Rebuilding Front Driveshaft?????

mine is shot i really dont' even wanna drive the jeep much right now and i dont' know whats the best thing to do, take chances with junk yard shaft, buy a rebuilt one from ????? or give my shot at rebuilding it myself, i have all the resources i need from work but i've never rebuilt one of these cv style shafts before. Wondering if anyone has any experience with this. or knows any place to get cheap units from .

thanx,

eric

if it is too bad to drive with it in - pull it out! get it out of there before you distroy more stuff (pinion bearing / t-case bearing)



i had this issue as well - though in mine i blew the DC ball - probably from underlubrications and terrible vibes from bad pinion angle.

id sugest taking it to your local driveshaft shop, and having them look at the DC ball and setup - and get a quote on a rebuild, balance and paint.

if the joint is good - should cost about 80$ for parts and probably 50 for labor so 130 to rebuild it pro.

if they pull it apart, and quote you the $$$ for it and you dont want to pay and the joint is good, take it home, put new u-joints in it, then get it balanced (balancing shouldnt cost too much - $20 maybe?)

U-jouints go for sometihng like $25 a piece so $75 in parts... saves you like$30....

NOw - if the joint is bad (like in my case)
the junkyard $50 shaft www.car-part.com and put new u-joints in it, or

do like i did and get a shaft from RE - they made it custom for my aplication and it cost $275 for a BRAND new shaft with all new components...

the local driveshaft shop wanted 360 for a new shaft...

here is my write up on pinion angle and DS relationships as well as DS install / removal...
http://www.opiebennett.com/upperdrrveshaft.htm

With all the problems I've heard about the RE shafts lately I'm not sure I would recommend them. Especially when you could get a High Angle or Tom Woods for the same price.

HTH

thanx for the help, i think i might go get one from a yard and just put new u-joints in it because the ball setup thinger is shot in mine, its screamin like a little bitch and filling it with grease did nothing to it whatso ever so... i'll go get a donor shaft this weekend, thanx again.

eric

eric91xj said:

mine is shot i really dont' even wanna drive the jeep much right now and i dont' know whats the best thing to do, take chances with junk yard shaft, buy a rebuilt one from ????? or give my shot at rebuilding it myself, i have all the resources i need from work but i've never rebuilt one of these cv style shafts before. Wondering if anyone has any experience with this. or knows any place to get cheap units from .

thanx,

eric

Click to expand...

Well, just went down that road myself. I had a vibration I couldn't get rid of (in my 01 with 80K miles) and replaced everything in the rear shaft to no avail. I ended up taking the front shaft out and driving the jeep, and all the vibration went away. At that point I replaced front u-joint at the diff, it was kinda crusty looking, but it did not improve anything. The cardan joint was nice and free, very fluid, and no slack so I didn't bother with it. When I was replacing the drive shaft after the u-joint install, I noticed the shaft had about 1/8" of sideways play at the slip spline. I contacted a couple of driveshaft shops and they told me that was way too much play and likely the cause of the problem. A rebuild will cost anywhere between $150 and $250, plus shipping, so I shopped around and found a new replacement shaft at www.arizonadrivelines.com

They are shipping me out a new shaft with 1330 3/4 ton spicer u-joints for a grand total of $250.00 I don't think a junkyard shaft would help, it could likely be as worn as the original. I'm not the original owner but I suspect they neglected to use the zerk at the slip spline for its intended purpose.

eric,
If you have a vise, some sockets, a hammer, and some grease, and snap ring pliers you can rebuild it for the price of three u-joints. Pulling the CV apart is no different than doing a couple u-joints. Just watch that you dont lose the little spring in there and pay attention to how it goes back together. Seperate the CV and clean the centering ball and seat off real good. Scotch brite or hit it with sandpaper to get rid of pitting, clean the rubber seal off real good, put lotsa fresh, good quality, grease back in, install your new u-joints, put the shaft back in and youre done. There is also a kit you can buy to upgrade your CV so that the centering ball is greasable. Sorry I dont have the info infront of me for that but it would probably be a good thing to look into.
I just hate to see anyone pay a shop a couple hundred to do something they couldve done in a couple hours plus once you do it, a CV would be so scary anymore.

Herers a good right up on it.
http://www.stu-offroad.com/index.shtml

If the stub on the end of the CV shaft isn't scored from the bearing in the centering kit, and the slip section doesn't have any perceptible play, there's no reason you can't do the overhaul yourself. I did mine a few weeks ago. If the stub is scored, a DS shop can weld a new end on it for you.

Centering kits are available from Spicer or Neapco, and you'll want the whole $60 assembly, not just the $30 ball kit (requires a puller and press to do that). Search on "centering ball" for my post for part numbers.

Two other points:

* When pressing in new u-joints, try to use a vise, or a huge c-clamp, or a u-joint press. Try not to beat them in with a hammer. I've slipped and broken needle bearings in the caps by doing so, and ended up doing them twice as a result.

* As another poster pointed out, get it the heck outa there if you can't do it now. Our new-to-us Jeep had bad ujoints in both shafts, and by the time I took the front out and fixed it, I found that the previous owner had just kept driving it too long. There's a bunch of play in the TC's front shaft bearing, and it really should be overhauled now. It could have been fixed long ago for $120 or so...

I'm troubleshooting a high pitched noise. Does it hurt anything to drive WITHOUT the front driveshaft? Be it for a trip to work a longer 300 mile trip?

Thanks!
Bill

IndyXJ said:

I'm troubleshooting a high pitched noise. Does it hurt anything to drive WITHOUT the front driveshaft? Be it for a trip to work a longer 300 mile trip?

Thanks!
Bill

Click to expand...

It won't hurt it a bit.