All wheel drive to 2 wheel drive mod

[gto78]

By using the brown wire mod and disabling the a 4wd, does this help gas mileage? Or is there a kit for manual hubs? Supposedly a lot of guys are installing manual hubs because it gets you a couple MPG's by reducing drag from the front axle gears.

 

[Blackwater]

I wouldn’t think it will do much for MPG. If you did both mods you might see a small increase. Are you talking about the A4wd or just 4wd? The A4wd just transfers power to the front when the rear begins to slip. Otherwise your are in 2wd. I want the mod just to be able to have a little fun and I cant stand it when its wet out and you give it a little to much gas say on a incline the back starts to give then bammm you hear and feel that a4wd kick in.

I still haven’t made the cut yet. I have looked into the wiring and found the brown wire. On mine it’s a lite brown maybe even a tan. Maybe I will get the balls up to do it in the morning. I just don’t want every warning lig

 

[Blackwater]

Well I made the cut……a little scary but it worked. The worries came from what wire might be what so I ended up cutting right at the t-case. My color of wire did not stay the same nor did the gage. From under the drivers seat to dash “didn’t trace under dash” the wire was brown with a blue tracer. From the connection under seat to another connection right before the t-case it was a smaller gage full brown, from that connection to the t-case it is a larger light full brown. I don’t understand why the gage would vary.
I got a better acceleration off the start with a noticeable bite over the a4wd. I should have taken some notes to share for a before and after but it feels to be a little better at 0 to 60 or it might just be the rear drops a lot more. It did have a easier time shifting under full acceleration. Right now Im just going to leave it cut. When I get some time to hunt in the junk yard I will hunt down a stock switch off of something to mount in the dash.

 

[Blackwater]

5.4s don’t have as much low end as I thought or it just might be this beast is so heavy! But with a little effort I was able to power brake and light them up! Just took 10,000 miles off the rear tires

 

[davesexplorer]

No the 2V 5.4's aren't exactly speed demons. Glad to hear it worked out for ya.

 

[Blackwater]

I hear ya! I would be surprised if I was able to break 90 mph! Lol I thought the 5.4 would have a better low end or more power at a lower rpm. As soon as the rpm came up there was no stopping the amount of time I could have sat there and burned them out for some time. She even broke loose to the right after letting of the brake about 15* fishtailed a little then put down a good 30-40 feet of rubber!

 

[gbecerra]

A while back I read a post that said to remove a "fuse" I believe, but I can't remember for sure. It was under the hood and after I did that it disengaged the automatic feature to engage the front tires when rear slipping is sensed. After that I was able to break it loose. I don't normally drive like that so I put the "fuse" or whatever it was back. This was a few years ago.

 

[firefighter407]

Anyone now if u can just change out the switch?

I went to the local wrecker and looked at both switchs and they look the same wiring colour code too. onl looks like an extra spot for 2wd.

 

[Blackwater]

Good point!

 

[Remo]

Anyone now if u can just change out the switch?

I went to the local wrecker and looked at both switchs and they look the same wiring colour code too. onl looks like an extra spot for 2wd.

Excellent question!

I have been wondering the exact same thing for quite some time.
I was never keen on the idea of actually cutting the wire, but I had often wondered about changing the switch to a 97-98 model switch.

If you do it, please let us know if it works. I am interested in doing the same.