Front Drive shaft turning
 

Hello!
I was troubleshooting a grinding/rubbing noise in the front of my 97 Expy the other day. Discovered that the cat heat shield had been rubbing against the front drive line.

I had the truck up on 4 jack stands and in 2WD. I would have thought that this shaft would not turn unless the 4WD was engaged. I do that the A4WD option in this but the switch is set to 2WD.

The front wheels are not moving when on the jack stands but the front drive line is.

I called Ford and the stated that this is normal. Not sure if I agree with them.

Any thoughts?

Is it turning only because there's no load on it, or is it actually locked to the transfer case and getting full power? If you're in 2H the front driveshaft should not be getting powered. The fluid in the TC could be causing enough drag between the clutch plates to turn the driveshaft. If that is what's happening you should be able to hold it from turning.

A while back on my 97 I would get a squeaking noise (sounded like crickets) when I was in A4WD or 4WD, but not when I was in 2H. The noise turned out to be the front driveshaft u-joints. So that alone tells me the front driveshaft was not turning in 2H, or at least it wasn't turning fast.