?Front wheel drive KJ?

[jcpryce]

I remember a thread where someone was wanting to take out the rear driveshaft and drive around with the KJ in 4-hi and was wondering what affect it would have... can't find the thread now... But anyhow, on that topic... I recently repo'd an 02 Durango that the "previous owner" had taken out the rear driveshaft and drove like that for about a month and a half with no problems. After we had picked it up, I had some one else drive it back to my office about 90+ miles down I-69 going about 75 mph the whole way. We didn't have any problems with it. Not sure what the long term consequences would be, but the guy had been driving around a while like that so i wan't too worried.
I just found that interesting....

 

[jeepkj02]

The front axle on a Liberty is weaker than the front axle on a Durango. The Liberty's front axle is made out of aluminum. Also make sure that you don't drive in Part-Time on blacktop, use Full-Time. I would keep the speed under 55mph.

 

[tjkj2002]

Do not drive in full time 4wd with the rear driveshaft removed,bye-bye select trac t-case.Do not drive in fulltime 4wd with the front driveshaft either.You can but you will go nowhere since when in full time 4wd the t-case is using it's center diff(which is open) and will send all the power(torque) to the path of least resistance,which is the t-case output without the driveshaft,but the great overspin condition will blow the select trac t-case apart.

You can do it in 4hi(part time 4wd),but if you have a rear slip yoke you can kiss your t-case goodbye anyway since the fluid will all leak out.

 

[2003KJ]

You can do it in 4hi(part time 4wd),but if you have a rear slip yoke you can kiss your t-case goodbye anyway since the fluid will all leak out.

Most of the newer Jeep tcases (say from the mid 90's and on) have a different design on the slip yoke where the output shaft is NOT enclosed in the case, thus allowing one to drive with no rear DS and not loose all the ATF in the case.

Would have to look again at the KJ, but this is what i've seen on other Jeeps.

 

[kjpilot]

I was the one who NEEDED to do this. I only went about 25 miles. It caused zero problems, but I'd not suggest doing it for more than an emergency proceedure.

The T-cases on the Liberty, both the 231 & the 242 are sealed, so no leaking will occur from the slip yoke.

It also doesn't matter if you do it in part time or full time... If there is no rear drive shaft then the rear wheels are not powered, therefore there is no binding issues when turning.

 

[tjkj2002]

I was the one who NEEDED to do this. I only went about 25 miles. It caused zero problems, but I'd not suggest doing it for more than an emergency proceedure.

The T-cases on the Liberty, both the 231 & the 242 are sealed, so no leaking will occur from the slip yoke.

It also doesn't matter if you do it in part time or full time... If there is no rear drive shaft then the rear wheels are not powered, therefore there is no binding issues when turning.

The 231 t-cases are not all sealed,at least '02 KJ with the 231,if you pull the rear shaft the fluid will leak out.I know since I had to replace my rear t-case out on my 231 t-case.

 

[jeepkj02]

The 231 t-cases are not all sealed,at least '02 KJ with the 231,if you pull the rear shaft the fluid will leak out.I know since I had to replace my rear t-case out on my 231 t-case.

Didn't leak a drop of fluid when I removed my rear driveshaft to replace my u-joint. (I have a 2002, also)

 

[kjpilot]

The 231 t-cases are not all sealed,at least '02 KJ with the 231,if you pull the rear shaft the fluid will leak out.I know since I had to replace my rear t-case out on my 231 t-case.

They must have changed it for the 2003+ models. When I did my T-case swap, I had my 231, a 242 from a 2004 WJ, a 2003 KJ 242, & a 2004 KJ 242 & they were all sealed cases.

Maybe that was another difference between the pre-lowered & lowered 2002s? I don't know.

 

[JeepJeepster]

You cannot use fulltime with the rear shaft out. Like tjkj said, it will not move since its an open diff in full time. It would be like lifting one wheel on an axle that had an open diff then trying to drive it.

I wouldnt do it for very long or do any hard accelerations. The front diff just isnt meant to be used as the primary source of torque. I read about a guy with an xj doing that and by the time he got home from a trail the front diff was spitting oil out the over flow. I guess he busted the rear driveshaft while offroad and had lots of hw driving to get home.

 

[kjpilot]

You cannot use fulltime with the rear shaft out. Like tjkj said, it will not move since its an open diff in full time. It would be like lifting one wheel on an axle that had an open diff then trying to drive it.

I wouldnt do it for very long or do any hard accelerations. The front diff just isnt meant to be used as the primary source of torque. I read about a guy with an xj doing that and by the time he got home from a trail the front diff was spitting oil out the over flow. I guess he busted the rear driveshaft while offroad and had lots of hw driving to get home.

It's more like a LSD than an open diff. I did mine in part time so I don't know from experience, but it seems to me that if the output shaft spun freely with no load, that would be similar to slipping the rear wheels, which is when more power is transfered to the front.

I would not do it in full time, even if it worked, to save any undue excessive force on the clutch pack... and locking up it in part time seems smarter as well.

 

[tjkj2002]

It's more like a LSD than an open diff. I did mine in part time so I don't know from experience, but it seems to me that if the output shaft spun freely with no load, that would be similar to slipping the rear wheels, which is when more power is transfered to the front.

I would not do it in full time, even if it worked, to save any undue excessive force on the clutch pack... and locking up it in part time seems smarter as well.

The 242 does not have a viscus clutch in it so it does not act like a LSD,it is a simple open diff setup that allows for the F/R driveshafts to spin at different speed so binding does not occur when driving on hard surfaces.

LSD = torque gets send to the axle/driveshaft with the most resistance(in thoery,doesn't always work)

Open = torque takes the path of least resistance,meaning the axle/driveshaft that has no traction.

You need to get into the 249 t-case and the quadritrac t-cases for the LSD style center diffs in the t-case,but those t-cases are a full time 4wd t-case and you can never take them out of 4wd.

 

[JeepJeepster]

That new fangled select trac 2 has clutches though!

The 249 has a vicious clutch and Im not really sure what the 247 has. They call it an electronic limited slip but idk how that works.

 

[kjpilot]

Looking through my notes, I see that I at one time knew this about the 242!

I got my research crossed, When I was deciding on a t-case swap, I thought briefly about the quadra-trac 249 t-case, but didn't like the idea of clutch packs instead of gears... Oh well, thoroughly schooled!