OK to drive without rear driveshaft?
 

Long story short, I blew up the rear end in my truck. Its 4x4 so I just threw it in 4x4 and drove it home just fine. I have to help move a friend this weekend and its only a few blocks from my house. I can drive the truck the way it is, but ive heard stories about when a rear end goes, it will take the trans with..can i just pull the rear shaft and drive it limited for the weekend? its a 4l65 4x4 trans btw..Someone told me I would lose my fluid, but ive had the shaft out before, and there is no fluid transfer between the yoke and trans output shaft

if you pull the slip yoke out, then theres gonna be fluid coming out of your Xcase when the xcase pump starts slinging it..

Unless you have a Slip Yoke Eliminator...

Like Nonnie says, fluid will leak out if the shaft isn't there. Otherwise it'll work, but be careful not to put too much torque on those t-case clutches. You could smoke them pretty easily.

Cant he take the driveshaft out, pop the clips out of the yoke and put the yoke back in the tranny without the driveshaft? That would plug the leak and he could just figure out a way to keep that from falling out of the tranny. Duct tape? Scotch tape? lol

haha it sounds good in theory.. but how exactly is he goin to keep it in?

Can pull the ring gear off the Diff, put the Diff back in and let the pinon spin free.

:sigh: U-haul or other local rental company in your area...

Cost of a U-haul for 1 day usually around $100 some times less depending on miles

Cost to fix your truck after driving around on just the front differential with it fully loaded $1000+

Now If your friends are willing to Pay for all repairs in full then by all means destroy it.

But if they can't even cough up $100 to get a u-haul well then there probably not going to help you pay for the repairs....

Seriously take that into consideration.

Lets say its roughly $700 for some one to fix your rear end now and then you damage the transfer case or worse burn up the transmission. If you have to pay some one to fix that as well that could be $1500-$3000 on top of fixing the rear end...

You should also consider what ever is busted in the rear end could also cause more damage by driving around... The metal particles floating in the gear oil will ruin the axle bearings and shafts as well....

Hope that helps with your decision :cheers:

^^ Just rent a U Haul. They are cheap.

Theres no way i would just replace one thing in the axle housing.. is everything or nothing.
Bearings and seals are cheap, no point in not doin all of them.

I still think he would be fine if he takes it easy. Think about the abuse these trucks take when they are actually out using the 4 wheel drive. Take it easy, get your move done, then rebuild that rear end with a proper rebuild kit and move on with your life :D

Think about the viscous coupler / clutch in the the front output of the Xcase.. what if the yoke falls out?

Too many bad things to go wrong for me to even try it.