Bigger u joints

[bhmike]

I have a 87 with the small 260 u-joints up front in my 30 and i would like to do a upgrade to the bigger 297 ones. can anyone please help me figure out what would be the best way to do this. I have heard that some wranglers had the 297 u-joints with the two piece axle and if so could i just switch them out with mine. thanks for any input.


opps wrong section could someone please move....thanks

 

[RCP Phx]

You just need a set of inner/outers from a late model or the earlier ABS equipped rigs.

 

[Brandoson]

Im going to be hitting a few junk yards searching for d44 axle shafts, if I see any 297s ill let ya know.

 

[Gasman]

Driver side = 95' and later XJ or TJ.

Passenger side = 95' YJ if you want to keep the CAD. This was the only year with the larger U-Joint. I would not recommend it though. I did this upgrade years ago when I had a 30 and I started breaking intermediate shafts and those suck to replace on the trail. But it's a direct bolt in.

I would suggest swapping out to a 1 piece shaft from 95' up XJ or TJ. Fairly simple swap. You do have to pull the carrier to put in an axle seal in the passenger side tube. It's not machined for a stock one so have to use aftermarket seal. A search on here should quickly yield the part number. About $5-7 at NAPA IIRC. Pull the disco motor, take out the shift fork, and reuse the motor housing as a cover. Plug the vaccuum lines for the disco and good to go.