Driving in front wheel drive.

How far would you go?

Rear drive shaft is at the shop getting balanced. I'm wondering if it's ok to put the truck in 4x4 and drive it 8 miles of slow backroads to the store and back with the rear drive shaft missing.

Any experiences or opinions?

 

Should be fine. I've driven around when i had to in FWD/ FRD/FLD lots of times. The LT4 loves to eat drivelines. Never had a problem.

 

I had to do this once with my old '91 pickup. My driveshaft was toast, and while looking for a used one, the shop I had it parked at needed me to move so they could plow out after a big snowstorm. I only went about 3 miles or so, (6 round trip) but it was just fine. It's probably not the best thing you could do for your truck, but go slow and use common sense- you should be ok.

 

Had a friend in school who drove his Jeep YJ around in 4x4 for a little over a month because he broke the ring in the rear. He drove just about everyday during that time and didn't have any problems.

 

I never thought about it, but front wheel drive is everything these days, right? And from my understanding you can go and go and go in 4H as long as you want, basically as fast as you want. So doesn't seem like it would be an issue.

 

Thanks guys. I had done it before maybe 20 years ago in a Dodge I had, but didn't know if there were any differences with the Tacoma that would make it not a good idea.

It drove to the store and back just fine.

Now I'm considering taking the truck to the shop to pick up the driveshaft instead of borrowing a buddy's truck. I think it'll go 18 miles like this with no problem.

 

Drove mine 30 minutes each way on the interstate to my Toyota dealership without my rear drive shaft as it too was getting repaired. She handled fine and hasn't shown any signs of damage yet. Probably 1500 miles since I've done it

 

I don't see why it would be an issue. 4X4 should be avoided in normal driving (pavement, sharp turns, etc.) due to binding, but when you don't have the rear diff hooked up, that's not an issue.

 

Should be fine, I have driven a couple hundred miles in a CJ2A, an old power wagon(75) and about 130 miles in an 85 SR5 with no ill effects, even towed a utility trailer with no issues

 

The only time its an issue is on vehicles that have the slip yoke on the t-case since the shaft itself is part of the seal. Since our trucks have CV flanges, it is not an issue.