Vehicle: 2014 2dr Jeep Wrangler Sport, Manual, 50k miles
Modifications: 33in MT tires (no lift/spacers)
Hi everyone! On a recent outing through some snowed-in forest service roads, my rear driveshaft blew at the rear differential u-joint. Luckily, I was already near the bottom of the hill where the pavement resumed, and had no problem getting a tow. AFAIK, Wranglers are infamous for weak driveshaft u-joints, although this obviously becomes a problem when the driveshaft angle is changed after lifting the vehicle. For future reference, if I should ever find myself far from a paved road, and either the front/rear driveshaft fails, is there any way the vehicle can still be "limped" to a more suitable towing location? In other words, would it be possible to remove the driveshaft on the trail, seal the differential, and continue on with 4WD engaged? I can understand that the axle at the failure point will not drive under power, but with 4WD engaged and a rear driveshaft failure (assuming I remove "damaged" parts), could the vehicle be operated as "front-wheel-drive" without causing damage that would exceed the cost of an off-road tow?
Thanks!
- Daniel
maybe for a short period of time, on easy terrain, and if you're very ginger with it. But the transfer case chain and front drive line components were not engineered to bear 100% of the load all the time.
The original Top Gear (UK) trio did a show the "Bolivia Special". Richard Hammond's Land Cruiser's was converted to front wheel drive when the rear shaft broke and destroyed the rear diff. Needless to say it didn't end well for the Land Cruiser by the end of the show.
So, yes you could in a pinch but it can do damage in prolonged use.
Scotty got it backwards. He talks about disconnecting the front, not the back. The front driveline is weaker than the rear.
There are 2 of us who failed:
- Scotty: mentioned wrong user name 😲
- me: did not read whole question 😨