need help with front drive shaft

Ok here is what is going on i have a home made 3" lift on my xj and i bent a front axle tab. So i pulled out the front axle and made and re welded a new one in.

I pulled all the numbers right every thing bolted back together like it should but now its like the front drive shaft is to short. The only thing that has changed is i cut out the sway bar links and the truck always had them, but that shouldn't effect the drive shaft

I have no clue what i did but if anyone has any input that could help me get my xj back in the mud. thanks for your time and help

ummm... shrinkage?

people use their stock shaft up to and over 6". when was the last time you greased it and are you sure its collapsing/compressing freely? if its all the same components, then it has to be operator error.

Yeah I thought it should move but its not. So do you think i need to replace it or lube it?

I'm new to the xjs and lifed trucks always had 2wd.

Axle tab? Do you mean control arm mount? spring pad?

If you re-welded the control arm mount, it's possible it's not in the same position as original, thereby locating the axle different than original. Other than that, did you make sure to get the control arms all back to their original positions...didn't mix up left for right, upper for lower? Since the control arms locate the axle, I'd suspect them first.

shanebringman said:

Yeah I thought it should move but its not. So do you think i need to replace it or lube it?

I'm new to the xjs and lifed trucks always had 2wd.

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This is probably your problem. If it's stuck closed then you will need to lube it and try to pull it open, trying using a secure location and a come-a-long mabye.

If it won't move after that, which is what happened to me, you will probably need a replacement.

The stock front driveshaft doesn't extend very far. If you made your new brackets a little longer than stock, its very possible the stock driveshaft will not reach.

With these LCA brackets, the axle was too far forward (maybe 1") and the stock front driveshaft did not reach (in this case, it was on purpose).