99 Jeep 4.7L V8 Durability/Reliability???????

Just bought one at a great price. Ive had many 4.0L and know they are bulletproof but not so sure about the V8. Also it has the 4x4 quadra drive but someone took out the front drive shaft??? I live in florida and so did the people I bought it from which where the second owners and they had no idea it was missing the whole time they had it (100K). My only guess is some j/a thought it would get better mileage or no snow so it was useless?? Any comments or heads ups?This site rocks!!! Thank you in advance.......

The driveshaft or transfer case probably went bad and someone removed it rather than making the repair.
Either that or somebody stole it.
The 4.7 is a good motor.

with the quadra drive it only sends power to the front when the rear slips right?

is that correct????

Im pretty sure that correct. because thats what happens to my jeep. The rear end slips and then the front end kicks in. It sends power to the non slipping tires...i think.