Driving without rear driveshaft

Dropped my driveshaft off at a shop to get a one piece shaft made and the finish time is looking like it won't be till Wednesday, problem is I have work on Wednesday through Saturday and wouldn't be able to pick up till Monday. Would it be ok to drive to work (15 miles, 40-50 mph) with just the front shaft if I don't drive it hard?

 

Great question. I cannot wait for the answers. I wonder if it would be the first front wheel drive Tacoma.

 

I really don't see why it wouldn't be alright, other than maybe all the torque going through the chain in the t-case but still shouldn't be a problem

 

Lol to the last post above. It wouldn't hurt but don't forget you get axle bind when your taking corners. Which might destroy your front axle if you continue to do this.

Edit: I meant the second message on this forum.

 

Rentals can be pretty cheap if you shop online. Might end up being cheaper than any damage that might happen to the truck. Risk management!

 

No don't do that

 

^this, your rear axle allows for turns, the front is "locked" when activated. you'll shred the pinion/gears if you're on dry ground

 

I'm well aware of axle bind, but I also don't drive the truck like a race car and trying to take sharp corners all the time. Just wondering if anything could happen to it just from having no rear drive

 

The front axle is only locked if you have a locker in the differential. If you have an open, which almost everyone does, there's no lock. It's exactly 0 difference between the front and rear differential action. With no rear driveshaft there's no binding involved in the tcase as there's no forced being applied by a difference between the 2 driveshafts. Driving on full traction roads in 4wd is an issue in the tcase, not in the diffs.

Driving without a rear dshaft is no problem, it's a time honored way to get your butt out of the nowhere when you blow out something on the rear end.

 

I would say only do it in emergency situations. A cheap rental car should run you in the neighborhood of $150 or so. The rental car places charge more once you hit the weekend days.

 

hmm, good point

 

I did it with a front locker talk about torque steer lol. It's been done many times.

 

Perfectly safe to do it, as posted before your front diff is open from the factory and you can drive around like that, you'll have torque steer with heavy acceleration but no damage.

 

Alright cool that's what I was wondering cause I've driven 4wd on dry roads before (forgot to put it in 2wd after coming out of a trail) and it would bind on turns but 4 wheeling It would only spin 1 front tire at a time so kinda didn't make since to me. Also I only make 370 a week so rental car isn't worth it to me. I'll only be driving it lightly cause everything is pretty local

 

Should be fine. At that point, it's basically just a front wheel drive truck.

 

I drove mine like that for a few days while my rear driveshaft was being balanced. No problem.

 

This

 

Wut.

 

I drove home 3hrs from wheeling on the highway in fwd after bending my rear driveshaft. This was ironically my last trip IFS and i was trying to destroy that....

You will be fine if you have an open front diff, no different than a front wheel drive car. The binding in 4wd comes from the tcase, the front and rear axles dont have a diff in the tcase so thats where it binds.

You get some crazy torque steer!!

 

I drove my truck on front wheel drive while i took the rear shaft in to replace the carrier. Binding only happens at the transfer case, not the differentials. And our trucks dont come with diff lockers stock without some way of disengaging it. So unless you put a permanent locker in the front, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

Only thing i noticed on my truck is the front wheel drive seemed a bit "loose". If i was slowing down and going while in 2nd lets say, it woud seem there was a little play in the gears somewhere. Im assuming the front diff. Wasnt a problem though.