rear drive shaft

Ok so last week i broke my rear u- joint on my drive shaft and those teath that keep the caps from sliding out on the yoke busted off. my ? is, i it bad to drive without them even if i centerd the drive shaft and it doesnt vibe or anything?

Eventually because of the force that is exerted on the drive shaft it will become offset in the yoke and cause vibes. You can drive on it, but you gotta keep checking your joint to make sure it remains centered. Go by a new yoke, its not expensive in the least and you wont have to keep checking and re centering your u joint. It worth it to just fix it right the first time. Like you say, its just money, buy and never regret it.

its called a pinion shaft yolk.....i broke it twice so what i did was just welded a plate on the side to hold the caps on haha
here is a pic of me doin it on the road "sucked"

throw a little weld nugget where the tabs were. i used an old end cap for a guide. first one side broke, and the driveshaft fell out. i upgraded to the u bolts instead of those crappy straps,too. the next weekend i clipped a large rock and broke the driveshaft yolk. the straps held up, but the other tab broke. so i welded another "nugget". so far, so good:yelclap:

ya i have had to fix the u-joint twice on the trail the first time it was one of those bolts snapped and then the second the joint. the first time the little teeth didnt break but the second time they both went.

i started having vibes between 35+45 mph. checked my welds and they both were gone. time to try the plate. hows yours working out, jeepjeff? good for long term, or have you had any issues?

um ya so i was driving the other day up a hill and i hear a pop i dont think anything of it and then i was going down the hill and then bam my drive shaft was off. so i ordered a new yoke and i will put it on tomorrow.