OK. I'm going to go home and do this tonight unless some one screams NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO and gives a compelling reason not to.

I need to isolate a drive line problem. I can't tell if it in the front or rear or if it is the TC. I'm going to take off the rear drive shaft and drive a little bit. See if that gets rid of the rumbling and shaking. If it doesn't, I am going to do the same but with the front. This is a 2002 D2 with 188K miles. I replaced the front shaft already. Neither shaft looks/feels/behaves like it is the culprit. With this exersize I hope to determine if it a bearing on either end of either the front or rear shaft, or if it is the TC. When I have crawled underneath and shook everything I could get my hands on I couldn't find anything with play. The flex plate looks old but is not the culprit (I have experience with those). The rumbling and vibrating has been intermittent but has gotten worse the last week.

So am I about to cause irreparable damage? Or am I going to find the source of my problem?

 

You won't cause any damage, but you won't find your solution either. The 2002 did not come with a locking transfer case, so unless you have retroffited one then the output shaft without a driveshaft will just sit and spin and you won't move anywhere. I'd start with the front shaft. Drop it and do a bench inspection for any stiffness/friction or looseness in the joints. Hell, might even have one seized that you wouldn't be able to tell from under the truck without dropping the shaft.

 

Are you saying that with the front shaft on and the rear shaft removed the vehicle will not propel itself? If so I have more to learn about the 4wd TC.

 

Correct..the output flange without a shaft on it will spin freely.

 

Yep. The transfer case acts like an open differential between the front and the rear instead of between two wheels.

 

HMMM. Now what. How can I isolate the issue in the most efficient manner?

 

Turns out I didn't need to wait to find out the Main issue. The rear Joint of the front shaft disintegrated and left me stranded. It didn't completely come apart but it was not drive-able. Now, I have a shaft ordered and will install that. What other damage has been done and what would you good folks recommend? Bearings on either end of that shaft?

 

As long as you're not pouring fluid out of the tranny, you may be fine.

 

Did you order an OEM replacement or did you upgrade it with something serviceable to prevent this from happening again in the future?

 

Upgrade of course. In fact I had replaced the OEM when I got the vehicle. But it was replaced with a used one. So there you go. New serviceable, greasable, on the way.

No fluid pouring out of the trranny. In fact I just serviced it a few weeks ago. I do need to re seal the TC.