1999 grd cherokee / front drive shaft missing

[minigallon]

i purchased a full time 4wd, 1999 grand cherokee, via ebay. i recently discovered the front drive shaft is missing, therefore, no 4wd. what are the most likely reasons for the previous owner to have removed the front drive shaft. any harm in continuing to drive the car without repair?

in advance, thanks for your help.

best regards,

richard

[leowolf]

Different tire sizes front to rear. The previous ower may have been so poor he couldn't afford to replace all four tires at once. check the tire sizes and espeialy the tire hight. if they are different you will want to correct that before you replace the dive line, he may have had a blow out and removed it temporarily to use an inapropriate tire. other stuff he may have reasoned: Fuel economy (but it shouldnt effect fuel economy enough to warrant removing it), faulty u-joints or out of ballence drive shaft, rusted and binding slip joint, twisted drive shaft, transfer case issues like it wont slip on hard surfaces, likes to hot rod in low gear spinning the tires. stuff like that.

Though the car will handle diffrently in starting and stopping (especially when braking) I cant think of anything that it would hurt by not replacing it.

Hope this helps.