Hi All,

Anyone know if OK to drive the GLK 350 a very short distance with rear propshaft (main driveshaft to rear wheels) removed.

I would think the car would work front wheel drive in this case, but not sure it’s OK.

I just want to move the car a short distance on the property in the middle of propshaft repair.


Thanks!

 

Dumb question on my part ... if you're in the "middle of the repair", whyyyyyy do you need to move it ?

 

Hi, Your question is a good one …

I have this car out of service for over a month to take my time with this prop shaft repair, flex discs and Center bearing. Now with the prop shaft out, and the back half of the exhaust disconnected, I am tempted to remove the exhaust completely (back half) and paint it with some high temp paint to make it look better and last longer. To do this I need the spot that the car sits to set up a paint booth. Maybe going overboard, but I like to paint stuff to make it last longer, if I can.

 

FWIW, I think it would be fine to move the car in "front wheel drive mode". In fact, I did the opposite (removing the front propshaft to move the car around). That worked, but because the rear propshaft is driven through a set of planetary gears, it was "slippy"... fine for moving the car around, but not a mode you'd want to use to drive across town.

However, the arrangement of the transfer case makes it clear that the front wheels are driven directly - no clutches or planetary gears, so I'm guessing you could drive the car as front wheel drive-only as long as you wanted (though I have not idea how all the sensors and computers would react).

 

I don't know about driving it, but, can't you just push it?

 

You will wish you had not painted that exhaust. It’s stainless steel already, and it will just look like crap.

 

^^ Agreed. I would just leave it in place, fix what you're fixing and leave the "mods" for another time/place.