Remove RWD on 2004 4matic E320 wagon
I don't really care about the all wheel drive and am thinking of removing everything to the rear of the transfer case and perhaps the rear driveshafts as well instead of spending thousands.
I can do the mechanical work myself.
Any technical reason why this wouldn't work??
Thanks...
Is the front half of the drivetrain built to withstand all the torque the engine/transmission can put out or is it engineered to use only some of it? You're well on the way to finding out. Let us know how it goes!
Is the front half of the drivetrain built to withstand all the torque the engine/transmission can put out or is it engineered to use only some of it? You're well on the way to finding out. Let us know how it goes!
I was thinking of leaving the transfer case in place and just let the short output shaft of it spin removing the rubber interface to the rear drive shaft, the rear drive shaft itself and the back rubber interface to the differential.
If I remove the rear drive shafts I would likely modify rear boots to seal off whatever joints are there.
I'm going to get under it (again) in the next week or so and pull that rear rubber joint to do some isolation testing of the rear differential/driveshafts.
pay someone to diagnose the issue if it’s proving difficult...if they send you a big repair list just decline and say you’ll junk the car, pay them for the diagnosis time then fix it yourself properly.
not to mention you’re now endangering others on the road. How will the ABS and traction control change? Sounds like an absolute nightmare. I wouldn’t want to be near you in the rain.
Last edited by ps2cho; Jul 18, 2019 at 11:17 AM.




Now about changing the gears. If you just disconnect rear driveshaft- the car will not go anywhere since it is non-lockable transfer case.
If you weld the rear shaft, the car will have double the original gearing, what will bring driveability issues.
Don't think it is doable.




