SkydiveAL
Member
Add me and my Saab to the RWD-only club. It took about 8 hours including a couple of trips to the auto parts store to pull the front axles, get the rotors turned and do a full brake job. That was in the driveway on jack stands for all the neighbors to see. They hate all of my cars and trucks, 8 total, but with 6 drivers in the house, that's just the way it is.
Total work done required:
1) Pull the front drive shaft (rear steering crossmember has to come out to make clearance)
2) Pull the both wheel axles (no stubs left in the hubs)
3) Unplug the TC encoder motor
4) Remove fuse #8 from the fuse box under the hood. We got the location from the owner's manual.
The seal on the driver's side axle had totally disintegrated and whatever bearing is on the other side of the seal didn't look so good either. I would have rather fixed the front differential but we needed to get this truck back on the road and disabling the front drive seemed the expedient thing to do.
Many thanks to Berns, Mooseman, Sparky and others for the information and encouragement.
HizAndHerz, since you pulled the drive shaft what did you do at the TC?
I just had the EXACT thing happen to my front differential, blew that bearing up. I don't care about the AWD here in Alabama so I am all for saving some money and just removing everything from the drive shaft forward. I already have everything removed (Removed oil pan to replace gasket too). Bu I haven't removed the shaft yet, just doing research first and hope to get to it next week. Mine is a 2006 SAAB 97X with 5.3L