Drive shaft disconnects

[jmmil]

Would appreciate hearing experience, good or bad, with this product. Considering using it on a 2011 Ford pickup. Have talked to the manufacturer who says they can do it and an RV shop who says they have good luck with them. Concerned about ease of use, effect on normal driving etc.
Thank you very much for your help.

Jim Miller

[zman62]

I have had one on our 2010 F150 for 2 years. I installed it myself, it was pretty easy. It has been trouble free. I had to adjust it a few times but thats it.

[Camping4fun]

A friend of mine has one on his Lincoln and I know for a fact every time he goes out they have some type of trouble with it. Myself I have never used one, good luck.

[Nick Escamilla]

I put one on 6 years ago on my Jeep Grand Cherokee, never had one problem. They do need to be lubricated once in awhile. I just spray WD 40 and it's good to go.

[wa8yxm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zman62 I have had one on our 2010 F150 for 2 years. I installed it myself, it was pretty easy. It has been trouble free. I had to adjust it a few times but thats it.

Z-man, can you describe the installation: (I would like to know)

Others?

The two problems I have heard of (My towed used an axle lock) are vibration and cable issues.

Cable issues come from not using it often enough...

Vibration can be a bad install (I think not), Or a bad bearing, (More likely) Or a manufacturing defect. .

[wa8yxm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zman62 I have had one on our 2010 F150 for 2 years. I installed it myself, it was pretty easy. It has been trouble free. I had to adjust it a few times but thats it.

Z-man can you describe the install, I don't have one and would like to know what is invovled.


I have heard of basically two problems with this device in my reading of the forums..

One is cable issues, if it's not used often enough, just like the parking brake cable the cable will rust and bind, Then you either can not get it to disengage ro worse, re-engage, Solution is to work the cable often and lube it from time to time.

The other is vibration.. i can think of 3 causes for vibration in no particular order

1: Defect in manufacturer
2: Bad installation
3: Bad bearing

[Submustang]

I have had one on my Tundra for 7 years. I have noticed that the cable seems to transmit a little noise from the rear end into the cab, but otherwise no problems. I make a point of occassionally spraying it down with Simple Green and after rinse and dry, I give it a shot of dry silicon spray. Of course my preference would be a truck that tows without modification, but the comfort and the quality of the Tundra are well worth it. I had mine installed by the dealer. I bought the entire driveshaft from Remco rather than having the shaft cut and welded. It came with a greaseable u-joint, so I have always made sure that it gets greased when I have service, since the service techs will not be expecting it to be greaseable.

It has been a great toad, plenty of seating for our grandkids. We have a loader in the bed for our motorcycle and a rack on the roof for our tandem kayak. If something happened to it I would do the same thing again.

[Tha_Rooster]

I have had one for 11 years on my ford expedition installed myself bought complete drive shaft still have old shaft. No problems at all. No cable issues install straight as possible. I could see it binding if coupling got muddy like if you live on a dirt road.

[fifty5rodder]

I installed one on my 2009 Ford Ranger. The units come from REMCO unbalanced and in my experience were so far out the driveline shop had a very hard time balancing it which resulted in some viberation especially at freeway speeds. The first unit they sent was out by .130 thousands could not even be balanced. The co. has been running so far behind on production they have farmed out much of the work and to no suprise quality has suffered. I would never try another one. Just my personal view.

[wa8yxm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tha_Rooster I have had one for 11 years on my ford expedition installed myself bought complete drive shaft still have old shaft. No problems at all. No cable issues install straight as possible. I could see it binding if coupling got muddy like if you live on a dirt road.

Rooster, I think you just answered my questions about this unit.

The question was "Please describe the installation"

but the un-asked question was: Do you have to modify, or replace with a shorter, the drive shaft.. It appears.. you do.

[bucks2]

The driveshaft disconnect consists of a toothed gear on the differential end and a toothed gear on the driveshaft end. A sleeve slides back and forth to either connect the two gears together or let the gears turn independant of each other. Your original driveshaft has to be shortened and the gear welded on, or you can buy a new driveshaft with the gear already welded. Either way the tube portion of the driveshaft is shorter than it used to be.

The sleeve is moved with a cable thru a yoke type assembly that rides in a groove on the sleeve.

The only trouble I've experienced with mine is the need to spray lube (I use WD 40) on the exposed gears and sleeve every so often to allow easy movement. As I spray it also coats the cable end so there has been no problem with rust or corrosion.

As more and more 4x transfer cases omit a neutral, it seems to me that driveshaft disconnects will become more common.

[davidcastleb]

I installed mine on my 2000 Nissan Frontier and have used it for the last eleven years. I adjusted twice and lubricate the cable once a year. David Castleberry

[wa8yxm]

Bucks, You do know WD-40 is more cleaner than lubricant,, There are better, far better, lubricants,, And some of them do not even permote the collection of dust.

WD-40 .. WD means "Water Displacement"

Dri-Slide (Moly lube) Now that's some serious stuff. Messy, but worth it.

[Diplomat Don]

wa8xym.....I just installed one on my Nissan Frontier a few months ago. On my installation, I sent them a measurement from center to center of the u-joints.

They sent me a new driveshaft with their disconnect collar on one end. I had to remove my driveshaft and remove the spline and u-joint from mine and installl it on theirs. I took the vehicle for a test drive and had a slight vibration. I took the driveshaft to a drive shaft shop for balancing. The shop said they had balanced these shafts before and occasionally couldn't balance them perfectly in both positions (the Remco slip spine can lock in two positions). They said mine balanced well in both positions. ($100.00)

One thing I did learn, you don't need to connect the rest of their equipment to use the system. You can crawl underneath and slip the shaft by hand if needed.

The shifting mechanism they sent me didn't fit my truck properly. They sent me a second one which was a different configuration. Between the two, I was able to assemble one that worked well. The linkage bolts to the differential using various means, depending on the shape of the differential. Mine used two U-bolts to clamp it on and a couple of centering devices.

I don't think they get many requests for a system that fits a 2010 Nissan Frontier. I've only towed with it once, but it will get its test this summer.

I read a lot of posts from people who had the system before I bought my truck and committed to using the Remco system. I heard very few issues and the ones I did hear of were mostly getting the linkage adjusted.