Drive Shaft U Joint Joy

So.... last week I started hearing a squeaking... only when i let off the gas...

Last night it developed into a lurching (push pull type... worse under turns)... logic says it is the front especially when it stopped in 4wd (figured front behaved better under power.

I was up til midnight trying to figure it out... I thought front drive shaft, bad control arm bushing, rod ends, something with the front axle...

Had it on jack stands and moved everything... nothing stuck out as a problem...

today i get up... get on 695, and the rear drive shaft explodes out from under the jeep right at 295...

limped home in 4H and it rode like a million bucks... no vibrations, shutters, nothing...

so... now I have to scrounge for a stock rear shaft (shaft comes out of t-case, but between it and the diff yolk there is nothing else...) or try to hit my parents up for a loan til april to get an sye kit in...

If I go second route I will also due the 1" motor lift, oil pan, oil pan skid, teraflex belly up t-case skid combo all in 1 shot... I have everything but the sye gathered for that...

what a great week so far...

the kicker is I knew a ujoint was going... didn't know which one... and none of the auto parts stores had one in stock last week (tried salvo who doesn't even have it in the system... pep boys (5 locations), advanced, and auto zone...

Belated birthday gift from the jeep i guess.

That sucks.

You'll need the yoke on the TC end, 13mm bolts from the TC yoke to the driveshaft, the driveshaft itself, and straps and 8mm bolts for the yoke on the diff end.

I replied to your other post. I'll see what parts I have left over at my parents house this weekend. Should definitly have the driveshaft for you.

i might have a slipyoke shaft for that jeep, it came out of mine when i upgraded. i will look for it if you are interested

Thanks everyone... Gill actually had one sitting behind his seat of the jeep and lives close to my work so he dropped it off last night.

I am off today (I was prior to the break... this just ruins my plans for relaxing all day)... so I will start it today...

So far from the times I have crawled under I have a sheared bolt to drill out of the diff yolk, then may have to re-tap the hole if the screw extractors don't work.

I probably have to replace the straps on the diff yolk.

And it looks like soon I can get the cat back kit I have been eyeing because when the shaft tore free it went through the muffler... but oddly the jeep is no louder yet

I will try to take some pictures as I go... then I can post them along with the few hundred from Sundays wheeling.

I am shocked that the shaft lasted the weekend... it started a slight squeak Wednesday last week... and self destructed in very little time... scary.

Thanks again for all the help everyone...

That happened to me twice, the second time I cracked the T-case and broke the speedo housing. I would mend the jeep together and make the SYE top priority. Good luck on those strap bolts.

UPDATE:

3 strap bolts out... I guess either I was real lucky with them, or spraying PB Blaster on them since last night about every hour really did the trick...

I had to persuade (read 5 pound mini sledge adjustment tool) the 8mm socket over the head of 1 bolt from rock rash, but they all came out with minimum trouble (heated yoke with a propane torch a little too... causing a small minor fire from the PB residue, but nothing damaging)...

so I have 3 out... just the snapped one to go... spent the rest of the morning looking for the cordless drill, then the charger... and now drivers for the camera while it charges...

I have also been calling around for U Joint straps and new bolts (all bent)... 1 strap is bent at a 90 degree angle when the shaft broke free... the other is twisted from when the joint flipped out from under it... I do not want to bend them back and reuse them because I fear they got weakened in the episode...

Trying to do as little front wheel driving as possible... although it does handle like a Cadillac now

From what I have been able to determine the slip yoke end seized, then snapped at the end caps... then the shaft dropped out, and the jeep drove over it snapping it out of the diff yoke...

On the way out it slapped the muffler and somehow missed the fuel lines, brake lines, and parking brake cables... VERY lucky break...

No leaks from the t-case... no cracked diff... just 1 sheared bolt head...

should have bought a lotto ticket too I guess...

SYE and new shaft are the last piece to my next puzzle... and I should have them in next month... then I will be slimming the tummy to the frame with skid plates all in one shot...

Plus Laurie will be happy because she won't have to look at 2 skid plates, motor mounts, and oil pan sitting in our closet any more...

Good Luck getting the last bolt out!

I remember paying $5 for new straps and bolts from Tom Woods. They reccomended not reusing the old straps when I put the new driveshaft in - so using bent ones wouldn't be good. Hopefully someone local will have them.

Do you have the 13 mm bolts for the TC end?

still has the slip yoke coming out of the tcase... i am hoping i can just slide the new shaft right onto the yoke... as long as the splines line up...

right now I can't get a good angle on the diff yoke, so i am reading up on how to pull it, then run it to work and use the drill press... if i can pull it...

the way my luck has turned it might be harder than it sounds...

found the straps... the peppy brothers who have everything but gas live up to their slogan once again...

now if only i could get this last broken bolt out my work would be done...

