on the road in front wheel drive

[Lars]

This may sound like a newb question, but in all my years of owning 4wd trucks and truckettes (aka Broncos) I have never intentionally attempted to drive on the street at any speed in front wheel drive. As in: drop the rear driveshaft, put it in 4wd and head down the freeway.

So, for those of you who have done this, how does your Bronco behave?

[tortuga]

Re: on the road in front wheel drive

Not in a Bronco, but lost the rear pinion in an FJ40 once and did it from Kyburz to Sacramento. Couldn't feel any difference at all. Front was open, rear was limited slip still engaged, just no pinion or drive shaft.

[CityHick]

Re: on the road in front wheel drive

When I busted my rear output last summer I was forced to drive about 20 miles on highway 4 until I found cell service to call AAA from. Mine behaved absolutely crappy. The vibrations were intense at almost any speed but I found a couple of sweet spots where it was bearable. This being said my front driveline angle is horrible.

A buddy of mine was roasting rear u-joints in his EB for a while until he found the problem. One day he was also forced into front wheel drive mode for about the same distance; he has a front detroit locker and said at times it was hard to keep the thing on the road - it would be okay for a while then it would jerk to one side or the other. I had my front ARB disengaged once I hit the pavement so I did not have that problem.

So long story short this is a last resort measure to be avoided if possible. Once I got mine home I lubed the CTMs, changed the front driveline u-joints and inspected the axle internally. No permanent damage but it sure wasn't fun.

[TBS-POPS]

Re: on the road in front wheel drive

Had a buddy that blew the rear in his jeepster, pulled the rear shaft and drove it in front drive for years. never had the $$ to fix it. but then back in the 70's, drugs and beer were way more important than operational 4x4.

[garberz]

Re: on the road in front wheel drive

I've driven mine a lot with just the front drive shaft in. Towing it behind the motorhome, the rear shaft is removed. I usually just drive around with the front engaged if were visiting somewhere and plan on moving on. It used to drive just fine, but I since put an Aussie up front, now the steering is a bit heavy. I wont hesitate to run on the Fwy this way. Mine seems to be well balanced up front. I've been doing this for eight years now, two with the Aussie.
Mark

[welndmn]

Re: on the road in front wheel drive

I've come home from the Tahoe trails a good amount of times (HAHA... ) in front wheel drive only.
It handles like crap, I don't have the vibrations, it's more of a different feeling. It loads harder on the front end, if you still have radius arms, it seems to bounce and get more axle wrap, with a locker it will pop and jerk you around in a corner.
It sucks but after the first hour you get use to it.

[earlybronco72]

Re: on the road in front wheel drive

Mine actually had less vibrations in front wheel drive. Did have a little tork steer, and was really easy to spin the tires. Longest drive I did was 90 miles. Doable.

[Lars]

Re: on the road in front wheel drive

Thanks, guys.

We have a competition for vehicles tomorrow. This AM I finally sucked it up, crawled under the Bronco and dropped the driveshaft. The vibration was starting to rattle my fillings. Price I pay for a 17 degree CV angle and lots of freeway speeds. It is currently at Drive Line Service in West Sac being repaired or replaced as necessary. Since my wife really hates riding her bike to work in pouring rain (despite having grown up riding bikes in all weather in rainy Holland- go figure) driving the Bronco sans rear driveshaft would be a good thing if possible- sounds like it is.

I have an ARB up front, and a good driveline angle, etc. So we shall see. And if I don't like it I can crawl under the thing in Drive Line Service's parking lot and install the rear driveshaft on the spot when I pick it up tomorrow afternoon.

[nvrstuk]

Re: on the road in front wheel drive

You should be fine with the front unlocked Lars. When I used to twist off 28 spline shafts routinely I didn't have any trouble with the front ARB unlocked at speeds up to 60mph.

Totally different drivetrain now but still very driveable with the ARB unlocked.

Local buddy with a Detroit up front could barely stay on the road due to torque steer...

