Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Eureka: 2WL for mid 2002 and beyond

[boomtown]

We all know Dodge deleted the Center Axle Disconnect (CAD) beginning with the mid 2002 trucks.



If your like me and have a truck with no CAD and want to use your 4WL gears on hard pavement to move your heavy trailer around tight spots, I've found an affordable solution.



Remco Towing makes a drive shaft disconnect coupler that can be adapted to our front drive shafts. This is not a viscous coupler like Milemarker was using a few years ago. This coupler has positive engagement with no slip. In function, it basically gives you manual hubs but it's done on the front drive shaft instead of a wheel hub.



You can see in the pictures below that I had a Drive Shaft shop redesign my front drive shaft to accommodate the Remco coupler. Basically they moved the slip joint that was near the Differential end of the Shaft to the other end near the Central Velocity joint on the Transfer case end of the Shaft. Next the installed the Remco device at the yoke near the Differential.



The end result is with the coupler disengaged, I can use 4WL in my truck on hard pavement w/o sending power to the front axle (i. e. no drive train binding). IMHO, this mode is a necessity for backing and parking trailers safely.



The coupler is designed for continuous duty. I'm running around doing my every day driving with the coupler disengaged. The side benefit here is that I'm not spinning my Transfer case all the time. This is a good thing because as I understand it, the NP241 was not designed as an all-time transfer case.



I'm not saying this is a perfect solution, however it's working good for me and IMHO it's way less drastic and less costly that swapping out the front end to get hubs.



I used a Drive Shaft shop in Dallas to do the work and I am please with the end result. If you use the same shop I did, you can expect to pay about $450 to have your Drive Shaft modified (this includes the Remco device, fabrication, and re-balancing).



Here's the link to Remco if you'd like to take a look at the technical specs of the device.



http://www.remcotowing.com/drive. asp



PM me if you'd like to know the Shop I used here in Dallas.

 

[AH64ADMTP]

Boomtown,



How do you select/activate the front axle with that system installed? Has your milage increased since you are no longer turning the front end at all times?

 

[SRadke]

I'm curious about the torque rating of this thing?

-Scott

 

[boomtown]

AH64,



Remco has (IMHO) an odd fork mechanism that can be clamped on to the back of the differential. The fork slips into the groove of the coupler device. A cable is then run from the fork to a shift lever in the cab allowing you to engage or disengage the coupler. I've elected not to install the fork shifting mechanism; when I come up with a better shifting solution I'll let the members know. Until then, I just reach under the truck by hand and slide the mechanism back to engage or forward to disengage. The coupler has a detent ball retention feature to keep it engaged or disengaged.



As I mentioned in my earlier post, I run disengaged most all the time. I only engage the coupler (by hand) when really need to engage power from the Transfer case to the front axle; i. e. 4WL off-roading, 4WH ice, (not very often for me).



I've not noticed any change in gas mileage. I doubt I'll see a decrease here as the front axles and diff are turning as you roll down the road. When disengaged, the coupler separates Diff from the Transfer case.



Not sure about torque rating on the device, however there are a lot of these devices on the road. I do suspect it (the coupler) will be the weak link in this setup. However, I also suspect the NP241 will not take the abuse of too many uncontrolled bursts of torque from the mighty Cummins.