quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
^^^^ This

It takes only a minute or two to pull a driveshaft. Just pull the end at the T case and hang the shaft on a wire. It’s just like towing a RWD vehicle with an automatic transmission.

Might be best to remove it completely. If the front differential is locked up or sticky too, its going to turn that driveshaft, and I don't think I would want to risk it coming down.

quote:

Originally posted by ScreamingCockatoo:
Remove the front drive shaft

Sounds like the simplest solution for the interim.

I think the simplest solution is to just find another rental car? You actually don't ever need a reservation, as reservations don't actually mean anything or guarantee you a car anyway.

If you’re in a decent size city you should be able to throw a cat and hit a car rental agency. If not, mark the front driveshaft and pull it completely. No way in hell I would drive that far with it hanging by a wire.

Interestingly enough, met a guy yesterday whose wife literally smoked the transfer case in their new Suburban driving in 4 high on the interstate. She had no clue till random people were waving at her to pull over due to the smoke coming out from under it.

quote:

Originally posted by rburg:
Lots of suggestions:

1 Don't go.

2 Wait till it snows in LA

3 Rent a tow dolly and put the rear wheels up

4 Pull the front or rear drive shaft

5 Pull the front shaft and if it wasn't really
in 4wd, you won't notice a difference. Then
put the shaft back in.

6 Borrow a different car. If you don't know how, ask any ghetto youth.

Option #3 only with some sort of swiveling wheels would be a hoot.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by dwd1985:
Am I likely to do any damage to a truck if driven 400 miles on dry pavement while its in 4wd?

Yes. Unless you are driving in a perfectly straight line, and all tires are exactly the same size, yes there will be undue wear, or ultimately damage. Maybe Toyota has some type of slip mechanism, but I doubt it on a true 4 wheel drive.

On a GM truck, leave it in auto, and it is the same thing as being in 4WD, plan on premature wear and failure of the front diff and/or transfer case. I'm half deaf, and can hear and feel and strain on the drivetrain when someone leaves it in auto, and have seen many of these failures.

Definitely will wear the tires, hurt fuel mileage, and will eventually take out expensive hard parts.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
I think the simplest solution is to just find another rental car? You actually don't ever need a reservation, as reservations don't actually mean anything or guarantee you a car anyway.

Well yeah. I can't believe you can't find a rental car for that time period.

quote:

Originally posted by dynorat:

On a GM truck, leave it in auto, and it is the same thing as being in 4WD, plan on premature wear and failure of the front diff and/or transfer case. I'm half deaf, and can hear and feel and strain on the drivetrain when someone leaves it in auto, and have seen many of these failures.

What do you mean, "leave it in auto"? Leave what in auto? I'm just curious. All my 4WD vehicles are manual transmission.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
I think the simplest solution is to just find another rental car? You actually don't ever need a reservation, as reservations don't actually mean anything or guarantee you a car anyway.

Well yeah. I can't believe you can't find a rental car for that time period.

quote:

Originally posted by dynorat:

On a GM truck, leave it in auto, and it is the same thing as being in 4WD, plan on premature wear and failure of the front diff and/or transfer case. I'm half deaf, and can hear and feel and strain on the drivetrain when someone leaves it in auto, and have seen many of these failures.

What do you mean, "leave it in auto"? Leave what in auto? I'm just curious. All my 4WD vehicles are manual transmission.

I believe he's referring to the 2wd/4wd selector, auto will detect slippage and what not which will engage 4wd if needed and applicable at the time. Most vehicles it's a button or knob on the dash.

quote:

Originally posted by MattW:

I believe he's referring to the 2wd/4wd selector, auto will detect slippage and what not which will engage 4wd if needed and applicable at the time. Most vehicles it's a button or knob on the dash.

Ah ok. Got it.

Yeah the GM Auto feature engages the front drive shaft only when necessary (detects slippage).

As others have said I would either pull the front drive shaft or not drive it.

quote:

Originally posted by MattW:
If you’re in a decent size city you should be able to throw a cat and hit a car rental agency.

It needs to be a dead cat. Or at least thats how the saying goes. Having owned or been owned by live kittens, I've seen them fly through my living room with no apparent steering inputs from the carpet. Also, picking up live cats that don't want to be picked up is very dangerous.

Please rent a car or completely remove the drive line (drive shaft) if possible see message below.

As I recall all four wheel drive, not the fulltime four wheel drive, vehicles will have a slightly higher ratio gearing in the front differential. This is because of two reasons.

The front of the vehicle makes a wider track then the rear of the vehicle in turns thus it travels a bit farther and needs a higher gear ratio. When going in a straight line the front differential with a slightly higher gear ratio will act as it is pulling the vehicle and thus help prevent it from the rear axle pushing the vehicle which would cause the front to actually sink into the soft ground.

That is why it is mentioned in the owner’s manual to only use the 4X4 option in bad traction areas thus the bad traction issue will allow things to give here and there.

Some vehicles will have the front driveline yoke slip into the transfer case. Thus pulling the driveline and yoke out will cause a lubrication fluid leak at the transfer case. This is not good.

NEVER pull the driveline from one end and tie it up.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ontmark,

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
I think the simplest solution is to just find another rental car? You actually don't ever need a reservation, as reservations don't actually mean anything or guarantee you a car anyway.

How hard can it be to find a rent car?

I believe he's referring to the 2wd/4wd selector, auto will detect slippage and what not which will engage 4wd if needed and applicable at the time. Most vehicles it's a button or knob on the dash.[/QUOTE]

Ah ok. Got it.[/QUOTE]

That's it, thanks Matt.

In Auto, my 2012 Silverado senses speed differences between the front and rear, and gradually applies a clutch to increase the percentage of torque to the front until the speeds equal, assuming that one end is losing traction. Unless the speeds are really close, and tires rarely are close enough in circumference, a little torque is applied, loads increase, things stress and wear. Supposed to be 'OK' to drive in Auto all the time, but I only use it in mixed conditions, and try to turn it back to 2WD as soon as possible.

4WD applies the clutch 100%, and is what I use when I really need to get started or for max control in bad conditions, Auto always seems to have to think a minute before fully engaging when more is needed, and I get impatient when split seconds matter.

That said, I really hate when I forget to turn Auto or 4WD back to 2WD when I leave the snow and ice behind and am back on clean pavement. Usually after 50-60 miles I notice the extra drag and slight lack of power, or the next time I get in and notice the tiny little 4WD light.

It's designed to reset the tow/haul mode every time I start it, and puts a yellow symbol in the cluster where I can't miss it, but it won't tear anything up if I were to forget it, but the Auto/4WD stays on, is hidden down below dash belt-line, and will tear up diffs and x-fer cases. Wonder why.