front drive shaft

[polkat]

hi very new to the site and have a question on the front drive shaft. my question is i have a 2000 ranger i just purchased the 4wd works; should the frint driveshaft turn freeley when its in 2wd. I have a 92 that the drive shaft turns freeley and its gets great gas milage but this 2000 gets about 15 mpg. looking for solutions thanks

 

[The Fox]

The 2000 now weights more now, so the mileage is about right. The front shaft should turn freely in 2wd if the hubs are unlocked. If they are locked, you could not be able to turn it.
Nick

 

[polkat]

I didnt want to hear that about the mpg. I not sure about the 4wd it would be either the hubs or that dang switch motor ( if i assume that it goes into 4low the selector switch it working corectly and my hubs could be the problem right ? this new technology i sure did love my 92 for these reasons

 

[wohlf 16]

Ive got a 99 and a 01 and they have different hub setups. The 99 was pulse vaccum which allowed the hubs to be locked and unlocked. My 01 has a big nut and they stay locked all the time. I think your 2000 is like my 01. This causes your front to stay locked all the time getting worse gas and wearing out parts, but the pvh sucked a big one.

 

[Jspafford]

Ive got a 99 and a 01 and they have different hub setups. The 99 was pulse vaccum which allowed the hubs to be locked and unlocked. My 01 has a big nut and they stay locked all the time. I think your 2000 is like my 01. This causes your front to stay locked all the time getting worse gas and wearing out parts, but the pvh sucked a big one.

Your 2000 model was probably built in late 2000. It most likely has a 'live axle' setup and your driveshaft will not turn freely. It is always connected to the front axle. The only disconnect when in 2wd is in the transfer case.

It does not use much more gas, and the parts will almost always last the life of the truck.

 

[polkat]

I am going to have to take a closer look like i said i just purchased it and it is completely different than my old 92. whats the word out there to just replace it with manual hubs if there is a problem. If i would have known it would have only got 15 mpg I probaly would have considered a F150 that old 92 I loved it so much thats the reason i got another ranger.

 

[wohlf 16]

The only reason that i said that it would wear parts out quicker is from my personal experience. On my 2001 my wheel bearings went bad at around 85,000 miles and I have put 40,000 of the miles on it. On my 1999 I had 149,000 miles on it and when I torched the front end off they were still in excellent condition. Dont know if the live front would contribute to the bearings going out that quickly but I know when you having moving parts they are going to go out more quickly than non moving.

But anyways to to answer polkats question the only way to put manual hubs on your 2000 is by replacing your setup with a pvh setup and then converting the pvh setup to lockouts. As of right now they dont have a lockout kit for us post pvh guys. I looked into it for my 01 after i had taken my front end from my 99 to the junkyard. Pissed me off big time.

 

[Jspafford]

The money you would spend to put lockouts on there is nill. The front driveline is not causing you to get the low mileage.