Rubicon front drive shaft

[jenny]

Hey, can those folks who also drive Jeep Rubicons tell me if the front drive shaft rotates even when the transfer case shifter is in 2wd? or is something buggered on mine?  I was just looking underneath the Jeep when trying to pin point a nose when I noticed the rotating shaft.  Seems weird to me, but maybe that is the way it is suppose to function? Any comments would be appreciated.

[FiEND]

yes, supposed to be that way.  the wheels turn, the differential turns then the shaft turns.  only way to stop this is to have hubs on the wheels.

[jenny]

Ok cool, that makes sense.  What do you think about putting hubs on?   Seems to me that that would save on gas and wear'n tear on the fornt end while in 2wd.  Not sure how many $ and whether it is worth it? Your thoughts?

[Tinkerer]

National quoted me about $1500 for a Warn setup (axle shafts, hubs etc.) for my '04 Rubi.

I would love to have some solid numbers on how much mileage difference it makes as well as wear and tear reduction.

[4PLAYZJ]

Check this out, a little more work but costs less to convert, even though you would have to get some new wheels

http://www.reidracing.biz/DANA30.php

[FiEND]

good stuff there.

i just did mine .. a little differently but basically same stuff.

should be able to do em for under $1000.  worth it if you are running larger tires as it costs me $100 to rebuild both front hubs as opposed to 3 or 400? for unit bearings.