Front drive shaft only
 

I'm restoring a 71 K1500. Truck is real close to being able to drive under it's own power. Would it harm the transfer case to drive the truck up onto a trailer with the transfer case in 4hi with only the front drive shaft in place? I'm thinking it would be OK, but kind of question if there might be a reaction to no load on the rear yoke. Any suggestions or info would be appreciated.

Re: Front drive shaft only
 

Will be fine. You can buy or make a twin stick setup for your transfer so you can have front wheel drive, not recommended for dry pavement.

Re: Front drive shaft only
 

Yeah, you're good. Years ago at work we blew out the rear driveline on an F350. Drove it back to the yard several miles on secondary roads in 4Hi. No problem.

Re: Front drive shaft only
 

way back in the day I lost a rear u-joint in my 72 blazer...screwed the yoke up..drive it a couple weeks on front driveshaft while waiting on a replacement....won't be a problem

Re: Front drive shaft only
 

Running on dry pavement is only an issue when 4 wheels are driving in a true 4x4 system. This refers to post #2.

Re: Front drive shaft only
 

yep, drove 3 hours to home once on only the front pulling my rzr and 6x10 trailer.

Re: Front drive shaft only
 

It's called front wheel drive. I've had to run a while that way before. Can't do it with the later transfer cases, but these are no problem

Re: Front drive shaft only
 

I was just concerned that the transfer case may have been designed to always carry a load on the rear yoke and that no load on rear might cause some internal damage to case.

Re: Front drive shaft only
 

If your transfer case has a fixed rear yoke, you will be fine. If it has a slip yoke, you will have problems.

Re: Front drive shaft only
 

yeah if its open you will just spill transmission fluid or oil all over the place but just going on the trailer shouldnt be a issue if you dont mind a small trail.

i drove home like 6 blocks with only a front driveshaft and the rear shaft removed on one with a slip yolk on a 83 s10 blazer, it just left a small trail the whole way but didnt hurt anything

Re: Front drive shaft only
 

It's not just for fluid. The slip yoke supports the rear half of the output shaft. With nothing to support it, it can rock around and damage itself, other parts in the case, the bushing that supports the slip yoke, the seal(not a real biggie) and the case itself.

You got lucky

Re: Front drive shaft only
 

Transfer case is a NP205 with a fixed rear yoke.