Well, for starters, if you grenaded your rear shaft, then I assume you'd take it
out and hence you would have front wheel drive high range, as you'd be in 4wd hi range, but the rear output wouldn't be turning anything.
Beyond that case of basic semantics, i get what you're saying.
I was trying to figure this out on the last 300 I took apart. I didn't bother worrying about the pill with mine. In the Dana 20 for example, I think the pill is actually easily removed, like thru an access hole or something. But the interlock pills in the 300 are captured, and I'm not sure what would be the best way to get them out.
If you take the shifting mechanism off the front (the aluminum thing where your front output comes out and your shift lever(s) attach), and then lock it down somehow in a vice (gotta mind you don't marr it up in the vice) and then take the shift rails out (helps if you get them into neutral and then rotate them 90 degrees) then you can rock the assembly back and forth, and see those two interlock pills slide back and forth in their chambers between the shift rails.
On the passenger side of this assembly, there are two divots in the casting, where it looks like plugs have been inserted. These corespond with the placement of the interlock pills. So that's how they get IN there, I don't have the damndest idea how to get them OUT, cause its not a plug, its actually part of teh casting.
I think (Just THINK mind you, I haven't tried this) you could drill out those caps and the interlock pills would slide right out, and then you could have the full range of motion of the sticks.
But lets think about this realistically. Having the "full range of motion" gives you a whopping grand total of ONE more position, which as far as I'm concerned isn't worth the effort. When would you want front wheel drive hi range, unless you'd blown out a rear shaft, in which case you can just unbolt the rear shaft anyway and presto chango, front wheel high. I don't forsee and advantage to using it on the road (
especially if you had a locker
) or if you wanted the advantages of front wheel drive in, for example, snow, but if its that bad, just put it in 4hi and be done with it.
Just to recap: It can be done. But I don't think its worth the effort, and you'd have to figure out some way to recap the holes you opened to get the pills out to keep foreign matter from getting in there, marring the rods and possibly traveling into your case and wreaking havoc in there.
Any more questions? :flipoff2:
Boots