Hmmm maybe they have a diff yoke too...

for a new yoke call:

Perry Hall Power Equipment Incorporated
9621 Pulaski Hwy
Middle River, MD 21220
(410) 391-2300

They can sell you one with u-bolts instead of straps too!

awesome... i will keep that in mind if the next trick does not work...

I discovered while sizing the drill bit (make sure i don't drill too big) that the bolt holes go all the way through the yoke...

so i have decided to pull the yoke and drill from the backside as a guide...

now i just have to run out and get a big enough socket, and pick up the straps and new bolts while i am out...

maybe a slide hammer too... so i don't have to stop by work...

still can't get the camera to play nice with Windows... wonder where I put my card reader... oh well..

1 1/8 inch socket for the pinion nut

k... think i got all the tools... got new bolts and straps... hopefully i have this all wrapped up before sunset... then i can start on my next project... knocking back some cold ones...

What is it with my luck today...

Soooooooooo... I got the driveshaft bands... took 2 parts stores... each only had 1...

FYI you can find them with the HELP/NEEDA? parts... the isle that has all the gas caps and door handles and such... HELP #81018 and NEEDA? #81018A

Got the 1 1/8" socket (thanks Danny) torque wrench and breaker bar and went to town on the diff yoke...

Had the diff yoke off in 10 minutes... drilled from the backside and the stud backed right out once the bit caught it... I was on a roll...

Slid the t-case yoke off the splines... it is shot... slid the new one on...

Jacked up the rear axle to rotate the diff yoke for alignment... push in on the slip yoke to seat the ujoint on the diff...

crap.... the slip yoke bottoms out (spline slid all the way inside, dust boot fully compressed, feel it thud from contact) and the Ujoint on the diff end still needs another inch or more to seat.

the end cap is about even with the diff housing instead of with the yoke.

so the drive shaft tube is about 2 inches too long (rough guess because axle at resting height should be in roughly middle of travel on spline to allow compression with upward travel...)



at least I have a piece to look at now so I can get some dimensions of what I need...

Thanks Allium for the drive shaft... I will hold on to it for a bit because I may still need the yoke off of it...

At this point there is no need to order another driveshaft because I would just be throwing money away since I would need yet another with the SYE...

I will updated the wanted with length for now just in case...

Guess I will just have to get used to a front wheel drive jeep for a few weeks...

T

Damn - ok that sucks, just play it forward someone will need it. Or trade it for a case or two, we can find help for that!

Gill,
did your driveshaft come out of a jeep with a D35?
That could be the difference. The shaft out of a jeep w/ a D44 will be shorter

100% stock 2004 TJ NON rubi - so 35

And I cant understand why people are always harping how long my shaft would be

just looked at 4wd... a stock shaft is gonna run me the same as a CV style...

so i might as well wait...

pics are here:

https://s157.photobucket.com/albums/t65/prophoto26/Driveshaft%20Damage/

didn't even think about axles... i have the 44... the Rubi also has a 44, but they also came with the factory version of SYE... so that is the driveshaft differance...

I will problem call Tom Wood's next week... see what size shaft I can handle... after the tummy tuck, motor lift, and sye...

I know advanced adapters is pretty much the standard... anyone have feedback on the others?

I saw a few that are shorter than advance, allowing more flex before bind... just curious since I will be doing the tuck too which mathematically puts me at almost a 6" equivalent (2 inch susp, 1.5 body, and then the 2-3 inch tuck up)...

May also need to rotate the rear a little to relieve stress...

Sound right?

Tony,

I'll check the shed when I go to Hyattsville tomorrow for my old stock shaft. It should fit in your jeep and can get you by until you decite to go SYE and CV shaft.

mrjeepy wrote:

I call Tom Wood's next week... see what size shaft I can handle...
May also need to rotate the rear a little to relieve stress...

cumming out of the closet tony?

Sorry to hear about your drive shaft, I had the same thing happend to mine, it blew out on me 200 yards from my house. Luckly I pull over real fast and safe from hard damages, the u-joints where shot. And I have a SYE-CV. Now I have to compensate for the springs I got from Joe, they actually lifted me an extra 1.5 inch more. and I have a slight dip in the front, I guess the weight of the engine lowers the front end more than the rear.

Good luck with your repairs. You got to take it easy now and then man.

so gills shaft was to big and you are hoping danny is small enough for ya

rockdw72 wrote:

so gills shaft was to big and you are hoping danny is small enough for ya

I haven't lubed it in at least two years! I don't even know if it still works!

Dang Danny and I thought they were kidding on Saturday.