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Transfer case shaft joints

alexgalexg

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Connecticut
So I have two Xj's. But the Jeep in topic is my 1999 Jeep Xj 4.0 with about 300,000 miles on it. It shakes on the highway and I figured out it is one of the joints on the transfer case shaft. Not sure which one so I will replace them all. Will the press for the u Joint tool work for this? I only ask so I rent the correct tool
 
It should, I did the front driveshaft on my '96 with a U/ball-joint press no problem. Only real caveats are the wacky, double U-joint crap with the centering ball can be a bit of a pain to put together correctly and if you want to use greaseable joints there, you'll have to use the low profile zerk fittings. Dana-Spicer still makes the centering balls for the front driveshaft, and I wish I had known that before I ordered some junk from Crown...
 
One of the easiest things you can do it remove the driveshaft and take it to a driveline shop. It depends if your local driveline shops are decent. Mine will do shafts for little more than I can buy the Spicer parts off Amazon. I would use all genuine Spicer parts. In Connecticut you are probably going to deal with frozen and stuck joints no matter how much penetrant and time you give it. You will probably need an oxy/acetlyene torch, or at least a MAPP gas torch, to break the rust bond. Any ball joint press you can rent from Auto Zone/Advance/O'Reilly's can help or the small Tiger u-joint tool. If the splines in the driveshaft are worn then you are better off getting a local shop or one of the online shops to take care of it/build you another shaft.
 
I'd take a real close look at the axle shaft U-Joints. They wear out a lot more often than the driveshaft U-Joints. And will sure enough cause a vibration if they are bad enough.

Have you pulled the front driveshaft out and done a road test yet?
 
If you are tearing into your front shaft then this may be a useful read:

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1138113

I used a shop press, but I don't see why there would be issues with a clamp style press. The pressing of the caps isn't any different. Just watch out for the spring.
 
I had a vibration in my 94. Caused by a failing driveshaft. The slip yoke had play in it. And was causing my rear view mirror to shake so bad it was useless. Look at that as well. When you pull the halves apart see if the blue Teflon coating is there. My was not.
 
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