2000 Jeep XJ front axle with ABS

Hello All. This is my first post. This is a great site. Thank you to all who contribute.

I have a 2000 Jeep XJ L6, Automatic. It has ABS. Recently, while replacing the front axle u joints, the passenger side inner axle galled while pressing out the old joint. I finally was able to remove the old joint, but was left with a probably .025" "ridge" on the yoke where the caps press in. I filed and sanded down the ridge as best as I could and pressed the new joint in. It felt ok pressing in but was not like the others. So two questions.

1) do you think it is okay to leave it as is?
2) If I want to replace the passenger side inner axle, what is compatible (ie what year jeeps, models (xj, wrangler, etc) and can I use the inner axle from a NON ABS jeep (the outer axle yoke is still fine)?

Thanks in advance.

Weld the caps in place and you won't have to worry about it again.

interesting. Didn't think about that. I guess if the u joint fails, I would be replacing the axle shaft anyways at that point.

I still would like to know what jeeps/years/models/with or without abs use a compatible inner axle shaft. Again the bearing/wheel side (with ABS Tone Ring) is still good. I was hoping to find a cheep used inner and just replace it. Are the lengths of the inners different or can I use a shaft from another make year provided it has the 760 u joints and 27 splines?

I have this front axle from what I can tell.

Dana 30, low pinion, standard cut, 297x/760 universal joint, 27-spline axleshafts


Thanks!

the inner shaft from any XJ MJ TJ or ZJ without vaccum disconnect is compatible. the ABS has no bearing on the inner shaft.
even a CV shaft from a ZJ would be a cheap alternative as well.
i'm not a fan of welding the caps on a rig that sees regular street use. grease and seals dont take well to that kind of heat and you eliminate the ability to change a u-joint if it wears out.

sidriptide said:

the inner shaft from any XJ MJ TJ or ZJ without vaccum disconnect is compatible. the ABS has no bearing on the inner shaft.
even a CV shaft from a ZJ would be a cheap alternative as well.
i'm not a fan of welding the caps on a rig that sees regular street use. grease and seals dont take well to that kind of heat and you eliminate the ability to change a u-joint if it wears out.

Click to expand...

Yeah, but the OE axle shaft is crap and a good shaft will set you back all of $100. And, if you break a U joint on that shaft, it's a good chance the ears have been bent so you need to replace it anyway.

sidriptide said:

the inner shaft from any XJ MJ TJ or ZJ without vaccum disconnect is compatible. the ABS has no bearing on the inner shaft.
even a CV shaft from a ZJ would be a cheap alternative as well.
i'm not a fan of welding the caps on a rig that sees regular street use. grease and seals dont take well to that kind of heat and you eliminate the ability to change a u-joint if it wears out.

Click to expand...

Thank you sidriptide. just what I was looking for.