front driveshaft needs upgrade

Well, since adding some more lift to the 85 I have a serious binding problem in the front driveshaft. It is currently the stock GKN cv driveshaft and need to upgrade to the double cardan.
My current ds is 28.5" long from the back of the flange to the top of the u-joint. Which jeep would have this length ds and does anyone know of a jeep tranfer case that has a 32 spline yoke front output that would replace the flange on my 229?
Specs of this jeep are listed in my sig. Thanks for any help.

Kim.

Advice:

Take it to a driveshaft shop...not a fancy place, and have them redo it with a DC joint at the case.

Rev

My buddy down the road has the front shaft from an S-10 replacing the junk factory shaft, and we put it in using the front yoke from an NP 231 X-case. The S-10 shaft has enough travel to work with 35" Claws and around 5" of lift. The u-joints are also 1310 eqivilent, with no fitment issues being encountered at the axle or at the X-case after chnging the yoke. The shaft is also much heavier duty than the original XJ shaft. I have been doing this mod for awhile, and the only "real" trouble that I have run into has been trying to burn out the plastic lock that GM uses to help retain the U-joints when they are installed at the factory, when I have had to change the U-joints. His XJ is an '84 with the 2.8 (for a little bit longer), 5-spd. and 229 X-case. We also flipped the Disco motor to lock the front axle, so we could ditch the vac. junk. We have not had any issues with this either.

Thanks for the help you two. Rev, if I could afford to have a shop redo a shaft I would. I have a dc shaft here that is ready for the shop but cannot dish out over a hundred bucks right now. If I could I would be at Carnagefest.
Ren, how did you get the yoke from the 231 tranfer case to work on the 229? They are different spline counts aren't they? What kind of driveshaft come on an s-10? Are they a double cardan style? Your idea has me interested because I can go and get the yoke and driveshaft at the local yard today for cheap.
Thanks again for the help.

Kim.

Well, the front yoke actually bolted right up on Donnie's XJ with no trouble. The front shaft is set-up as U-joint/Ujoint. The yokes have not bound yet, and the shaft tubing is about twice as thick as the XJ, the slip yoke has stupid travel in a good way, and looks like about a 32 spline slip. The reason for the non-CV setup as far as I can figure is that the S-10 is an IFS and does not need the "angularity" of the CV style shaft, plus for a production/accounting view, it is cheaper/faster to build. Like I said,though, we have not had any trouble with these conversions yet. Oh, yeah, I do not know if it matters ( really need to look), but we have been using the yokes from the early XJ's with the 231. Yes, the S-10 fits also. The biggest change between the S-10/XJ 231 X-cases is that the S_10 uses a 5 stud mount pattern instead of a 6 stud like every thing else, and the input shaft count is GM specific.

the standard ujoint for the rear of an xj is a spicer 1330 series and the rear is too i believe. regular greasable ujoint is 5-178x. so if you need a driveshaft that will bolt up just find something that uses the same , if it doesn't fit, than it was either a drivetrain swap of some sort of someone doesn't know how to get the right ujoint and or driveline

Thanks again for the help Ren. Very interesting findings you have here. Will the yoke from the S-10 be a match to the 231 out of an xj? So in other words if this is true I can use a double cardan front shaft from an xj on an S-10 231 yoke? You say early xj's with the 231 tranfer cases. Which years are you considering older?
Sorry a couple more questions. What do you mean by flipping the Disco motor? I just took it out and made my own lever to engage my tranfer case. You stated that your friend has an 84, 2.8 motor, 5 speed manual, and229 tranfer case and is longer. Are you referring to the front driveshaft being longer? Couldn't really understand what you were trying to say here. Again, thanks.

Kim.

gwilliamson said:

the standard ujoint for the rear of an xj is a spicer 1330 series and the rear is too i believe. regular greasable ujoint is 5-178x. so if you need a driveshaft that will bolt up just find something that uses the same , if it doesn't fit, than it was either a drivetrain swap of some sort of someone doesn't know how to get the right ujoint and or driveline

Click to expand...

I am pretty sure most of my u-joints are 1310 in both my 85 and 96.

Kim.

The yokes for single cardin vs. double cardin are different. DC joints have the bolts going through the yoke into the joint..the s-10 231 uses a 27 spline input shaft (to TC). If the S-10 shaft is a 1310 size double cardin, it should fit. I had a s-10 before but never had the front shaft out. I bought my conversion yoke from Tom Woods...if memory serves me..they said the yokes from most of the 2-- series cases interchange. My TC is a 207...and the 231 yoke fit...the only mod will be that when you change yokes, the threads on the output shaft stick out past the nut enough to interfere with the DC joint...I took a die grinder and a cut off wheel and slowly ground the excess away.

Im watching this closely...I would like to find a easy bolt-in (read cheap) junkyard front shaft for a early 2.5/auto combo. Cause I got one too. And I want a spare.

MudDawg said:

The yokes for single cardin vs. double cardin are different. DC joints have the bolts going through the yoke into the joint..the s-10 231 uses a 27 spline input shaft (to TC). If the S-10 shaft is a 1310 size double cardin, it should fit. I had a s-10 before but never had the front shaft out. I bought my conversion yoke from Tom Woods...if memory serves me..they said the yokes from most of the 2-- series cases interchange. My TC is a 207...and the 231 yoke fit...the only mod will be that when you change yokes, the threads on the output shaft stick out past the nut enough to interfere with the DC joint...I took a die grinder and a cut off wheel and slowly ground the excess away.

Im watching this closely...I would like to find a easy bolt-in (read cheap) junkyard front shaft for a early 2.5/auto combo. Cause I got one too. And I want a spare.

Click to expand...

I was also thinking that the yokes were going to be different. So an S-10 yoke and driveshaft will work but a yoke from an xj and shaft from an S-10 will not work. Time to find an S-10 with a 231 tranfer case. I still wonder if the spline count is going to give me trouble being that the 228 and 229 are 32 spline outputs and most 231 tranfer cases are in the twenties.
Thanks for the heads up on the output shaft.

Kim.

A friend did a S-10 V-8 conversion, and i remember he had to get a 27 spine output shaft for his new tranny to bolt to the stock TC...that particular TC was a 231.

We need to save this thread when it is sorted out...for future reference.

MudDawg said:

We need to save this thread when it is sorted out...for future reference.

Click to expand...

I agree. Hopefully some good info gets in this thread.

Kim.

on my 86 2.8, ax5, 207 equipped xj.
I had the gkn cv joint and i swapped it with a d/c one from a 4cyl ax5 231 xj.
you have to use the yoke from the 231.

I dont know if this applies to the 229t/c