[Lars]

Re: on the road in front wheel drive

You should be fine with the front unlocked Lars. When I used to twist off 28 spline shafts routinely I didn't have any trouble with the front ARB unlocked at speeds up to 60mph.

Totally different drivetrain now but still very driveable with the ARB unlocked.

Local buddy with a Detroit up front could barely stay on the road due to torque steer...

Thanks, Brian. I knew there was a reason I coughed up for that ARB

[jamesroney]

Re: on the road in front wheel drive

Front wheel drive in the bronco is no big deal. I used to have a Remco driveshaft disconnect in my EB for flat towing. Prior to that, I would remove the rear shaft. Drove it many a mile with no rear driveshaft.

The biggest problem for me is to avoid big smoky front wheel drive burnouts, and the joy of wild understeer under WOT...which results in the need to replace expensive bits in the front axle.

You will get some torque steer and pulling...but with the ARB, it will be just fine.

I am not a big fan of repairing CV driveshafts. The cost for the centering yoke from Precision is about $70, and by the time you buy a full set of Spicer joints...and rebalance, you get to about $225 for a decent rebuild.

You can source a brand new CV shaft from Tom's or Wild H or even Tom Woods for about that...so keep an eye on cost. If your slip yoke is worn...a new shaft is more economical, and you get to keep your worn shaft as a spare.

[Lars]

Re: on the road in front wheel drive

Front wheel drive in the bronco is no big deal. I used to have a Remco driveshaft disconnect in my EB for flat towing. Prior to that, I would remove the rear shaft. Drove it many a mile with no rear driveshaft.

The biggest problem for me is to avoid big smoky front wheel drive burnouts, and the joy of wild understeer under WOT...which results in the need to replace expensive bits in the front axle.

You will get some torque steer and pulling...but with the ARB, it will be just fine.

I am not a big fan of repairing CV driveshafts. The cost for the centering yoke from Precision is about $70, and by the time you buy a full set of Spicer joints...and rebalance, you get to about $225 for a decent rebuild.

You can source a brand new CV shaft from Tom's or Wild H or even Tom Woods for about that...so keep an eye on cost. If your slip yoke is worn...a new shaft is more economical, and you get to keep your worn shaft as a spare.

Thanks, James.

Drive Line Service in West Sac is a good shop. All parts are Spicer in the driveshafts they make for me, and yep, about $225 for a complete new unit. it surprises me how many people overlook them; I had a conversation once with Jesse at High Angle Driveline; he advised me to go there unless I really needed the tricked out driveshafts he sells (I don't). The only reason they would replace components rather than rebuild is if the u-joints themselves were toast but splines and centering yoke were intact. Given my history, I fully expect to be picking up a new driveshaft when I arrive there later today. Nice thing for me is they are 15 minutes from my house. Drop it off at 8AM, get the call 24 hours later to collect the result. Since I need to go to Sacramento Sky Ranch for an aviation related errand, it's not inconvenient today.

And, as it turns out, I wound up not having to compete for the shared ground transportation unit. It wasn't raining, so I got the car. Thus I'll find out how my Bronco handles in front wheel drive some other time.

[tortuga]

Re: on the road in front wheel drive



Get one of these for your wife and you won't have this issue

[Broncrick]

Re: on the road in front wheel drive

Lol

[Lars]

Re: on the road in front wheel drive

Get one of these for your wife and you won't have this issue

THAT was funny.

For anyone who may be interested, my last driveshaft survived running nearly 10,000 miles at a 17 degree angle at the CV. A significant percentage of which was at 70-ish MPH. Faster = more wear at large angles.The centering yoke was toast, but the spline was intact. $175 later I had my old shaft (you decide what that means) back with new CV assembly and a new u-joint at the aft end. My canary in the coal mine is buzzing in the Atlas shifters. Substantial decrease with new driveshaft.

For the total geeks out there, I recommend "vibration" (don't get any ideas) as a good app for an iPhone. Quickly diagnoses stuff like driveshaft failure. Readings before and after showed a huge improvement, corroborating the butt-o-meter dyno.