Ok so two days ago i went an tried out the 4 wheel in my durango that i just picked up last friday. Well it worked very well untel i took it out of 4full time. Oh an it is the nv242hd t-case. Well i got going down the road an started to smell gear oil, looked in the rear view an smoke galore. Pulled over an looked under the front end an there was gear oil spitting out. Well when it cooled down i checked the front dif for play in the pinion bearing and well it is all kinds of play in it. So i have to drop the diff. My book doesnt go into much detail on this. How much of a pain is this thing going to be to pull apart? An if i remove the front drive shaft will it be ok untel i can get the new front axle? Other wise i have no way to go pick one up

 

Where is it leaking from? I wouldn't chance driving the truck with no gear oil in the front diff, as the front diff spins when the vehicle is in motion. Removing the front drive shaft will not change that. As for how hard it is to drop the diff, it all depends on whether or not you are dropping the carrier as well. You weren't too specific on these points

 

Yeah the entire carrier an diff. I have to drop it asap an get the new carrier this ine blew the pinion seal an now has a nice puddle of gear oil in my driveway. Im not going to rebuild the one thats in it. Just save it for when i do decide to.

 

The only way I can see you being able to use the truck to pick up the new carrier would be if you removed the front drive shaft AND the CV axles (when I think about it). Should be able to cheat a couple rides out of the truck this way.

As for dropping the carrier, I can't remember exactly how many spots it mounts to different places, but I know its no more than 3, and no less than 2 places. And with having the CV axles and front driveshaft out already, you should be able to drop the carrier down as you undo the mounting bolts (Hard to explain, I'm sure you will understand once you get underneath the truck and see for yourself)

 

The only isue i see with doing it that way would be the cv axles, dont they hold the spindles together? Every time i have come accross a loose cv axle nut the bearing in the spindle are bad. Dont they preload the wheel bearings?. But if it will work for a little bit then i guess i can check it out.

 

maybe if someone with more knowledge could chime in? This is only a suggestion I came up with, not sure how good of an idea it actually is

 

yes the cv axle nuts preload the bearings, without them you will burn up the bearings, the only unkown is how quickly you would burn them up, i would drive the truck w/o the front axle installed or without fluid in the front diff, if you have fluid in there and the driveshaft is removed you will be fine for a short period, but it is not a good long term solution IMO