MIKEZJ98

Hello, i have a grand cherokee limited 5.9 v8 with the quadratrac sistem, the question is, if i remove the front drive shaft, would i have problems with the permanent 4wd sistem, would i break something? ive heard that doing this improves gas mileage? thanks for your help.

ol"blue

You will damage the transfer case if you leave the front shaft out for too long.

MIKEZJ98

Hi Ol blue, i think i bougth a lemon, the 98 5.9 that has transmission problems is in the shop rebuilding the transm, also it didnt had the front DS i dont know if its broken (the T case) what shoul i do im gettin a little desperate now tha i know that ill break somthing (idont know if the past owner drove it alot whithout the front dv) how can i check if the TC is broken or alive?

ol"blue

Were you able to drive it at all before you took it to the shop? If so did the t-case make any noises?

seed

The re-design of the 249 in 96 makes it possible to run 96-98 249's without a front DS,however there is no need for it IMO unless the VC is already shot and the front tires are grabbing. Removing the front DS will not increase your MPG,there are no lock out hubs on jeeps so everything is still spinning.

ol"blue

Sorry for my incorrect information. How can he tell if the viscous coupling is bad?

RRAM

you need to have a driveshaft in it so you can drive it, then when you turn it feels like the front are not disengaging, kind of like the wheels are trying to crawl over each other. feel it in parking lots and such. Ask me how I know.

Moparboy01

I'm pretty sure you would damage your transfer case, but thats just me, lol

MIKEZJ98

when i drove it for the first time it seemed ok to me, no noices, no anything, i engaged the 4lo (without the DS) and the rear wheels seamed to lock fine, i really dont know if the front of the GC is working the previus owner (a uded car dealer) told me that everything was working fine, and that they took the DS to save gas, but now with the truck in the shop repairing the transmission, im worried that something in the front is broken, or the TC in that case (the ds was missing and i bought a used one of a durango for 40 bucks and i plan to install it and check the 4wd) how can i tell if the TC is broken??
thanks 4 the support

seed

You didn't really give incorrect info blue,i agree that it's not best to do but you can more-so, get away with, with the 96-98 249's.

here,not my words,but better than i could explain:

In a nutshell, The '96-'98 249 has essentially a straight shaft (made up of two seperate shafts) from the input side to the rear output yoke. These two shafts are "locked" together when the transfercase is in high range and the VC takes care of any speed differential between the front driveshaft and the rear one. In low range the VC itself is locked and taken out of the equation.
It is on this "main" shaft that the VC resides. The ID of the VC is splined to the shaft and the outside of the VC is connected to the front output shaft by the chain.
Keep in mind that the VC is very stiff and is very difficult to turn by hand. If the front driveshaft is out, the VC simply turns on it's shaft and easily turns the chain driving the front output yoke. It never locks up because there is no shearing action to heat up the fluid. It just spins because there is not enough resistance to make it slip. You have to have both driveshafts in and turning at relatively different rpm's in order to get the shearing action in the VC which heats up the fluid and causes it to lock up.
This is only for the '96-'98 249. In high range all the torque to the front wheels is transferred through the VC.
On the '93-'95 249 the VC acts on a planetary gearset which transfers the torque. The input shaft and the rear output shaft are not locked together. That's why these tend to burn up the VC and will roll if left in "park" when the front driveshaft is out.


And yes,if the front tires grab,chatter,squeal when turning sharply on pavement....bad VC

ol"blue

Thanks for that good info seed.

MIKEZJ98

OK, let me see if a got it rigth, if there is no DS the TC will only be spinning like crazy and nothing will happen with the DS out, in the front there is no idea of knowing if something is broken because we dont have a DS to make everything spin or engage, in my theory, if i didnt heard any noises while i drove my GC, then nothing will be broken, the transfer case in the back (or the front) has a "C" clip, and in the front differential there is somthing like a plate (sorry sometimes my english gets stuck) where the front DS is bolted to. how can i tell if the TC is broken or the front diff is?

ol"blue

If the front diff had been broken you would have known it right away.

MIKEZJ98

So Guys, sorry for the stupid question, if there is no noise in the TC ir the front Diff then nothing is broken? (im trying to keep simple everything) the front dif has all the pieces an there are no leaks, the TC has its c clip (yoke) so the only thing missing is the front DS, that i already have, so im in the rigth direction, or do i have to check anything else before i claim victorius, hahahaha.

i found this, it explains how jeep sistems works hope its helpfull

http://www.jeep.com/en/4x4/how_syste...quadra_trac_2/

ol"blue

You might be okay then. I don't know about that Dodge driveshaft working though. You must have checked it out before buying though. Good luck.