I have good news for you, Travis: This is the perfect vehicle on which to find out.

It’s time for an experiment. I think you can turn your Trailblazer into arear-wheel-drive vehicle. As you say, you’d have to start by removing both front axles.

That’ll prevent the front wheels from turning the differential gears when the car is moving. I don’t remember how the axles are connected to the front differential on this truck. Sometimes there’s a flange, sometimes they go right into the differential itself. If your axles go inside the differential, then when you remove the axles, the differential oil will leak out. But who cares? You’re not going to be using it anyway. And it’s already shot. So, it’s just a matter of draining the oil and disposing of it properly.

Once the front wheels are free of the axles and can turn freely and independently, they have noneed for adifferential, so steering and turning won’t be affected.

Next, you could try toremove the front drive shaft. That’llprevent the transfer case from turning the front differential gears if you (or someone else) accidentally put it in 4WD. If you can do that without making the transfer case leak, I’d dothat, too.

If not, just leave the transfer case in 2WD, so the front driveshaft never turns. At that point, you have arear-drive-only vehicle, and you’re just carrying the differential around with you -- as if it were your favorite bowling ball.

This stuff is probably beyond the scope of your average DIYer, Travis. So, I’dhaveashop do it foryou and test it out. It’s not abig job but it requires some tools you probably don’t have.

Then save the parts, just in case the experiment fails. I don’t think it will.

But even if it does, you’ll be no worse off than you are now–needing a new front differential. Or a different car.