4X4 removal

[Trailblazin]

hey all, i do have 4X4 on my ride and I hardly ever use it so I want to take it out. Is this possible??? would this harm any internal parts?? The reason being I never use 4X4 and plus its been broke for around one year, so taking it out would give me ALOT of weight loss which I am in dire need of. Any help plzz

[impalajunkie]

i'm having the same problem. i never use the 4x4, its always saying 'service 4wd' on the dash, i just wana get rid of it. dealership says it'e be a 400-600 fix, i'd rather remove it all and sell parts on ebay!

[bmm354]

I don't see why you couldn't just yank all the 4WD parts off and replace with 2WD-specific parts if needed. But if you do you'll seriously lower your truck's resale value, not to mention make potential buyers (or trade-in managers) wonder what else has been stripped off. I dunno, seems more trouble than it's worth IMO. If you're sick of looking the dash light you might want to just remove the bulb.

[Trailblazin]

well ive crashed my car already, so im not too worried about the resale value. plus when i do trade it in, all im looking for is my TB to cover at least 2000KD ($6000) downpayment on a new car.....plus the only reason i want to take the 4X4 off is for the loss of weight ill get. The TB is advertised as 7.5 0-60mph. Im sure the 4X4 is somewhere round 8.5. I raced a Silverado last night, fully stock, only 20" rims which should make it heavier, but anyway the 0-60mph times recorded for that were around 8.8-9.0. He was in front the whole way (not by a lot) until he hit his 160kph limiter then i came through..... I have an intake and exhaust and shouldve been expecting a better result. but nope

on another note, will i need to add 2WD specific drive train parts!?!? :duh:

[itchyfishnv]

just take out the front driveshaft

[Trailblazin]

just take out the front driveshaft

is it that easy???

[itchyfishnv]

Well i dont see why you just dont leave it alone, if youre looking for a weight reduction im sure there are most cost effective ways with less headaches than gutting your 4wd. but all you would do is unbolt the knuckle at the front of the shaft and slide it out of the tcase. and then again a 2wd doesnt have a tcase (i dont know never seen a tranny without a tcase on it, every vehicle ive owned is 4wd), so you'd need to find out whats in place of it once you take the drive shaft out.

[homertime]

I think it just sounds easier said then done... i'd hate for you to create some headaches by taking it out

[ieatglue]

I got a fortune cookie one day that read: It's easier to give suggestions when you know nothing about the subject :raspberry

[bmm354]

on another note, will i need to add 2WD specific drive train parts!?!?

Well, probably...what I meant was along the lines of what Itchyfishnv mentioned about the transfer case. The t-case sits at the rear of the transmission, and it's what supplies power to the front and rear driveshafts. If you remove it, you'll have a bunch of space between the rear driveshaft and the transmission. I'm not sure what goes here on 2WD models. Longer rear driveshaft? A 'dummy' t-case?

As for 0-60, Car&Driver tested a 2002 TB 4x4 that did it in 7.9; MotorTrend tested a 4x4 '02 Envoy that did it in about 8 sec.:
http://motortrend.com/roadtests/suv/112_0312_verdict_envoy/index3.html

Keep in mind 0-60 times depend on a ton of variables such as gear ratio, tire condition, aftermarket wheels or not, options, weather, etc. And of course how much you want to beat up on the drivetrain. Gear ratio alone can have a HUGE impact. If you have the 3.42 gears and the pickup has something like 4.10 that would give the pickup a jump off the line.

[itchyfishnv]

in my honest opinion... i would leave it alone... messing with 4wd is a pain in the @$$. I just replaced my 4wd on my s10 and its a pain esp with all the computer parts thats tied into it. I would just leave it alone and let the next person who you sell the truck to worry about fixing the 4wd. Atleast theyll always have that option. :m2:

[Trailblazin]

well i went to the dealership today, they told me that id need to get alot of new parts to use the 2wd drive train. An extended shaft, new transmission box, change the programming!! thats kinda annoying, thought itd be as simple as removing the module and the front drive shaft and thats it :( ah well, he told me the 4wd drive parts would lose me 50kgs, so i guess its time to start eating less pizza hut :P

[ScarabEpic22]

well i went to the dealership today, they told me that id need to get alot of new parts to use the 2wd drive train. An extended shaft, new transmission box, change the programming!! thats kinda annoying, thought itd be as simple as removing the module and the front drive shaft and thats it :( ah well, he told me the 4wd drive parts would lose me 50kgs, so i guess its time to start eating less pizza hut :P
If you want the easy way to lose some of the weight, as mentioned before, just remove the front driveshaft. I dont know the weight, but it will help, plus all it takes is rebolting it back in place to return it back to full 4X4.

[bmm354]

...he told me the 4wd drive parts would lose me 50kgs, so i guess its time to start eating less pizza hut :P

You can cut your TB's weight in other ways too...I'd never give up Pizza Hut! :D One trick is to remove the spare tire, jack, and tools. By removing the spare you probably can save ~45 lbs. right there. The spare is actually very easy to remove. It just cranks down from the vehicle by using the included tools. It took less than 10 mins. to lower mine at home in the garage as a test (wanted to make sure it wasn't rusted stuck). But obviously you wouldn't want to go without a spare for very long, unless you're feeling lucky!

Other things you can do are pull out all your floormats and all the misc. junk that we all tend to keep in our vehicles. Plus you could remove the front driveshaft and roof rack.

[itchyfishnv]

just take everything out except the steering wheel and drivers seat. Youll lose a couple hundred pounds.

[Dacomputernerd]

just take everything out except the steering wheel and drivers seat. Youll lose a couple hundred pounds.

I think there is a pic of that somewhere on here... I'll look for it

[zamar]

I think there is a pic of that somewhere on here... I'll look for it

I think that pic belonged to jimmyjam.:yes:

[jimmyjam]

Thats easily 100lbs lighter
http://home.earthlink.net/~jimmy_jam/images/dragracing.jpg

[ieatglue]

Best way to lose weight
http://www.eluwak.com/images/cabby/xmas/empty_car_small.jpg

:laugh: You can ask a friend to pull you up a hill and go from there. Plus you also money on gas which you can use for PIZZA !!

[h0tr0d]

400 - 600 bucks at the dealer isnt that much to ask. considering the problems you are going to get into with everything. if you are expecting on getting screwed on the trade in anyway then just trade in in now. besides its not like we are driving a corvette anyway. these things werent made to go fast. :m2:

[bmm354]

The ultimate in weight reduction:

http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/features/0208scc_scared31_zoom.jpg

http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/features/0208scc_scared25_zoom.jpg

Check out the full article at http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=776885

Funny stuff!

[lowered envoy]

Hey if you remove the front axles and f drive shaft and diff then you can use the dmj kit and the ground force springs and slam the truck.That would look awesome.http://caraudiomag.com/v_features/0403cae_envoy04_z.jpg (http://www.caraudiomag.com/v_features/0403cae_envoy/#)