Hello

I have a '98 CRV that has had the rear drive shaft removed, so effectively is now a FWD only. This works great and there are no issues as the rear drive shaft was constantly turning as there is effectively no diff between the front and back, the rear locking action actually happens in the rear diff.
My question is this...I want to permanently remove the rear diff and side shafts, can I do this by dropping the diif and pulling out the side shafts from the hub, and just leave the outter portion of the CV (at the wheel hub) behind without having to dismantle the rear hubs...so can I just yank out the inter part of the CV with the hub still assembled??

Has anyone done this before?

Thanks Guys!

 

I haven't inspected the rear diff's on our CRVs to see how they are attached. You should be able to remove it without changing the rear subframe. I'm in for the info. I actually run my AWD system without any issues. Why do people even like to make it FWD?

 

Should be able to remove the rear diff and axles...piece of cake.

 

From what I understand most people end up doing the 2WD conversion on the later models when they pick up issues with the drive shaft, which are quite costly to replace, and anyway 90% of they cars don't even see a dirt road, never mind 4x4 situations.

So can i drop the rear diff without having to dismantle the rear hubs...could I pull out the inner cv at the hub and leave the otter portion (hub) in place without taking the rear suspension apart, is there a retaining system for the inner part of the outer CV??

 

I don't see why you shouldn't be able to remove the axles without needing to unbolt the hub since you're dropping the diff. The axles have lots of play to make it possible. Take pictures if you end up doing the work.

 

you can buy the 2wd axle stubs new still for about 40-50 a piece, but you can also stick to your plan and just leave the cv stubs in the hub and save some money.

 

Side note, if you ran the rear diff without a driveshaft it's probably shot anyway. The rear diff works in forward AND reverse so if it was back there with the axles spinning while the nose of the diff wasn't spinning the clutch pack is probably completely dead.

 

This is my 2wd spindle. I would assume that this is what you would need to convert it.