Not speaking from personal experience but, many years ago I used to frequent
a small VW repair shop south of Pittsburgh. Cheapness (or is that
frugality?)  knows no bounds. One of their customers did not want to renew
the front CV's on his Syncro. The solution was to remove the front axles and
disassemble the outer CV's. They then reinstalled just the outer CV "cup"
and axle spindles, thereby keeping the wheel bearing preload. The customer
said the van went like a bat, comparatively.

I'm not suggesting it, merely saying it has been done.

Dave

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf Of
Karin Baker & Raymond Paquette
Sent: Monday, June 06, 2005 12:44 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Synchro to 2wd

Hey

I'm considering removing the driveshaft and front axles from my Synchro in
preparation for a long road trip.  I'm traveling with my parent-in-laws, so
I know we won't be going offroad, so no need for the 4wheel drive.  The
front CV's are klacking, so I'll be taking them out to replace, and it
occurs to me to remove the driveshaft, and not put things back together
until after we return.

I'm hoping for: better gas mileage, more useable power, as well as saving
the wear and tear on the front drive parts.

Does anyone have any experience with this?  I'm especially concerned about
damaging something by running my Synchro this way.  Can't imagine that it
would, but sometimes my imagination is limited.

Thanks

Raymond

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