Need help from the mechanically inclined on my Jeep

[halfmileharry]

That's good news! Thanks!!

I've got the sockets, big set I bought from HF. Can I use an impact to remove the nuts or is a breaker bar better?

A decent impact will work fine. I haven't run into one yet I had to take a breaker bar to.
Are you going to just replace the U-Joint on the axle or the complete shaft assembly?

 

[phylodog]

Unless the existing shafts are unusable I'll just replace the U joints.

 

[phylodog]

I thought my replacement axle U joints were showing up today but I was mistaken. Before I realized that I was wrong I went ahead and pulled the driver's side axle shaft out. Everything came apart very easily but when I was pressing the joint out one of the cap ends popped off leaving the cap in the yoke. Not a lot of fun but I finally got it out of there. Just waiting for the joints to show up tomorrow before putting it back together.

I haven't checked the passenger's side but I figure it makes sense to replace them both at the same time so I'll do the other side on Friday if the weather is decent.

 

[phylodog]

Got both axle U joints replaced and was pretty surprised at how easy it was. I had the end of one cap tear off while trying to press the bad U joint out but it wasn't too terrible to get it out afterward.

Drove the Jeep after replacing the axle U joints and still had the chirping. I put the rear end up on jack stands, crawled under it and had the wife gently run through the gears. Not the best idea I know but I'm tired of guessing. I was able to identify the issue at the double cardon joint on the rear drive shaft. I've got a Tom Woods rear and they provided me with part numbers to rebuild it. The parts will be here tomorrow so I pulled the drive shaft off and soaked it with penetrating oil so it can sit overnight. I now have another question.

The U joints one the rear shaft have zerk fittings on the end caps. The retianing clips don't look like they'll come off with the zerk in there. Is it safe to assume that I need to remove the zerks before getting the clips off? It looks like the clips are laying up against the zerk. Not really a big deal when getting the old ones out but I want to do it right when installing the new ones. I'm not sure how I'll hold on to the caps to remove the zerk fittings before installing the new ones unless the ship without the zerks installed.

 

[Rookie]

Yes, remove them. The new ones (if they have zerks) will be hand tight...

 

[phylodog]

Thanks Rookie!

 

[Moparracer89]

On the bright side, your jeep will have all new joints when your done. I just replaced all the u joints on my 79 jeep.

 

[Arthur Dent]

Where I work we call the double cardan joints like that "double car bombs." It's pretty catastrophic when they let go at speed. Glad you caught it when you did.

 

[phylodog]

I've read a couple stories of transfer cases getting annihilated when they explode, definitely didn't want that to happen.

 

[Arthur Dent]

Given the short length of the rear prop and the need for the extra articulation I don't suppose a regular prop would work? Do the new u-joints have zerk fittings on the caps or a needle fitting on the body of the u-joint?

 

[phylodog]

The U joints recommended by Tom Wood's to replace theirs in the drive shaft have the zerks in the caps also. I need to find a local place to balance both drive shafts for me since they've been completely rebuilt. I'll drive it first to see if I feel any vibrations but I'm assuming it'll need to be done.

 

[ru44mag]

I've been reading through your thread OP, and I feel your pain. 2 weeks worth!! I was having a chirping noise on my 05 Grand Cherokee. Couldn't find it for a couple weeks. I got real lucky. It went away when I had all new brakes put on.

 

[phylodog]

Success!! Replaced two of the three U joints and the centering yoke on the rear shaft and the chirping is no more.

Now to think about prepping the snow blower for storage and getting out the lawn mower.

 

[printcraft]

 

[eldirector]

w00t! One problem solved. How many got added to the list while you worked on this one?

 

[phylodog]

The front axle U joints were unexpected and rebuilding the front shaft didn't fix anything so they were collateral repairs. Just glad to be done with it. If I don't see another U joint for 10 years I'll be perfectly fine with that.

 

[GLOCKMAN23C]

Glad to hear you got it taken care of!

 

[halfmileharry]

The front axle U joints were unexpected and rebuilding the front shaft didn't fix anything so they were collateral repairs. Just glad to be done with it. If I don't see another U joint for 10 years I'll be perfectly fine with that.

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Jeep.

 

[Bennettjh]

Yeah u-joints suck big time. I've had to do both front axle shafts on my TJ due to the annoying squeak. Luckily no driveshaft issues.

The axle shafts on my ZJ are CV shafts so it's a simple remove/replace. I think I've changed them 3 times now.

 

[74J10]

The U joints recommended by Tom Wood's to replace theirs in the drive shaft have the zerks in the caps also. I need to find a local place to balance both drive shafts for me since they've been completely rebuilt. I'll drive it first to see if I feel any vibrations but I'm assuming it'll need to be done.

Just replacing the u joints doesn't require the shafts to be rebalanced. They only need to be balanced when they are built because it's impossible to get them perfectly straight and with equal weight on all welds and material thicknesses and such. Doing u joints, the shaft won't change from what was there before.

Nice that it went smoothly, most Jeep shafts I've done are a huge pain because they have been in there so long and been off road and are rusted. And the smaller shafts you can actually bend the ears of the shafts and then the u joints don't align anymore.