Removing Front Drive Shaft on AWD

[Sprinklerman79]

So I have a 2000 AWD Explorer. There is a noise coming from the front end. Kinda sounds like a piece of metal in a bike spoke. Not hubs or CV axles. Trying to see if maybe its the front drive shaft being that it has a cv boot. Is it safe to remove the front drive axle and drive this way. If its the fornt differentail broken will that still turn and make the noise? Really at a loss here. Thanks for your help.

 

[Turdle]

Yes it is safe to drive with no front drive shaft. My son's both drove 2 different Mountaineers without a front drive shaft, one for over a year. Neither experienced any negative performance once the drive shaft was replaced.


You will need to use a wheel chock and emergency brake when parking. The AWD system has to be fully intact for the park pawl mechanism will work, so, without a front drive shaft in place the truck may "creep" when parked on an incline.

 

[Sprinklerman79]

Thanks ole Dead Head. Is the front differnetial still gonna rotate with the tires?

 

[Turdle]

Yes it will.

 

[Sprinklerman79]

So I removed the front drive shaft. There is no apparent damage to the boot and there's no noise when moving it around. Took it for a ride and the noise is gone. I'm no detective but I'd have to assume that this is the problem. Is there some component that I'm not seeing/understanding that could be the cause? Something that wouldn't function with the drive shaft removed? Don't want to buy another drive shaft for no reason. Thanks again ole wise one!

If the shaft is the only problem guess there's nothin left to do but smile, smile, smile!!

 

[SWIGIN]

If the noise is gone you found your fix. You can't replicate load or torque on the DS when your moving it around with your hands.

 

[CDW6212R]

It isn't hard to replace the CV joint on the shaft. I did one about a year ago, and then it cost about $80. At this age it's a good idea to rebuild the shaft anyway.