the angry sparrow in my front DS is back...

Ok so my 97 XJ had the infamous angry sparrow sound coming from the front driveshaft for the longest time before I finally figured out what it was. Weird thing though is it would go away in warmer weather, pretty much anything over 60 degrees outside. I went to a local and very reputable driveshaft shop that does anything from Jeeps like ours up to major industrial drivetrain applications. They are also a Spicer dealer so I knew I was at the right place. They also basically rebuilt the whole front end of the shaft and beefed up the spine count some when the slip needed a new seal. I bought two new Spicer u-joints to replace in the double carden joint but for the center joint (can't think of the appropriate name at the moment) they didn't have the Spicer one in stock but the had another brand that they said they considered to be on par with the Spicer unit. Well less than a year later an the angry sparrow shows up again as the weather starts to get colder for the fall. I have been living with this simply because I just haven't had time to address the problem. My question is should i replace everything again? Or just the center joint with a spicer unit? Or do I have a bigger problem on my hands?

Depending on what they put in, you should have two options. One replacement for the ball-centering assembly has a recessed zerk fitting that you have to lube with an extension (longer, and pointed, but not a true needle). The other, stock replacement, has a rubber "cup" that protects the ball. It's designed to be maintenance free, but you can lube it with a true needle tip on your grease gun, if you predrill a SMALL (1/16") hole in the rubber cup, near the base.

From Stu-Offroad


Upgraded part



Original part with rubber cup.


My original went 140K miles, so I replaced it with the same, and I don't worry about lubing it.

Steve

Mine would only do it in cold weather too. I simply took mine apart and cleaned everything real good, then re-packed everything with new grease and it didnt give me any more problems. Most after market centering ball joints have the grease fittings like the one shown above. If yours has that then just get the needle adapter for a grease gun and re grease it. I've heard that driving them with the sparrows will actually lock up and crack your transfer case. Better fix it now before its too late. Hope this helps.