U-joint breakage, and ABS tone rings

So I went up to my buddy's ranch yesterday. On the drive up, the front end felt kind of funny, a new vibration that I'd never felt before.

Got up there, did some light wheeling, noticed at a full lock left turn in 4wd I was getting u-joint noise. Checked it the next am, sure enough, some serious play in the left front axle u-joint. I had a spare shaft from an ABS Cherokee with the tone ring (mine is non-abs), and put it on.

Drove it around to test it after that, heard a loud pop, stopped, the u-joint on the other side (passenger) spit out a cap. Upon inspection, it was full of sand from my last dune trip. Replaced that shaft, again, with a spare from an ABS Cherokee with the tone ring.

The tone ring shafts seemed to not allow the unit bearings to go in easily, but they sucked down by tightening the bolts. The nuts on the axle shaft kept wanting to loosen back up, we figured it had more to do with us using hand tools than anything.

Finally got them tight to the point where I felt good with it (and the cotter pins fit in), and went to leave.

About a mile down the road I feel a weird vibe, pull over, smoke is coming from the lt front axle shaft around the u-joint. At that point, I called AAA and used my 200 mile tow to get the Jeep home. Walked in the door an hour ago.

So, here's what I have

D30 housing is from a 98XJ
Knuckles, brakes, u-joints from an 89XJ without ABS
Shafts from a 98XJ with ABS Tone rings

Is there a fitament issue with the tone rings? My guess was that the tone ring was rubbing the knuckle or unit-bearing and causing the smoke as it ground down. Can I just knock the tone rings off these shafts, or should I go get new u-joints for the old shafts and put them back in?

What else should I be looking at that could cause this issue?

if you want, you can knock the tone rings off. its not hard at all.

1990JEEPXJ said:

if you want, you can knock the tone rings off. its not hard at all.

Click to expand...

How, and does it make a difference?

youll have to remove the shaft, obviously and you can smack them off with a hammer. i cant say what difference it will make in your case if any since i dont know if theyre the problem in the first place. but i dont really think they are the problem.

I have never wrenched on an early XJ, but here is some info. I do not know if the differences in the knuckles design and brakes makes mixing matching parts a problem.


Three different unit hub/bearing assemblies and disk brake rotor types were used over the years on XJ D30's. The unit hub/bearing are the same part number for both sides of the vehicle. The model years for hub/bearing assemblies were:

1) Original AMC hubs used 1984 through 1989 (original type brake rotors and calipers, and original roller bearing hubs)

2) Older type unit hubs used 1990 through 1999.5 (composite brake rotors)

3) New type unit hubs used 1999.5 through 2001 (cast brake rotors).

Two steering knuckle designs were used: 1984 to 1989 and 1990 to 2001. Left and right side knuckles have different part numbers.

Two types of brake caliper designs were used: 1984 to 1989 and 1990 to 2001. Left and right sides are different part numbers.

1990JEEPXJ said:

youll have to remove the shaft, obviously and you can smack them off with a hammer. i cant say what difference it will make in your case if any since i dont know if theyre the problem in the first place. but i dont really think they are the problem.

Click to expand...

Any idea what the problem is then?

I'm really confused by this one as I didn't think they'd be a problem to begin with.

the rings are not the problem the older hubs were check out tims post. personally i like the abs rings, the help keep the ears from riding up each other when you break a shaft

ROBZ95Xj said:

the rings are not the problem the older hubs were check out tims post. personally i like the abs rings, the help keep the ears from riding up each other when you break a shaft

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whats wrong with the hubs?

they've been on the Jeep for over a year with non-abs shafts, working perfectly. The hub/brake/knuckle are all 89 hardware.

IslanderOffRoad said:

whats wrong with the hubs?

they've been on the Jeep for over a year with non-abs shafts, working perfectly. The hub/brake/knuckle are all 89 hardware.

Click to expand...

didnt read the first post corectly, the hubs could of gone bad or they may have changed the abs rings between the years also

would the hub smoke if it went bad?

The hubs were brand new timkens when installed last year.

Im still with Tim MN on this one since you really havent completely explained "exactly" what combination you are using.The shafts are all the same,only the knuckle/hub bearings/brake mounting/and rotors changed

RCP Phx said:

Im still with Tim MN on this one since you really havent completely explained "exactly" what combination you are using.The shafts are all the same,only the knuckle/hub bearings/brake mounting/and rotors changed

Click to expand...

what more information do you need?

Axle housing is from a 98
Shafts are from a 98 with ABS
Knuckles, brakes, unit bearings from an 89 without ABS

Prior shafts were one from an 89 and one from a 99.

I'm getting new u-joints pressed in the old shafts and putting them back in tomorrow.

I am going to knock the tone rings off these shafts though, and see if that makes a difference

Ujoint sizes changed somewhere in there....from the smaller 260 to the larger 297 (or 760).

JNickel101 said:

Ujoint sizes changed somewhere in there....from the smaller 260 to the larger 297 (or 760).

Click to expand...

Yep.

Put the old shafts back in today, Jeep works fine.

On the teardown I noticed that the axles with the tone rings seem to be a bit longer; the part that the unit bearing splines on to caused the bearing to sit out farther, and when I tightened it, the unit bearing pushed all the way up against the tone ring and was rubbing.

Destroyed the bearing on one side.

I guess I'll have to get a spare set of shafts from a non-abbs Cherokee. The combination of the 89 knuckle and the 98 abs shafts just doesn't seem to work.

Took the Jeep out for about 2 minutes post putting the axle back together, felt nervous about noises, took it home.

Back in Texas now, but trying to think what might be going on with it before I go back to CA in March.

Thinking I should replace both unit bearings with brand new ones...

sounds like the tone rings on later models were a little further out, closer to the hub, than renix tone rings. so your knuckles and hubs may not be compatible with late model ABS shafts with the tone rings still on. thats the only explanation i can think of. have you tried to remove the tone rings?

1990JEEPXJ said:

sounds like the tone rings on later models were a little further out, closer to the hub, than renix tone rings. so your knuckles and hubs may not be compatible with late model ABS shafts with the tone rings still on. thats the only explanation i can think of. have you tried to remove the tone rings?

Click to expand...

Take the tone rings off like he suggested and you should be fine. I have played with a few unitbearings from different years and the earlier unit bearings had a recess where the slinger (non abs) would fit inside. I think the tone rings are bottoming out and causing the rubbing and smoking. I cannot be more than 99% sure without seeing some pics to diagnose further. Pull the shafts and knock the rings off then try again. Good luck. :yelclap:

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll check it out next time I'm near the Jeep.