4 ball joints bad!

The alignment shop just showed me that i've got 4 bad ball joints... I'm pretty sure the housing is bent too, so I've got a line on a housing with brand new balljoints in it for cheap.

My question is, can I pull the ring, pinion, and axle shafts out of the axle in the vehicle right now, and still drive around with out it installed?
Just so I can get the gears and clearances set up and still drive the vehicle to work and back....

You can't pull the axle shafts out, because they hold the bearing units together. If the gearing is wrong, I'd just disconnect the front driveshaft. If you're worried about the innards of the diff, I suppose you could take the axle shafts apart and just put the outer stubs back in, but you'll have to plug the axle tubes to keep the oil in and the crud out. I don't think the gears will suffer too much if you just let it freewheel with the driveshaft disconnected, which would certainly be easiest.

Edit, rereading your post, it occurs to me that what you're intending to do is use your existing innards in the new case and drive the old case around while you build the new one up. (is there a head-slapping smiley here? Too lazy to look, but if so, apply it upside my head). Still, it remains that you must at least put a set of outer axle stubs in to keep your wheels from falling off.

Just say no.

Borrow a bj press and put new BJ's on it yourself. Plan on a full day for the first time. Less than a C note. Align the front end yourself and then drive to work like you've already been doing with the crappy joints in place. You've saved money, lost but a single day downtime, and bought yourself some more time to search for a complete front axle assembly to swap in at some future date.

Unless your xj is a trailer queen. She can be down for a Canadian winter while you figure out why the gears don't fit or splines don't mesh. Or can she?

Research Naxja and formulate a plan gleaned from what others have done already. Cram like it's a test until you know just how the axle works and how it is assembled. The more you know the better the decisions you can make. Especially ones like "I can do that myself." Those decisions can save you tons of money and develop confidence in your automotive skills. No matter what, enjoy what you are doing with your wheels.

I went to get an alignment done on the axle before, and the guy said it needed an adjustable ball joint on the driver side because it just wouldn't line up for them. I did hit a cross ditch at about 40mph and i'm pretty sure it bent the housing because I started to get really bad tire wear on the driver side tire soon after that.
I've got a line on an axle that is straight, and has 4 brand new ball joints in it for $50. thats pretty much the price of 4 balls joints alone... I would have to pay a guy to set up the gears, and do the alignment but thats about it.
Another reason why I want the alignment is because I installed a ZJ pitman arm, new RE track bar bracket and HD track bar. All I want is the vehicle to drive nicely on the highway!

IF he got just the stubshafts to hold the hub together he would be fine. Like just the stubshafts without a ujoint or the rest of the axleshaft.

But you cannot run the hubs without something holding it together!!