How to: Deleting ADD system

I was lazy in the fall, and now the snow forecast for next week is heavy snow. Here's to 3wd and fj cases

 

Annoying thing is, the dealership actually gave me the wrong driveshaft. They gave me the 2016-2019 one that has greasable u-joints. I installed it anyways because I wanted to do a quick vibe test. I'm trying to decide if I want to try my luck returning it (since it is their fault), or if I just run the greasables and swap them later....

I do understand that as a 2nd gen thread, basically everyone in here has greasables lol. I just am not a fan.

 

Now I'm curious, why don't you like the greasables?

 

Just maintenance I don’t want to do. Lol

never had a problem with the non greasable before except for this stock front shaft where I guess they went bad from lack of use. Not really bad but minor vibes at high speeds.

 

Good news! Dealer actually had the correct part in stock, guy gave me the wrong one. They swapped it straight across. Now I have to test this one to make sure it doesn’t vibe

 

I don't think I've ever greased my front shaft.

 

Can probably get away with not greasing them for a long time. Best practice is to grease them every 20k or so if they’re greasable….I dunno, I just don’t want to think about it if I can avoid it.

 

As far as those of us who wheel fairly regularly, I was always told Grease them after every outing, especially if you were in water or mud. Same with ball joints, upper control, arms, etc

 

That’s definitely true and what should be done by those who have greasable joints. Mainly because the greasable joints aren’t sealed very well (in order to let the new grease push the old out).

 

Looks like my new driveshaft is balanced well. Might end up finding myself swapping out the ADD again soon. We’ll see. I need to decide more if I’m really sold on the manual t-case swap. I am but I don’t know if I care enough to be bothered to actually do it. Really wish the 3rd gen transmissions didn’t need to be clearanced to allow the manual t-case to fit.

 

Question: should the driver side front wheel be activated if front add has not been deleted yet? Aka i got stuck when I thought i was in 3wd high, but i guess no power to the front wheels even in 4hi

things i learned tonight playing in the snow: need to keep momentum on hard pack icy hills. Sliding backwards in park is scary.

 

I’m not sure I understand exactly but without a front locker then the differential is open. So you would have only one wheel “activated” or getting power at a time if the other is not getting traction. I’m not sure this helps. Both front wheels are mechanically locked at the wheels but spin the spider gears in the differential until the transfer case locks.

NEVERMIND: I think I understand now. The ADD locker would default to open unless you manual moved and locked the fork inside. It still wouldn’t matter though since the differential is still open without a locker. If locked, then yes, 3WD with the ADD actuator in default unlocked position.

 

It does help. I thought there would be some "activation" to one wheel, since the front driveshaft is spinning, but i am wrong.

 

There really isn't. You're powering through an open diff.

What are the fundamental characteristics of an open diff? They are:
1) Output speeds may be different but the average of the two output speeds must always match the speed of the carrier.
2) Output torques left and right are always equal.
3) The maximum output torque is limited to the maximum torque that can be applied to the least tractive wheel.

In this case the 'least tractive wheel' is a free spinning shaft due to the ADD being disconnected. Pretty much means the only torque it can react is the friction in the bearings and its rotational inertia. Effectively limiting the torque to 0 and thus that's what the driver side wheel will get as well. You're still functionally in 2wd even though the front tcase output is being driven.

 

Thank you for the detailed explanation. It really clears things up for me!

 

Instead of pulling the actuator, do you think i can pull the actuator cover, and manually move the gears inside to move the fork?
I have no issues doing either, but maybe could help the loss of fluid?

EDIT: nevermind. Looks like not enough room

 

So we didnt have to pull the actuator. I had some help, but i didnt know which pins they touched to get the fork to slide over. Took more time to put it on the lift

Got my 4wd back!

 

I’m interested in doing the whole FJ swap. Axle tubes and t case. I’m wondering how do you lock the hubs after doing the ADD delete? Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

They will always be "locked" like the FJ

 

Hubs are mechanically locked by the splines. You would only engage or disengage the transfer case.