I got a 99 Disco II. I bought the truck about 2 years ago and parked it, never driven it. 2 weeks ago I finally had a chance to start it up and drive it. It started up very smooth, A/C is still operational so is everything else. When I drive it, I feel a vibration thats becoming more while accelerating, especially between 65 to 80 there is a terrible vibration coming from underneat. Disco has a brand new set of tires that are balanced so I dont even consider faulty tires for the problem. I was suspecting the front drive shaft was the cause of it. so I removed the front drive shaft to see if it would affect the vibration. to my amazement after removing the front shaft vehicle became immobile. It wont even move at all. Is this normal? anyone?

When I install the front shaft vehicle starts moving. Its like a front wheel drive rather than a 4X4.

 

Yes when you remove either the front or rear driveshaft the truck will not move.
Unless you lock the center locking differential.
Since you have a '99 you have a CDL, move the transfer case lever to the left (towards driver) and that will lock the CDL and allow you to drive on the rear driveshaft only.
The front driveshaft needs to be rebuilt using greasable u-joints, if you drive the truck and the front u-joints fail you will be buying a new transmisison.
Tons of write ups and questions on this problem.
Do a search and you will find tons of posts.

 

If you use a 10mm wrench and feel for the shift nipple, turn it clock wise and your drive shaft will be engaged.
If the front shaft needs rebuilding make sure whoever does it knows how to replace the 2 u-joints and the centering ball kit.

 

Yes it is normal. In order for the full time 4x4 to work on dry roads without binding LR uses a center differential. That differential sends power to where to senses the least resistance which when the front driveshaft is removed is the front output shaft.

Spike must be confused again. 99 D2s do have CDL but it has to be engaged underneath with a 10mm wrench like Mike said. The D1 can engage CDL just by move the transfer case shifter to the left. You can run with just the rear shaft for a short time until you get the front shaft rebuilt but it's a lot of strain on the rear differential and will cause damage if the truck is driven that way for too long.

 

Yes, I was confused, sorry, it is very hard to keep track of what years of DII's have the CDL and what ones dont.
Just one of the many reasons I own a DI.

 

Thanks for all the replies guys. Well here is the thing, when I bought this truck I was told it had a bad transmission, one day I layed under the truck and saw that front drive shaft was brand new and when I looked at the side of the transmission I saw a huge hole on the the casing, thats when I realized something went terribly wrong with the truck, so I opened the drain plug and transmission had no fluid left in it. I bought some aluminum welds and some transmission fluid and pan gasket, I did a quick service and as soon as transmission was topped off with fluid it started working. Thats when I decided to park the truck so the weld would get stronger (its been two years hehe) .It really did. Im driving the truck for almost 2 weeks now and there is not even a drop of tranmission fluid anywhere. I am guessing previous owner broke the front shaft while driving and damaged the transmission. I bet he wasnt even aware that when shaft broke off, it hit the transmission causing a leak.

So, since my shaft is brand new, does it still need a rebuild? I just noticed it had no oil in it. I just pumped some oil in it. I will install it tomorrow and see if it makes a difference. Worse case scenario I'll take it to get it checked. thanks for clearing the transfer case question I had.

 

D2s came from the factory with non-greaseable u-joints in the double cardan joint on the front drive shaft. When those u-joints fail the shaft flops around and well, you've seen the result.

You need to get a good look at the u-joints and make sure there are grease zerks. If the new shaft is just a factory shaft then yes it needs to be rebuilt.

 

Hey fellas... got my ride back today and she runs awesome! so i had the idea to do the transfer case, lock it up Hi-lock, lo-lock, lo, hi..... anyway I can get it into lo fine but when i got under and tried to engage the CDL the nipple would not budge....i was in neutral on the shifter and in either hi or lo and couldnt get it to turn, solenoid? Seized?

 

Engage the CDL with the tranny in neutral.

 

You said nipple.