My 4wd has always been a hassle since I bought my truck. This morning I tried to unstuck another truck and it started making hell noises. These noises wont stop even when 4wd is disengaged.

Can I remove the front axles or they hold the bearing?

 

I'm confused, do you mean the CV shafts? If so the answer is yes. They're just bolted to the housing nothing behind them but a flat surface

 

Yes I meant the CV shafts. If im going to have a useless 4wd, might as well stop hearing the weird noise, making it turn for nothing and, most importantly, stop thinking a I have 4wd and put
​​​​​​myself in troublesome situations :-P

 

You can remove them. But the hub will literally be held on with 3 bolts....

 

Or, crazy thought here..., you could fix it......

 

My Buddy built a RWD Focus, and on the front bearings he used the end of the CV shaft to have the proper setting on the bearing. I wouldn't just leave a hole there.... but then again, I also wouldn't just ditch the 4WD.

 

Dang, - my truck would be a huge hassle...if I opted for the axe vs the wrench.

 

If I end up having to rebuild the front diff, no, I wont fix it. I made a quick quote on rockauto and I have more important things to put a 1000 bucks on for now

 

heres the thing...you lose part of the value of the truck. Its gone.
It will be realized when you sell it, or now if you fix it, but its gone.
You make it worse if you bastardize it
You might as well realize the loss now, and benefit from the repair.

Easy enough to get a front diff from junkyard. If you can disconnect the front axles, you can swap the pumpkin.

 

Although I agree with your argument, its a 98 and Ill most probably be its last owner. Wife is on sick leave and moneys a hassle right now.

But I managed to get the 4wd to disengage by playing with the stick (no homo). The fork must be halfway dead or the actuators diaphragm must be ripped. The noise must be the (? Exact name) gears that engage the 4wd that eat each other because it doesnt fully engage. I may fix it, but theres a good chance there'll be some filing and cleaning to do...