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exposed slip yoke length?

O

obaa-xj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
PNW
I have an AX15/231/D35 combo on about 4" of lift. With that combo, the slip yoke was pretty far out of the case; I think the shop said there was about 1.5" of engagement, and that it was okay.
I just swapped in an 8.25 axle, thinking the longer snout would push the yoke back into a safer range. It looks like the snout is way longer, as the yoke seems like it is fully pushed into the case while sitting level at rest; to my eyes, it looks like only 3/8 of the shaft is exposed. I'm thinking the driveshaft is way too long, and will smash the tcase if I bottom out the suspension.
I know a SYE is the ideal solution, but I currently can't afford it. I want to just grab a shorter dshaft from the junkyard and run it for a while. My question is, how far out should the yoke be from the case? Would it be 1"? 2"? xx"? I figure I'll be close enough to find a correspondingly shorter driveshaft and swap it in..
Actually, how long is the stock slip yoke? Can I just divide that length in 2, and subtract that from my current driveshaft length?
 
The existing yoke is bottomed out into the tcase such that the yoke is 3/8" from the end of the tcase. I need to move the whole yoke out, so that it has room to slide in if the suspension compresses. I don't think cutting down the yoke will fix this.
 
Its the shoulder of the yoke and not the yoke itself that he is worried about smashing into the transfer case.. Or maybe both.. To cut the yoke would clear room inside the slip joint but not the shoulder where the yoke ends.. Bad stuff..
 
Chrisp has it right. There is only about 3/8" of the slip yoke shaft exposed between the seal of the transfer case and the ears of the yoke. So there is very little travel for the shaft to move into the case before ears of the yoke smash into the case.
I'd take a picture but it's too dark outside for my camera (phone) to capture anything. Hope this ascii pic makes sense

-+
|-----<
-+
^ ^ ^
| | |
| | +--ears of yoke which hold ujoint
| +----3/8" exposed shaft
+--------tcase seal
 
Last edited:
I had the same issue when I lifted and swapped to an 8.25. I found someone selling used XJ driveshafts on ebay in about 1/2" length differences. I measured mine and ordered the next shorter one he had. think it was around 30 plus 10-15 shipping. Installed new ujoints and I was good to go! Give me a bit and I can probably find the vendor selling them on there
 
It sounds like this is a fairly common problem. I haven't found any XJ's locally with the same drivetrain to get the DS; it was hard enough locating a 8.25 around here. Almost all the XJ's I see are autos; I thought the autos have a longer DS? I'll need to get under some XJs in the JY and measure them, but I'm curious if there isn't already a table that lists the DS length for the different combos? I did a search, but could not find anything.
 
obaa-xj said:
It sounds like this is a fairly common problem. I haven't found any XJ's locally with the same drivetrain to get the DS; it was hard enough locating a 8.25 around here. Almost all the XJ's I see are autos; I thought the autos have a longer DS? I'll need to get under some XJs in the JY and measure them, but I'm curious if there isn't already a table that lists the DS length for the different combos? I did a search, but could not find anything.
Click to expand...

the autos have a shorter rear shaft, and a longer front shaft. the AX15 is a tad shorter than the AW4.

i have a PDF of every make/model that used a spicer joint, and their extended/colapsed lengths... but that is all double cardan joints, no stock rear shafts with the slip shaft on the yoke.

i have the AX15 as well. and yes, manual cherokees arent common in my my area either. your options are to go with a SYE, get a driveline shop to cut it down for you, keep looking, or bust up your Tcase.
 
If you still have that pdf of shaft lengths, I'd like to get a copy. It'll be a good ref for when I get the SYE put in.
 
I'm scratchin my head here.
I have a '96, it has a 4.0L/ax15/231. I have exactly 4" of lift. I had a d35, now I have a 8.25.
I measured pinion yoke to tube center line length multiple times and only found them to be 1/4" different.
My shaft still hangs way out the back of my case.
I even have another 231 that's already got the SYE installed, I just didn't put it in yet cause everything seemed fine.

Maybe mines been getting smashed for 6 months? I've put a good bit of miles on it since I changed all that.
 
DSC00294.jpg


obaa-xj said:
I'm thinking the driveshaft is way too long, and will smash the tcase if I bottom out the suspension.
Click to expand...

Actually you'll hit if you fully unload the suspension. The way our leaf springs work, the driveline lengthens when you compress the springs...the axle shifts rearward.
I did this at CoFest and had to pick through some spare shafts the group had. Because of the mangled tube, it was impossible to know the exact length of what I started with. I found one that left me with about an 1-1/4" engagement, or one that was "way engaged" and very close to the t-case. I used the shorter one, for almost a year, and had no issues.

You can see that the yoke is about 4" or so. You could try cycling the suspension with a jack and see how the engagement changes and see if you'll have issues withyour current setup.

Steve
 
Now that you say, it makes sense that I gain clearance as the suspension compresses; the shackle swings out. Mine is definitely too long, but perhaps not as bad as I originally thought. I'll try cycling the suspension and see how things look.
deucestudios, I'm not sure why your setup is different than mine. With the D35, the yoke was pulled out about as far as it could safely be. With the 8.25, it's shoved all the way in (the polished part of the yoke is inserted far past the seal, and the seal is almost on the yoke shoulder. FWIW, mine is a '90 2dr, and the DS is 31.5".
 
^^ That was the stinker...finding a replacement "stock" shaft. My favorite local auto dismantling yard uses a big forklift to move the bodies, and the forks wreck both shafts when they pick up a car. Finally found a local guy who was able to help me out.
 
Just PM'ed you for the pdf. So how was the SYE install? Is it doable in a weekend? I looked for a driveshaft around here, and it doesn't seem to make sense to buy one just to get by for a little while. A used shaft seems to run around $80, while a SYE is around $180 (Rugged Ridge), and $40 for a front shaft....
BTW, how long was the driveshaft you pulled? Mine is 31.5"
 
returned.

i dont recomend the Hack and tap. i did mine in a 9-5 work day. but that includes a break for a couple beers and a burger at the bar. i think my shaft measured 30.5 collapsed, 34.5 extended. Ujoint center to center. the AX15 is a couple inches shorter than the AW4, but my hack and tap was a flange style. the flange adapter i had to add (replaced the centering ball on the shaft) gave me that couple inches back. youll need something of the sort... or if you go with a full replacement SYE, and get something shorter, (if i remember correctly) youll want something from a '93-'95.5 ZJ. after that they started using a CV joint instead of the double cardan, Ujoint style you want.
 
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