I may be running into front differential problems and need to know if I can run without the front driveshaft till I can find a place to work on it. 04 DII and the guy at the shop that looked at it (but won't work on it) recommended I remove it for transportation to where ever I'm taking it. Can I remove it and then lock the diff to drive it or lock then remove to drive it around?

Also does anyone know of a good shop in the Kalispell, MT area? Really don't wont to drive it all the way to Spokane if there is a decent shop closer.

 

Yes, lock the diff and drive. I drove my daughters like that for over a month.

 

yes you can

 

If you are possibly having front differential problems I would be cautious when driving it even with the front DS out. It makes sense that you are taking some of the load off the front diff by removing the shaft, but it is still going to spin just as fast as you drive. Find yourself a driveline shop, not a regular mechanic.

 

He won't work on it??? Why? It's stupid simple. What are the symptoms? I would be cautious and like Erik said, probably not a good idea to drive it with the potential failure point. It's not a big deal if it were the front D/S and you just wanted to remove it until you got a new one, but the diff does have the potential to cause further damage.

 

Unfortunately I wasn't driving it when it started acting up but I had recently used it to pull a trailer while making a 5 hour move a couple of times. The shop guy said they didn't have the tools to work on LR vehicles ... which is crap or means we rather stick with American or Asian vehicles. First they thought it was an out of balance FD shaft or the rear rubber coupling so I took those off and replaced the rubber coupling/rebalanced FD shaft.

Didn't help at all so I took it back and they said they didn't find any metal in the oil of the diff or transfer case but could hear some grinding at both ends with a stethoscope. They thought that maybe some bearings were starting to go bad. Basically the truck doesn't run well or is making alot of noise at speeds of 35-55. I thought I may have killed the transmission or torque converter in the move because I couldn't feel it shift gears.

Unfortunately I'm new to this area and haven't found any LR shops in the area which is odd considering the amount of LRs I see daily. Really sucks because I have a 2004 DII with 89k and I did the headgaskets early to keep this girl in shape. Add in the brand new brakes/rotors, OME 2 inch HD lift, and the new BF ATs ... I really don't want to get rid of it.

 

Front output bearing on t-case? Front hub or hubs? Describe this noise between 35-55mph.

Id talk to every Rover owner you see out there and poll them on where they take their truck for service.