Remind me not to buy an awd Town and Country!

[zrxkawboy]

Did a quick search and found a couple threads on other forums that indicate the van can safely be driven with the rear driveshaft removed. One example:

http://www.chryslerforum.com/forum/chrys...ibration-13636/

 

[Rolla07]

Originally Posted By: spasm3
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Originally Posted By: NHGUY
Rule #1,dont buy an AWD vehicle if you are going to keep it 14 years.


Unless it is a Subaru....


I like some of subarus cars, but they only offer awd. If i can't get fwd or rwd with selectable 4wd i don't want it. I just don't want the expense of awd repairs as i keep my cars a loong time.


I would take AWD over 4WD. I know tons of people with Sub's from 1995 and newer..and never any AWD issues, I think your worries are not valid, but it is your opinion. Id be worried about alot of other things before a flaky AWD in a Subaru..

To the OP, hope you get the answer you're looking for, post above me seems to be interesting.

 

[sciphi]

Sucks that the lawyers mean you can't do the sensible fix, even if you had them sign a waiver. I get it, an improvised solution is fine on a personal vehicle but not when a shop is on the hook if the welded axle fails a few years from now.

 

[Doog]

Its a drive shaft not the hope diamond. You can find one in a boneyard if you do a national search.

 

[dnastrau]

If you check here and search for "rear drive shaft" it looks like used ones are out there:

http://www.car-part.com/index.htm

After reading this thread I think I will pass on the really clean 2002 AWD Town and Country that I was contemplating looking at...

Andrew S.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I think this system is a lot like that in our CR-V. The "transfer case" at the transmission is nothing more than a 90-degree hypoid gear set which spins the propeller shaft at transmission output speed. The rear wheels drive the coupling unit, which is bolted to the rear differential assembly. If no difference in speed, there is no clutched coupling. With a difference in speed, the coupling will begin to, well, couple, and power will be transferred to the rear differential.

The propeller shaft is required for rear power transfer only. Removing it will leave the rear unit in a constant state of just "rolling along", which shouldn't hurt it, and the transmission and transfer case will likely never know the difference either.

 

[Thermo1223]

^^^ Kinda agree

They were pretty basic PTO's with all the brains at the rear diff.

As for the Subaru comments while I will be the first to admit their faults(interiors/paint/fit&finish).

They planned ahead for AWD failures. Automatics can be mechanical FWD only until the clutches are fixed. The car will even do it itself if needed but you can insert a fuse as well. That is unless it is a VTD automatic which in the case you might have to pull the rear driveshaft which you would have to do in a manual anyway.

I cannot say whether pulling the driveshaft will hurt anything in the viscous center diff so don't take my word for it. However if you mess up the front diff well all bets are off for either.

I can't think that Chrysler didn't plan ahead as well as the whole setup is monitored by the ECU. If there was a electrical malfunction in the rear unit the car would disable it anyway. So then you would still just be dragging it along.

 

[Thermo1223]

Upon further reading apparently they were nothing more and viscous diff in the rear as well. IE always on always turning, pure mechanical.

They basically just added a PTO to the already existing transmission to drive the rear. So yes I believe you could remove the driveshaft and motor along just fine.

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: NHGUY
Rule #1,dont buy an AWD vehicle if you are going to keep it 14 years.Parts have a habit of being dropped (to ensure planned obsolescence)that might be needed to keep the AWD part going.Its laughable that 1984 FWD Caravans will live on while 2000s AWD models will die once their shafts/power transfer units give up.AWD buyers largely are playing "follow the neighbors" when it comes time to choose an AWD model over the more sensible 2WD version,and I guess carmakers would rather see you buy a new one rather than repair the old one.

The 1G DSM had an AWD option, and many people continue to drive them to this day. The 2G DSM may have ended up the same way, if the engine wasn't notorious for crankwalk.

Also, since I live in the USA, I don't know how long people have been hanging on to their EVO I through their EVO VII.

The Nissan Skyline GT-R was built between 1989 and 2002 with AWD, many are still out there.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: artificialist
Originally Posted By: NHGUY
Rule #1,dont buy an AWD vehicle if you are going to keep it 14 years.Parts have a habit of being dropped (to ensure planned obsolescence)that might be needed to keep the AWD part going.Its laughable that 1984 FWD Caravans will live on while 2000s AWD models will die once their shafts/power transfer units give up.AWD buyers largely are playing "follow the neighbors" when it comes time to choose an AWD model over the more sensible 2WD version,and I guess carmakers would rather see you buy a new one rather than repair the old one.

The 1G DSM had an AWD option, and many people continue to drive them to this day. The 2G DSM may have ended up the same way, if the engine wasn't notorious for crankwalk.

Also, since I live in the USA, I don't know how long people have been hanging on to their EVO I through their EVO VII.

The Nissan Skyline GT-R was built between 1989 and 2002 with AWD, many are still out there.


Someone has one as a winter beater, here. I know of 4 or 5 people that always complain when they see the old Skyline driving up and down 81 in the snow and salt spray!