still have time to open my front diff, well it's still bolted in the xplo,
but from where it cracked, I believe one of the pinion bearings went bad.
Will post pics once I get my hands on it.
 






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