poping in 4wd

I was sure I had a blown hub when i heard poping from pass, front while in 4wheel drive. I've a '95 xj with np231 tc.
I pulled the hub today for inspection, and was suprised to see nothing wrong.the splines look fine on both the hub, and the axel shaft.
As i was playing with the axel shaft it just slipped out! I thought that there was a clip to prevent this. should i be worried?
the poping noise is coming from the universal joint, I am not sure if i can do this now.
this may be a stupid thought, would it be better to run the jeep w/o the passenger side front axel shaft for a week or so...opposed to the joint breaking on the road potentially causing even more carnage.
there is ice and snow in the forecast. and good three wheel drive is better than
my options now.
Im concerned if I try to fix the joint today, and break something, I'll be really done for. I need the jeep-no other transportation and i gotta work.
suggestions would help a great deal, thanks

On a Dana 30 front axle, there are no clips to hold the half-shafts in place, so they will slide out like you experienced. I see this as a design "feature" -- when I have to replace axle U-joints, I don't have to remove the diff cover and drain the fluid just to remove a clip!

How much play is there in the universal joint?

I've run my YJ for quite some time without front half-shafts. I kept destroying axle seals and couldn't figure out why; it turned out that there was a plastic bushing (vac-disconnect only) that was worn out. I had intended to replace the axle anyway, so not having 4WD wasn't a big deal at the time. I never had any issues, although both half-shafts were out. I can't see a problem with just removing one of them, but be sure to test it before you go driving at 70 mph. It's possible that the Jeep might pull to one side (ever so slightly) due to the rotating load imbalance, but that's my speculation and not hard experience.

Also, keep in mind that you will not have three-wheel-drive with one half-shaft removed unless you have a locker in place. The power from the engine will be transferred to the portion of the differential with the least resistance, which is the disconnected side.

there is not much play in the joint, it is more that it is really stiff in one direction. when i force the joint in this direction it looks and feels like the ends of the joint are crumbling apart. perhaps it is just dried,solidified grease that is causing the noise, whatever it is, it is falling out of the joint...

I'm having the same problem with mine but on the drivers side. And that's just it - the U-joint is locked up on one side, so it'll flex one way just fine but the other way is nearly impossible to flex by hand. Mine on the other hand is popping in both 2WD and 4WD. Does anyone know if you can "service" the U-joints on the stock axle shaft or replace them or do we need to buy new axle shafts?

just replace the joints.

HOW?

sgt_ic3m4n said:

HOW?

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This should help. There is not much too it really.

Clicky Here

Running with an axleshaft removed is like running without the plug in the cover. Contaminants can get in through the tube at the differential seal. Gear oil can escape through the same place and dump all over your brake rotors. If you have to run without the axle shaft, make sure it is a temporary situation. Maybe you could stuff something into the tube to help plug the diff.

The joints at the hub are not that hard to replace. Check your hub bearings while you are there.

Thanks so much Haleyes, I was looking for that kind of help for about 48 hours on this dang computer, that was perfect. I owe you one man.

Tom in KY said:

Running with an axleshaft removed is like running without the plug in the cover. Contaminants can get in through the tube at the differential seal. Gear oil can escape through the same place and dump all over your brake rotors.

Click to expand...

To my amazement, the inside of the differential was surprisingly clean even after I ran without half-shafts (longer than I expected, too; we're talking a good six months and even through a winter). I wasn't concerned about the axle getting screwed up since I was intending on replacing it. As luck would have it, though, I ended up putting the whole thing back together and it's still serving well under the front of my YJ, nearly two years later! Having done this, though, I still agree with you and would definitely put something in the axle tube if I had to do it over.

It's sometimes possible to free up a frozen axle U-joint by making several slow circles (forward and reverse) with 4WD engaged on a dirt surface. This is supposed to free up the joints, though you'll likely have to do it every few days if it's really stuck. When my U-joints went bad, that method didn't work very well, so I was forced to replace the the faulty part as soon as I could... along with ball joints and hubs. Never know what you might find.

Oh, and if you do the work yourself, make sure you get greasable U-joints with the grease fittings in the end caps. It's a lot easier to lubricate them this way and regular maintenance will make them last longer than the non-greasables.

I ran with one shaft to and from work (50 mi round trip) definetly not good for handeling, felt like driverside was dragging (had driver side axleshaft installed still) I was late for work cause I wanted to buy the new joints.
anyway as I was dismanteling the wheel I noticed the bearing has begun to walk itself apart. I took it off and with a heavy rubber mallet, was able to press it back together. I reassembled everything as i found it and will tackle the u joints this weekend.

Should I be concerned about the bearing? I know they are soo darn expensive $140.00 I hope this one is still ok.

Deffinatly will not use the jeep w/o an axleshaft again, I've got gear oil everywhere. I wish I had a little bit of time to spare so I can just get this thing fixed.

wanacj said:

I ran with one shaft to and from work (50 mi round trip) definetly not good for handeling, felt like driverside was dragging (had driver side axleshaft installed still) I was late for work cause I wanted to buy the new joints.
anyway as I was dismanteling the wheel I noticed the bearing has begun to walk itself apart. I took it off and with a heavy rubber mallet, was able to press it back together. I reassembled everything as i found it and will tackle the u joints this weekend.

Should I be concerned about the bearing? I know they are soo darn expensive $140.00 I hope this one is still ok.

Deffinatly will not use the jeep w/o an axleshaft again, I've got gear oil everywhere. I wish I had a little bit of time to spare so I can just get this thing fixed.

Click to expand...

Your lucky to be alive,you cant run unit bearings without atleast the stub axle!

wanacj said:

...anyway as I was dismanteling the wheel I noticed the bearing has begun to walk itself apart.

Click to expand...

RCP Phx said:

...you cant run unit bearings without atleast the stub axle!

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I forgot to mention that whenever I ran without the axle shafts, I removed the U-joints and torqued down the stub shafts to hold the bearing together. That would be pretty dangerous without everything clamped together .

so you think the bearing might be ok if everything is bolted in?
or should I just replace it and be happy im still here?

Replace it and be done.
:viking:

wanacj said:

so you think the bearing might be ok if everything is bolted in?
or should I just replace it and be happy im still here?

Click to expand...

Well, if you bolted it up to begin with, then the bearing would be fine... but since it's been rotated without being held in place, there's a good chance that it's shot. I wouldn't even want that thought to be lingering in the back of my mind (i.e. "Hmm, I wonder when that damaged bearing is going to fail?"...). They're expensive, I know, but it might be worth the peace of mind.