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Stock front drive shaft in rear?

B

Ben824

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Woodstock, GA
I have heard of this being done before. I'm on a seriously tight budget and I think I can swing the money for a hack-n-tap and junkyard front driveshaft. I had work done on my front drive a few years ago and the shop replaced the front slip section of the DS and it's actually a bit thicker than stock so I was thinking of swapping it to the rear and putting a junk yard DS back in the front. My XJ is a 97 4 door auto 4x4 with the Chrysler 8.25 rear axle and an RE 3.5" lift.
 
First of all, pretty sure this is the same setup everyone on the planet ever has done a hack n tap on... check gojeep's page.

Second, no idea why nismo thinks it's impossible. Doing a hack-n-tap results in a CV style yoke on the rear output shaft, not a flange style, you get the flange style when you do a real SYE kit :doh:
 
I would watch out doing this. I did the same thing because I was low on money do, But did a full sye. Got a DS from a junker and threw on. It worked for about a week then vibs went crazy and the jeep was horriable to drive. Took it into 4wp and the shaft was bad and was screwing alot of things up, so I had to buy new ones and re shim. So you CAN do it but I would look into trying to buy a new shaft
 
jeepfreak1020 said:
I would watch out doing this. I did the same thing because I was low on money do, But did a full sye. Got a DS from a junker and threw on. It worked for about a week then vibs went crazy and the jeep was horriable to drive. Took it into 4wp and the shaft was bad and was screwing alot of things up, so I had to buy new ones and re shim. So you CAN do it but I would look into trying to buy a new shaft
Click to expand...

so you got a bad front shaft and that makes every front shaft under xj's bad?


i could buy 15 front shafts for the price of a tom woods.

they work for me, i'm sticking with em'
 
Ben824 said:
I have heard of this being done before. I'm on a seriously tight budget and I think I can swing the money for a hack-n-tap and junkyard front driveshaft. I had work done on my front drive a few years ago and the shop replaced the front slip section of the DS and it's actually a bit thicker than stock so I was thinking of swapping it to the rear and putting a junk yard DS back in the front. My XJ is a 97 4 door auto 4x4 with the Chrysler 8.25 rear axle and an RE 3.5" lift.
Click to expand...

As mentioned, this is a popular swap when you do a Hack and Tap SYE. You will need to get the front driveshaft from a donor vehicle as well as a Spicer flange to connect the driveshaft to the DYE. You want to buy Spicer flange 211229x (or equivalent). I've been running a front shaft in the rear for a number of years and find that they hold up really well. I don't even change the ujoints when I grab the shafts at the junkyard, I just toss 'em in.
 
I have seen hack n taps with a flange style and with a yoke style.
 
I have also seen both flange and yoke style I am not partial to either one so which ever one can be done cheaper will be my option.

As I mentioned in my original post I will be moving my CURRENT front DS to the rear and getting a junker in good shape for the front. Why? Because My front is in near perfect shape with a recently rebuilt CV and the beefed up front slip area of the DS. Why is it beefed up over stock? Because the grease seal on the slip shaft rotted out allowing play in the slip shaft and some minor grinding of the splines since they were no longer perfectly lined up so I took it to a shop and they just cut off the whole front slip section and welded on a new one that was thick than stock so I figured it would be best to use in the rear if I could and then get a junker in good shape for the front.

Thanks for the advice and info fellas now I know what to expect when I get around to this.
 
my hack n tap has a flange, and im using a front shaft. works for me. you can't just bolt it on though you need to change the tcase side part of the double cardan joint.
 
I've been running a front shaft in the rear for 2 years now. It's holding up great. I have the RE hack n tap flange style. I had to get a flange adapter for the CV side of the driveshaft. Costed me about 40 bucks and I don't recall the part number
 
I run a stock front shaft on the rear of my Heep, no problems at all and I beat the hell out of it!

Holds up to 35's with no problems
 
I have the yoke style HnT on my 231 and so far so good. My reasoning behind going with the yoke style as opposed to the flange style is that I can run the exact same driveshaft front and rear. No need to change to the flange, in a worst case scenario I could pull the front and put it out back. And I only really need to carry one spare.
 
I too have been running a front shaft for a year or so, I have a 4.5 lift 32's, and an AA SYE. Jeep had terrible vibes after the lift, so I went to this set up. and have not had any drivetrain problems since.
 
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