Hey guys just bought a 96 chrand cherokee V8 4x4 toninght and kinda excited but sad at same time just sold the 91 XJ. Anyways I was wondering would it help a little with mpgs if i took off the front drive shaft. Ganna be going through everything soon any words of wisdome on these let me know. Thanks

 

Not likely, and if yours is an AWD transfer case, you could actually harm the viscous coupler in the case.

 

yes its 4 all the time thats why I figured I would ask you guys first.

 

If its the AWD model the front Driveshaft is a CV joint going into the Diff, And I blew mine out on my ZJ and took the shaft out. It doesnt really affect your MPG much at all but i had mine out for a couple months and it didnt hurt anything.

 

Its just going to be a family jeep to cruise around and what not till I can build another one. Just looking for little things to do to help out. What kind of mpgs you guys getting on your zjs with the v8? I dont know to much about these.

 

It was the early year ZJs with the 249 that had the problem t-case. In 1996 they used a revised viscous coupler that has many less problems. Additionally it is fine to run without the front DS, according to *most* people. I've done it on mine with no problems. As for gas mileage its terrible in city, maybe like 10-12 on stock tires, but highway it pulls 18-19. Lots of power/acceleration but for some odd reason the city mileage just blows. It has 270,000ish miles, and it was well maintained by my uncle, an ASE master mechanic, for nearly it's whole life.

 

nice to know.

 

ya the city mileage does suck, but ive got mine on 33's and on highway the other day i was getting 15-16mpg i was completly shocked

 

heading to work is all kinda up hill but my was home is going back down so its doing really good on gas. How much can you trust the mpg gauge in the overhead console? lol

 

The overhead console is rarely right for me, but it's cool I guess. Just fill your tank, note your mileage, then run your tank low. Refill and divide gallons of gas it took to fill your tank by the miles traveled. This is the most accurate way of determining gas mileage.

 

Unfortunatly, 4X4's are all poor in MPG because of the front drivetrain. Even with the front shaft out, you are still turning the differential with heavy gear grease in it. The only way to save gas is to soft-pedal it, but that's no fun! I've got a 00 WJ that I deliver newspapers with and on the route, I get about 12 mpg and on the highway about 17. That's with a 4.0 I6 with 3.73 gearing and stock 16's. My overhead consol is pretty close to actual mpg but not exact. Just keep it tuned up and the air filter clean is about all you can do.

Oh, and I've got Selectdrive with the 2WD option.