Front Wheel Drive Ranger

[Ranger Kip]

Could you remove the rear driving shaft, put the truck in 4wd, and drive your truck in front wheel drive? Is this safe? Could it save money on gas?

 

[cammeddrz]

you will not save money on gas, why would you even think that? but it can be done, i did it on my explorer when i broke the rear d-shaft, i drove around like that for a month.

 

[Ranger Kip]

how did it run?

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

I had to do this to get home after demolishing my rear drive shaft wheeling an hour outside of town.

I drove home at highway speed on the front axle. Under hard acceleration you can definitely notice the torque steer effect happening.

 

[HareRazor]

I did it too when my rear drive shaft broke. I never drove it past 45 though and only around town. I figured that the truck was made to mainly to drive on the rear axle and didn't want to push my luck

 

[adsm08]

I've also done it, surprisingly enough after breaking the rear shaft, but it's not a good idea to do long term. The t-case and front driveline aren't meant to be under that kind of stress regularly.

 

[spdcrazy]

i rocked FWD on 33's with the crappy dana 28 for awhile. don't get on the gas around a turn and it works ok. but again, like they say, i wouldn't run it regularly that way. (honestly i was kinda hoping it would give me an excuse to swap in a 35, but so far, so good)

 

[Kirbot]

I don't drive yet, but my dad has done it a few times in the old Jeep.
( the rear driveshaft had a habit of faling off, never broke though.)

But it certainly won't save on gas, it will probably handle like crap to.


Whats wrong with just leaving it in 4x2 and using it like it was designed to be used?

 

[Ranger Kip]

just curious, and was wondering if it was possible was all =P

 

[cammeddrz]

mine was a 1998 ford explorer with the 5.0, it drove fine i didn't even notice it, but parked on a hill it would roll back extremely slowly, like a foot an hour

 

[crusin93]

If its an older ranger like my 87' the front tires will skip and hop on dry pavement. Especialy around tight turns. I'm sure it's hard on wheel joints and shafts. It says not to drive on dry pavement with the front locked on the 4x4 warning sticker behind the driver's sun visor.

 

[Original_Ranger84]

Yeah I did it to limp home and it was fun but I would never drive it like that normally or regularly. It just dosen't feel as solid and the only gain you would get would be in winter time with having a fwd truck vs a rwd truck.

 

[Ranger Kip]

true... What could I do to make my truck better on gas?
(I am switching to a BII frame, ridding myself of a bed in favor of a flatbed, and also getting rid of some uneeded shiznit in the truck and adding a CB).

Would the suspension from my ranger transfer to a BII frame?
Anbody got a cheap or free BII drive shaft?

 

[Will]

If it jerks and hops and you don't have a front locker you have a nearly frozen axle joint.

I've had to do this and with a front locker it's near suicide. The front wheels are almost always going different speeds so the front locker is constantly changing the wheel that is getting power and trying to steer you all over the place.

 

[cammeddrz]

depending on which year of ranger much of the suspension will swap. if you really want to save on gas put headers, high flow cat, a good intake with a gauze style filter, and taller tires. but it won't save you much