Centering ball replacement: front driveshaft

OK, the saga of bringing our "new" '94 XJ (with 154K miles) back to decent condition continues...

One of the first things we noticed after a weekend trail trip (with a few highway miles) was that the driveline shook some. In fact, it shook badly over 60mph after 50-60 miles. Worst vibration can be felt in the shifter and accelerator pedal. So, time for some u-joints, rear shaft first. That got it so that I could get it up to 65 on the freeway before shaking would be a problem. So, I did the 3 joints in the front shaft yesterday.

Now, I'd never torn apart a double cardan joint before, thus I'd never seen the centering mechanism in one (didn't really know how they worked until now). When I got it apart, I could see that the centering ball assembly was in dire need of some grease too. The stub on the driveshaft that fits into the ball's needle bearings wasn't scored or anything, so it got a good cleaning and loading up of grease, and back in it went.

With this done, I can get it to 75mph with a light shake. I'd like be able to get it to 85 with no shake if possible (not driving at least 70 on the freeways in suburban Phoenix can get you killed!). Having seen that ball assembly, and the fact that it's impossible to get lube to it while in the car, I wonder if it shouldn't be replaced too. (I suspect that a trans mount might be a good idea too...).

Question is, what replaces it, and how does it come out of there? The ball assembly is staked into it's carrier, so pulling it out of there will be a problem. And, what to ask for? Rock Auto shows a "universal joint ball socket" listed as a "Precision #617" for this car, but no photo. Is that the same part?

I sourced a replacement through a local driveshaft shop, NAPA can sometimes get the right pieces too but it can take a bit of book searching to get the right part number; that's one thing I forgot to track when I last replaced mine. Greasing it is usually best accomplished when it's disconnected anyway.

Thanks Jim, that's twice you've helped me out now...

Just for the sake of completing the thread, I ended going to a local driveshaft shop myself. *No* one else I talked to had a clue. Dealer can only sell the entire shaft. Great.

I ended up with a Neapco assembly that replaces the stock Spicer unit for about $60. For about $35, one can get the wearable ball/needle bearing insert, but it has to be extracted from the carrier, and the new one pressed and staked in it's place. That's not something I have the toolage to do. This full assembly is the ball plus the carrier (the part that clamps around the back-half of the u-joint) as a unit.

A Spicer assembly looks to be part #211355X. The Neapco part I have is #7-0082. We'll see tonight if it fits; it looks right.

sorry i didn't post sooner, i just went through trying to find anyone who even knew what a centering kit was. I went to drivelines nw in fife and got centering kit & u-joints for $60