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Stock U-Joint Axle Replacement

banksie312

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Rhode Island
Going to start with a bit of a pre-apology as from my reading a lot of this stuff has been covered in searches but still seems a bit clear as mud.

Got into a recent fender bender and afterwards I took my stock 99 XJ 4L to my local mechanic to take a look at the front end. Just bumper damage but no problem with the front end or any other resulting issues they can see. Great. This shop has been helping me clean up some work done by the previous owner and by my uninformed self trusting a not-so-good mechanic in my old city.

The mechanic knows my car and thought something seemed a bit off so he went around the underside of the vehicle to take a look. Notice that on my pass side I've got the standard UJoint axle but on my drivers side...there's a CV joint axle. They recommend I basically pick one and stick to it as having two different axle types up front will cause some big issues. I'm a daily driver with the occasional camping trip/beach drive -- not a mudder or crawler by any definition so I'd like to get back to the standard UJoint setup. I've seen numbers flying around about sizes, axle types, etc and though I've seen consistency, I'm still fairly unsure as to what it all means. Not asking you all to run me through a whole lesson (though if anyone is so inclined I'll eat it up)...more just help me pick this part out.

I was looking at the Dana Spicer 30 replacement UJoint axle (linked here ). I do NOT have ABS in my vehicle. I've been searching for about two days and feel like across a few sites this is what has been recommended. I just definitely felt like I'd be missing out on real experience if I didn't at least ask what is probably a fairly simple question.

TL;DR Looking for advice on stock replacement for left-front UJoint axle on my 99 XJ 4L (non-ABS).

Apologies again if this clutters up the boards with simple questions.
 
The only possible difference between the 2 could be "rolling resistance" while turning, I wouldn't worry about it until it needs replaced!
 
Some of the local jeepers here actually run the grand Cherokee CV axles. for simplicity and supposedly strength. I never made the switch to them, cuz idk how I feel about them, and there strength level. granted they are $68 a piece with a lifetime warranty, but I hate pulling the shafts.
 
Agree with RCP Phx - don't touch unless one of them is actually bad.

Never heard of a CV axleshaft on a 99XJ - thought those went out with the 2.8V6...
 
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