Should front drive shaft turn in 2 wheel drive?

[hunter29078]

I just installed the mile marker 501 kit in my 203. The front drive shaft is turning in 2 wheel drive. I can turn the shaft by hand so I know it is not engaged but it does spin in 2 wheel. Is this normal? Thanks

 

[Avery4jc]

Are your hubs locked or "sticky"... when I had auto hubs I noticed they would engage on their own from time to time.

 

[hunter29078]

I put the manual hubs on it. I know they are freewheeling. I figured if I can turn the front shaft by hand than it is not really in 4 wheel drive. When it is in drive and the front shaft is turning you could probably hold it and stop it from turning. Just wasn't sure if this is normal. Thanks

 

[79k20350]

Not sure about the 203 kits but im sure its fine. especially in any t case that have syncros

 

[Avery4jc]

Iono man that still sounds strange to me. Like you said it's not actually engaged but still, I know I wouldn't want my front shaft spinning all the time. Why put that extra wear and tear on u-joints?

 

[4X4HIGH]

Yes the shaft might still spin while in 2wd. It is nothing more than rotational friction making it spin.

 

[colbystephens]

i suppose it's kind of like when you have a manual transmission in neutral and you put the drive wheels up in the air (by jack stand or whatever) with the engine on, the wheels will spin slowly. ofcourse, if you grab a wheel you can easily stop it from moving. tried this when i put my detroit in the 14 bolt - sure surprised me when i saw that! it's amazing what a little friction will cause...

 

[Chevy305]

i suppose it's kind of like when you have a manual transmission in neutral and you put the drive wheels up in the air (by jack stand or whatever) with the engine on, the wheels will spin slowly. ofcourse, if you grab a wheel you can easily stop it from moving. tried this when i put my detroit in the 14 bolt - sure surprised me when i saw that! it's amazing what a little friction will cause...

they spin even faster when you have 85-140 in there.

When you start the truck on a cold morning, on a flat surface idling in nuetral it will try to move foward.

 

[abig84]

Yes the shaft might still spin while in 2wd. It is nothing more than rotational friction making it spin.

x2 if you ever roll behind a lifted truck you can usually see the axle shafts spinning a bit. i remember in my old k5, my front driveshaft was shot. ever ujoint was goine and that thing would make noise for the first 10 seconds after coming from a stop

 

[colbystephens]

they spin even faster when you have 85-140 in there.

When you start the truck on a cold morning, on a flat surface idling in nuetral it will try to move foward.

hmmm. that's a trip! i bet it would roll real well with the diesel in front of it... well, maybe that wouldn't make a difference. i guess it has nothing to do with the torque the engine puts out, just the friction in the system.

 

[irishraptor87]

yup my 205 has always done it, no worries

 

[SnackPack]

Yup, since I now have a tiny hole in my floorboard from moving from the NP208 to NP205 shifter, I can see my front shaft moving. I can tell when it's engaged or not by how quickly it ramps up from a stop ie, starting slowly won't make it move until I get up past 5mph or so.

Run it!

 

[Chevy305]

hmmm. that's a trip! i bet it would roll real well with the diesel in front of it... well, maybe that wouldn't make a difference. i guess it has nothing to do with the torque the engine puts out, just the friction in the system.

I'm not sure but when my engine is choked it'll idle up at 1200rpm so i think that plays a roll as well. I'm running the usual 80-90 in it now and it doesn't do it anymore.