Driving with no rear drive shaft

[zerge916]

I was thinking to put it into 4x4 then take the driveshaft out and drive it fwd. Has anyone tried this? Did it work?

 

[catrains]

I was thinking to put it into 4x4 then take the driveshaft out and drive it fwd. Has anyone tried this? Did it work?

not sure on toyota but it has happened a few times with GM truck .. rear u joint blew out then 4wd to get home.

 

[Bumbo]

I haven't tried it... but just thinking out loud here, would you have to lock the center transfer case in order for that power to drive the front wheels?

 

[AuSeeker]

I'm not sure if that would work very well, thinking about it I don't think you would get the full power of the engine from the transmission/transfer case to the front wheels because the 4runner was not designed for just FWD, but maybe someone else can confirm or not.

 

[zerge916]

Ok, I tried it today. It does work, but you do have to be in 4wd(obviously) and you also have to lock the center diff.

 

[Bumbo]

Ok, I tried it today. It does work, but you do have to be in 4wd(obviously) and you also have to lock the center diff.

Ya I figured as much.. because without the center locked it would just act like an open diff, just from front to rear, expect from side to side.

 

[ElZilcho]

Are you doing this for gits and shiggles or do you need to get the truck home?

I've never done it on this generation 4runner but it's a pretty common thing to do when you blow a diff/axle/driveshaft on a trail and need to get home. You just have to lock the center diff.

I wouldn't do this as a permanent thing. The forward drive component's aren't designed to operate that way for long periods of time. I'm not saying they'll fail; just that you would be tempting fate.

 

[2016 4Runner SR5]

Why would you want to do this? Front diff is by no means designed to run that way and you will damage it before long. An emergency is one thing but for no reason is a very bad idea.

 

[zerge916]

Are you doing this for gits and shiggles or do you need to get the truck home?

I've never done it on this generation 4runner but it's a pretty common thing to do when you blow a diff/axle/driveshaft on a trail and need to get home. You just have to lock the center diff.

I wouldn't do this as a permanent thing. The forward drive component's aren't designed to operate that way for long periods of time. I'm not saying they'll fail; just that you would be tempting fate.

Both kinda, out of curiosity and because I'm 99% sure I have a issue in my rear diff. I think the ring and pinion are bad so I was going to have to take the drive shaft off anyway to take the diff off and I decided to try the fwd idea just in case if I'd need it sometime in an emergency situation.

 

[zerge916]

Why would you want to do this? Front diff is by no means designed to run that way and you will damage it before long. An emergency is one thing but for no reason is a very bad idea.

I wanted to do this just to see if I can for future reference if I run into a situation where I may need to know this. Also because I was taking the driveshaft off anyway to get to the diff.