Rear drive shaft removal

ChesterCRD · **Posted:** Sun Apr 24, 2016 4:54 pm

I need to change my rear-most universal joint and thought the best way to tackle this would be remove the driveshaft. I took out the four bolts at the rear of the drifeshaft. Those seem to keep the shaft from turning about that plate, but not actually allow it to separate. Does anyone have any pointers for removing this? Once that's separated, will it slide out of the transfer case or does something secure the other end?

andrew.wenmoth · **Posted:** Sun Apr 24, 2016 8:43 pm

Mine was stuck as well. Few taps from a hammer or spray some pb blaster and a rap from a hammer should do the trick. Drop the diff end and then it should just slide out. Undo the zipties or wire ties around the boot at the transfer case and it will slide out! Make sure you have new zipties for the boot on reassembly. I used nice uv, grease and solvent resistant onces from this local hardware store. Its pretty easy. Just be careful when your pounding all the caps on. I blew a snap ring out of the yoke a few. Weeks back. Use a press if you have one available. Just my [MONEY BAG] 2 cents.

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ChesterCRD · **Posted:** Mon Apr 25, 2016 8:43 am

Thanks Andrew. When I tapped it with a hammer it rotated rather than sliding free as I expected. I can see a hole in the center of the rearward half of the ujoint, but can't tell whether there's anything there that would stop it from just sliding off. I'll try it again this weekend and see if I can get it free.

The boot near the transfer case is held on with metal rings, kind of like you'd see on pex tubing. If that's where it separates I'll need to replace that too. I'll start looking for one.

Thanks again for your help.

kj75 · **Posted:** Tue Apr 26, 2016 8:38 pm

Same issue here on 2006 Jeep Cherokee KJ Diesel (Australian).

I contacted TJM in Australia regarding this issues and was told it is very common problem especially with older cars after a lift.
Something to do with a wear pattern, and when the Jeep is lifted it upsets things.
Triton and BT50 are especially affected.

At first I thought the vibration was the torque converter, but that didn't make sense as I didn't have vibration before the lift.
As far as I can tell a lift would not cause torque converter issues but a Ujoint could.

I also went with the Moog 280 Super Strength.

Can heavy duty zipties be used instead of metal rings to put the boot back on ?

Function > Form · **Posted:** Wed Apr 27, 2016 9:15 am

If it were me, I'd be using the same sort of metal ties you would have on a cv boot (they are quite cheap, you need a banding tool also).

However, not having re-re'd the driveshaft myself, you may want to wait for others to chime in.

andrew.wenmoth · **Posted:** Wed Apr 27, 2016 12:19 pm

If you push towards the front(its a sliding yoke on the front) it should drop out of the rear. I used 75lb uv and chemical resistant heavy duty zip ties to replace on the boot too by the way

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ChesterCRD · **Posted:** Thu Apr 28, 2016 10:26 am

I changed them both last night. The Moog 280 Super Strength joints work well. The nipple for the grease fitting is really short, so I'm not sure whether it will work with my grease gun (does anyone have experience with these?). I packed it with grease before installing so I have some time to work that out. I was able to carefully remove the metal band holding the driveshaft end of the boot and reuse that. I think I'll add a plastic strap too because I'm not sure I got it tight enough when reinstalling it. It doesn't slide, but just doesn't "feel" tight to me.

The symptoms I was experiencing didn't point directly to ujoints, so here's some detail on them. I was getting a shimmy feel when starting out, then a fast vibration in steering and seat back at low speeds and when coasting/dragging the drive train. Above 30 mph the vibration stopped and a droning noise began slightly then louder until about 55 mph. Above 60 mph no symptoms were noticeable at first, but after about a week the noise started to get worse and last until about 70 mph.

After changing the ujoints all is well. Not a bad job. With a press it took about 2 hours (I'm slow).

andrew.wenmoth · **Posted:** Thu Apr 28, 2016 10:59 am

I used napa ujoints. All the nipples are short, so they dont get sheared off with flexing. I have a standard grease gun and its a little tight but you can get it on at the right angle. Glad everything worked out!

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Function > Form · **Posted:** Thu Apr 28, 2016 11:31 am

Glad it all worked out. Nice work.

I have some odd things happening also, on medium+ throttle, a pretty pronounced hum/vibe and I for a couple days I had the typical "weet weet weet" sound (faster with speed) that u-joints make when they are on the way out.

Usually I would do it, but I was on my way out of province so my wife took it to a local shop. They pulled the rear DS, the u-joints are good, moving freely. And now, the noise isn't there anymore, even after a week of driving.

I might just replace them anyhow, but I'll have to check out the brakes too. :dizzy:

kj75 · **Posted:** Wed May 04, 2016 6:03 am

Good to see it's all working well.
I'll be doing mine as soon as I get it as the Moog's were on back order.

I am really hoping it's only the Ujoints and not the torque converter or front CV.

Kj75

Rear drive shaft removal

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