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axle swap...did we miss something?

W

woodkrawler

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Charlotte, NC
ok so over the weekend we put a non vac. dis. dana 30 in my brother's 88 MJ and installed a loc-rite in it at the same time in order to eliminate the two piece axles and for a trip to tellico later this week.
we got everything in smoothly but now ONLY when he is in 4wd there is a loud popping sound, like metal on metal sound coming from the front end when he turns the steering wheel?? it does not do it in 2wd just 4wd so that rules out the ball joints and steering linkage and possibly the hubs?? could that be a u-joint going?? they seemed to be tight prior to install. any ideas??
 
oh yeah, he left the brake dust sheilds out, would that have anything to do with it or the fact that its going in a vacuum dissconnect JEEP?? he has a 231 tcase should it be okay spinning all the time now?
 
did you disable the vacuum disconnect when you did the swap?

did you set the gears up properly?

without the dust shields, the axles willl be pushed into the carrier an extra 3/32". could be some binding???

Are you testing the 4x4 on the asphalt with a locker? If thats the case that would definately contribute to the amount of noise your hearing, especially when turning. Test it on the dirt.

We really need more info in order to give any advice worth writing.

Aaron
 
My first question would be, where did the axle come from and is it the same gearing as the rear... you would feel and hear noises more noticably turning than not, and yes, the dust sheilds add important thousands of an inch so you should be putting them back in.
 
99xjache said:
did you disable the vacuum disconnect when you did the swap?

did you set the gears up properly?

without the dust shields, the axles willl be pushed into the carrier an extra 3/32". could be some binding???

Are you testing the 4x4 on the asphalt with a locker? If thats the case that would definately contribute to the amount of noise your hearing, especially when turning. Test it on the dirt.

We really need more info in order to give any advice worth writing.

Aaron
Click to expand...

the axle came from a 95 XJ, stock gearing. as for the locker, we are running it off road only. im not new to this, i've been in the jeep world now for 8+years and running lockers most of that time. thats why im stumpped on what it could be? the only thing i can think of is the dust sheilds. that seems crazy that 3/32" could make that much of a difference, but then again with a Jeep nothing surprises me.

as far as disabling the vac dissconnect - all thats need is to plug the lines? correct??
 
twisted_ed said:
My first question would be, where did the axle come from and is it the same gearing as the rear... you would feel and hear noises more noticably turning than not, and yes, the dust sheilds add important thousands of an inch so you should be putting them back in.
Click to expand...

as for the gearing its 3.55, just like the rear. if it wasn't then the jeep would even move in 4wd because everything is locked together. it operates fine in 4wd just hear the metal on metal popping sound. we are going to try the dust sheilds and see if that takes care of it.
 
U joints. they are broken, maybe not all the way through, but broken

grab hold of each yoke on the axles and try to spin them, if there is play they are broken and will be loud as hell when torque is delivered to them under stress
 
rocklandxjer said:
U joints. they are broken, maybe not all the way through, but broken

grab hold of each yoke on the axles and try to spin them, if there is play they are broken and will be loud as hell when torque is delivered to them under stress
Click to expand...

x2. Same thing happened to me and new u-joints solved the problem.
 
Dust shield don't amount to squat. I installed a 94 HP30 in my 01 and did a lock rite at the same time. I did not install the dust shields and have no problems. X3 on the u joints or something else, when you modify things sometimes they will push previously hidden problems to the front!!
 
Definately check out the U joints and wheel joints. I know my wheel joints were gone and even when in 2 wheel drive and turning it made a popping and metal on metal sound, started off just in 4wd, then moved to 2wd eventually. So check all your joints up front.
 
how about the fact that you now have a lock-right in it do you know what they sound like when new the pop and make loud metal sounds exactly like your describing sounds to me like your not used to the new sounds of you locker.
 
bj-666 said:
how about the fact that you now have a lock-right in it do you know what they sound like when new the pop and make loud metal sounds exactly like your describing sounds to me like your not used to the new sounds of you locker.
Click to expand...

as stated before i have ran loc-rites for years in dana 30s 44s and 60s and this sounds nothing like the loc-rite.
 
UPDATE:

FIRST THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP!

we got a deal on a set of 297x shafts from a 99 XJ this morning. pulled the old shafts and the pass. side u joint is definately shot a, it has 1/4" of play in it. so that explains the noise. NOW this has stumpped me....the "supposedly" 297x shafts we got from a 99XJ are a different length than the ones in his axle from a 95XJ???? reason i know this when you put the newer shafts in the axle and tighten down the lugs nothing moves, its completely tight, will not spin, EVEN in 4 Lo., just DRAGS the FRONT END!! VERY STRANGE!!! so we fixed the old busted u-joint and put those shafts back in and its all GOOD!!

BUT WHAT THE HECK WITH THE NEWER XJ SHAFTS????? i thought a DANA 30 was a dana 30 "other" than with ABS.....and these shafts DO NOT have ABS-no TONE RINGS.
 
monkeyevil said:
I have never heard of d30's having different size shafts, I have had swapped a TON of them. How much longer are they?

I had a set of TJ 297 shafts in my disco d30.
Click to expand...

upon further inspection they are actually the same length, its just the hubs that are different. and the spacing on the hubs on the 99xj shaft is causing the rotor and caliper to bind/lock together when tightened down. do the later body style xjs have different rotors? if so thats the first i've heard of it? also i believe the shafts would be fine to use if you pulled the hubs off.

lincoln
 
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