Power divider locked-rear drive shaft off

We've done it in the past. Drop the rear shaft and lock and load. We don't go that far... 1600miles. SE regional. 800 miles at the most.

 

It will be just fine to run it coupla days.. Just remember to stay on even, hard surfaces

 

I am now in the same circumstance right now. I went ahead and dropped the interaxle driveshaft, and am going to do a load I committed to. My mechanic said no harm would be done, and he knows it will be 3600 miles before I get it fixed. I learned on thing after dropping the driveshaft....I have to engage the power divider as no power goes to the front axle if is disengaged. I am also going to be light for that 3600 mile trip...36,000 lb gross. My mechanic knows my load, so perhaps he would have reccomended to fix it first if I was heavy. But I don't think so.

 

Roll on Bull Dog. Stay away from any holes in the parking lot. They can mess up your day.

 

In my day we gave the load to repowering and sat to get it fixed right.

Just keep in mind ANY hole whatsoever is going to strand you really good and still cause you to be late. Again.

 

MRMTRANS: You ask this question with no home location or route. Running 10,000 miles like that is not a problem in my opinion looking out my windshield in the sunny south.
Running like that in February can get you in a pickle. There is a lot of bad weather for running in other areas right now. Do not make poor choices trying to save a dollar.

 

I get it. Thanks. Got the u-joints (went ahead and got the other end) and going to have pressed in on the full round ends of the driveshaft. Yokes on the diffs are 1/2 rounds. I am hoping to get balanced first, but I need to have ready to install before heading into snow on the way home. I already dealt with a little snow (80 miles of mucked up I80 in PA last night). That was exciting. Now I know how the YRC drivers feel, yet they probably have locking diffs.Not trying to save $$, so much as I want to keep on schedule with my primary customer. It's dedicated linehaul, out and back. If I have ujoints pressed in and then balance when I get home, I am doubling the work.

 

Balance is often not a problem on well made shafts.
A single axle with an axle lock can be a real butt buster on slick roads. Requires a new leaning curve on how to drive. Best left unlocked most of the time.

 

I now realize one thing....single axle works better than dual axle with power only to the front axle because ( I am supposing) rear axle sits behind the 1/5 wheel and and further under trailer, giving it more constant pressure. Now I really get the thinking behind the forward u-shaped axle that allows the driveshaft to go to the rear axle on a 6 x 2 setup. I would NEVER get rid of 6 x 4 by moving a rear axle forward and installing a trailer axle in the rear position.