Quick Question - 4WD Disconnect

bfairweath

Original poster
Member
Oct 20, 2013
95
Neenah, WI
Found the outer bearing and outer seal of my 4WD disconnect destroyed. Ordered a new assembly from Amazon. Says it should be here in one day. Truck is a DD so I may have to drive it without the CV shaft for a while if Amazon fails.

I've read plenty here that it's perfectly fine to drive the truck without the CV shaft and to use the Roadie Gatorade cap trick to cover the output hole in the differential.

What do you guys recommend - keep the 4WD disconnect on the truck and cover that hole or take the disconnect off and cover the hole on the differential? I may have to drive it for a week or so (actually, the wife will have to drive it) before I have time to work on it. Maybe it doesn't matter. If that's the case, I'd rather take the old one off while the new one is in transit. Sounds like they can be a pain to get off.

I'll review the part I got off Amazon after I get it installed and use it for a while. $234 for the complete disconnect and actuator. It has good reviews. Autozone wanted $700 for just the disconnect assembly. I also bought the bearing and outer seal to rebuild the old one in case the Amazon one is a POS.
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
I'd leave the disco on with a cap in it. If you take it off, there is no way to cap that and the intermediate shaft will wobble spin, possibly damaging the the shaft, oil pan or the inner seal at the diff. Since it's the outer seal and bearing that are destroyed on your disco, it will still support the intermediate shaft.

Removing it can be a bitch is it's seized to the pan. Start soaking it with penetrating oil now and once you get the mounting bolts off, try to rotate it before trying to pry it off. This thread show what happens when it breaks off:
Hard to remove front disconnect
 
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bfairweath

Original poster
Member
Oct 20, 2013
95
Neenah, WI
Thanks Mooseman. I also saw the post on rebuilding the disconnect over on Offroad TB said not to drive at more than a crawl without the disconnect because the intermediate shaft will be unsupported.

I'll start soaking now. Amazon says parts are going to arrive at 9PM tomorrow night. Looks like I'll be driving with Gatorade cap this week.
 

TJBaker57

Member
Aug 16, 2015
2,897
Colorado
I bought one off Amazon years ago. Was $375 when I got it.


Found the insides of my original pretty worn. Decided it wasn't a rebuild candidate.

I'd be tempted to remove the CV shaft only, leaving the disconnect in place. As long as the seal and bearing on the intermediate side of the disconnect is intact there should be no leakage of the old dried out grease in the disconnect. That is if the disconnect doesn't show up.
 

bfairweath

Original poster
Member
Oct 20, 2013
95
Neenah, WI
Whew! Got lucky. Mine came off really easy. I was able to just pull it off by hand. No pry bar, hammer, or jack bolts. Perhaps it was Mooseman's suggestion to soak in penetrating oil last night (which I did). One detailed suggestion for anyone that has a disconnect that's seized to the oil pan. Take the mounting bolts out and spray penetrating oil into the bolt holes. There are only a few contact points between the disconnect and the oil pan. The four bolt holes are the majority of the contact. Get it behind the disconnect at the top too.

Think my old one is going to be a good candidate for a rebuild. The inboard side is really solid and rotates smoothly. Also, the 4WD was engaging so the fork should be okay. The outboard side looks like the only problem although I haven't cracked it open yet. Not going to until the new one arrives.

It looks very much like the mode of failure detailed in the rebuild article on OffroadTB - dried out grease/contamination on the outboard bearing due to outboard seal failure. I changed the CV shaft about 33,000 miles ago (inboard CV joint had a torn boot - spewing grease). I should have taken the opportunity to slather up the outboard bearing and the end of the new CV shaft with grease. I know I didn't. I will be putting a new CV shaft in today when I put the new disconnect in. Seems like the excessive movement may have caused some "clunkiness" in the inboard CV joint. There was ALOT of movement. I've seen posts here about concern over 1/4" of movement. There was WAY more than that.
20191117_155055545_iOS.jpg
 
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Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Small hijack. Looked at their description and they erroneously list the Rainier and Bravada for this disconnect. They are AWD and a use different disco although you could theoretically use this one if permanently moved to the locked position or make up a switching system to lock/unlock it.
 
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bfairweath

Original poster
Member
Oct 20, 2013
95
Neenah, WI
Well, that didn't take long. Actuator failed on the disconnect assembly I bought from Amazon. Failed after 3-4 4WD engagements. Worst part was it failed in the extended position about 150 miles from home so I had to drive with the front wheels connected. It does have a noticeable effect on fuel economy. Put the factory actuator back on and all appears to be well for the time being.

AA Ignition (the manufacturer of the aftermarket part) was fairly responsive on the warranty issue. They offered a $20 refund for the failed actuator and told me to keep using the OEM actuator. I thought that was a little light for the failure of a major component of $240 part. They bumped up to $30. I stopped arguing there and took what they offered.

I'm not holding out much hope that it will hold up mechanically. I'm in the midst of rebuilding the old one as a backup according to procedure at OffroadTB. One can obtain the inner and outer seals along with the three bearings for about $60. Hardest part so far has been getting rid of all the old grease on the parts and in the housings. The place where I work has a parts washer. That made quick work of it.
 

C-ya

Member
Aug 24, 2012
1,098
Since I figure they are all cheap copies, I paid $158 for mine on ebay back in May. They are cheaper now -4WD disco on ebay, only $140. Mine has been working fine since I installed it for the few times I have shifted into/out of 4WD. I still have my old one but haven't done any investigating yet.
 
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