charlieaf92

Greetings

I've seen several threads where people remove their front differential, axles and drive shaft in order to completely eliminate the AWD system in a C4. But, I don't believe I've ever seen anything about removing the front axels only - leaving the drive shaft and front diff.

Long story short, I want to service the front CV boots and rather than trying to order every part I might need ahead of time - or having my car out of service for 2 weeks waiting on parts once I get a list together - I could have some 2WD fun by removing the front axles and taking my time repairing them.

Has anyone done it this way? Are there any reasons not to that maybe I'm not thinking of? If I understand the way the system works, the viscous clutch would essentially be engaged all of the time but with virtually no load on it from the front wheels. I'd imagine that since there is no load, any additional wear on the clutch or the differential itself would be negligible. Again, not considering this as a permanent mod, but more like a 1 month experiment while I get the axles and cv joints sorted out.

Cheers
Charlie

orangeman

I don't see any reason why that wouldn't work. Maybe find a way to seal where the stub axels attached to the front diff? Plasti dip?

charlieaf92

If I remember correctly theyre pretty much exposed normally. Not sure any sealing would be necessary?

DBJoe996

I think it is not as simple as all that. I know that some folks have removed all the components, but I think you have to consider the wheel carrier hubs. See this diagram for the wheel carrier hub, pay particular attention to Part No. 5 and 6, the splined shaft and wheel nut. http://www.autoatlanta.com/porsche-p...section=401-05
Then this diagram that shows the front axle with the splined shaft and wheel nut http://www.autoatlanta.com/porsche-p...section=401-10

If you remove the axle, how do you get a wheel nut on (without something like Part #5)? And doesn't the axle shaft go all the way through and connect with Part #9 in the wheel carrier hub?

https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...96-to-rwd.html

Hardback

Most shops replace the front axle shaft assemblies they don't service the cv joints alone. How many miles do you have? Inspect your hubs. Good time to replace them as well. When I converted to rwd we found my hubs were cracked.

white out

You can't merely remove the front axles because they hold the hub together. When people convert their cars, they tear down the outer CV and reinstall the outer CV back into the hub. I make axle delete kits, which allow cars to convert to 2WD without tearing apart the front axles and further reduce weight by 3lbs. whit3out.com

Macster

Others have spoken on the subject of the axles/half shafts.

You can't leave the driveshaft (cardan shaft) connected that runs from the transmission to the front diff. This will cause the viscous coupling to overheat and destroy it.

If you can find a way to deal with the removal of the axles/half shafts you still must remove the cardan shaft. The front diff/viscous coupling then will not rotate at all the viscous coupling will be ok.

charlieaf92

All great points - thanks for the info! Looks like my plan is a no go.

groovzilla

I was going to point out that there are no axels on a 996 - However there are axles.

charlieaf92

good point.

charlieaf92

Just ordered some tools + inner and outer CV boots, straps, grease, and axle nuts for both sides today. Going to attempt to tackle it in one go - hopefully there won't be any surprises. For anyone that has removed the front axles before - are there any other parts or tools that I'm going to need?

Thanks
Charlie

5CHN3LL

A giant-*** cheater bar to crack the axle nuts.

Andrewck

How giant-*** are we talking here?

charlieaf92

I believe its torque spec is 340 ft/lb. When I removed the axle nut on my old Audi I used a 24" 1/2" drive breaker bar with my jack handle slipped over it. It gave me about a 4' long lever and I still had to stand on it and jump a bit to get it to break loose.

dporto

The axle nuts are/should be torqued to 340 ftlbs. I used a 3' piece of pipe on a 1/2" breaker bar to break them loose and it was fairly easy. To re-torque the nuts, you can use the formula: Torque (in ftlbs) = distance from bolts (or socket end of wrench) x body weight at said distance. In my case this worked out to be my weight 170 lb.s at a distance of 2 feet = 340 ft lb. I did these last April (replaced suspension and front wheel bearings) and everything seems to be fine with them.