Due to an axle shaft on the front passanger side going bad, my 90 runner with ADD was making a real loud chattering noise constantly at speeds over 10 miles an hour. Im not able to fix it at the moment, but decided to take off the splined hub cap that ties the wheel hub to the axle shaft.

I just undid the bolts, removed the cone washers, and pulled the cap off. Now it is quiet.

Can I run it like this for awhile untill I can fix it proper or is it a death trap?

 

Yeah. I think it would fall under the same principle of having manual hubs in the unlocked position.

 

Come to think of it, though, you may want to figure out a way to keep the end of that cv shaft sealed/covered to keep dirt/etc from getting in there.

 

and fix as soon as possible. you never know...

 

Safety wise there is no problem, you can drive with them off for ever, but your wheel bearings are exposed so stay out of water and dirt. It would probably be a good idea to clean and repack the bearings when you change that axle.

 

ditto

 

I am not that familiar with the ADD system, but you might want to make sure components such as the axle are turning and not turning when they are supposed to.

My concern would be is that the internals might be turning as if the vehicle was in 4WD all the time. I know these rigs don't like to be in 4WD at higher speeds and if that is what yours is doing you might find some wear issues or significant damage could occur.

The wheel will stay on without the locking hub, just make sure the internal problem causing the original clicking noise is not one that will bind or seize on the road... that would sound expensive and possibly be unsafe.

If it was my rig, I'd figure out exactly why the clicking stopped with the removal of the locking hub before I drove it to much.

 

The noise stops because when you remove the drive pates the axle shafts are no longer turning. With ADD you don't actually have hubs, the axle are permanently attached to the wheels with splined plates. This means your axles are turning all the time. Removing the plates is the same as running with hubs unlocked. Probably better for your drivetrain, but not very convenient to do all the time.