OK I am having serious issues with my KJ. (Well really has not gone away)
I am about ready to go though my 5th set of front CV and half shafts and front DS.

WTF is going on?

I have not wheeled since April this year. My wife has been driving it local since I began repairs to it. (roughly 50 miles month)

Also my front drive shaft is starting to kick the bucket. When I reach 55 MPH I start to get a whopping noise until I hit 67MPH then it kinda goes away but I feel in the steering wheel and gas peddle a vibration.
It almost feels like seconds before the rear U-joint that is getting ready to pop.

I have brand new front and rear DS. This is my 3rd Front DS in 1 year, and 2nd rear DS.

I have a few questions:

Do I just go balls out and replace CV’s with half shafts, front and rear DS and wait for it to fail again in a few weeks?

Or do I:

Remove the front Diff, CV’s and front DS and make it a 2wd KJ until I can figure this problem out?
If I do this, what should I be worried about and any prolonged effects by doing this?

Specs:
Frankenlift II W/HD coils
245/75/16 on Moabs

_________________
2003 KJ Sport JEEPZILLA Edition
American Flag flying high
Frankenlift removed =(
Moabs and plenty of pin striping
Flexable people don't get bent out of shape!
Current MPG 6" to a gallon
L.O.S.T. # BL065211
www.ItAtYourHome.com

not sure i have a god front shaft if you want it

_________________
02 Jeep TJ Sahara, 33's locked up front
03 SAS KJ 0n 35ish boggers(Sold )
Petersens 4wheel: http://www.4wheeloffroad.com/featuredve ... index.html

Getting the parts is easy for me. I get them cheep. but I am getting tired of replacing the same parts over and over again

_________________
2003 KJ Sport JEEPZILLA Edition
American Flag flying high
Frankenlift removed =(
Moabs and plenty of pin striping
Flexable people don't get bent out of shape!
Current MPG 6" to a gallon
L.O.S.T. # BL065211
www.ItAtYourHome.com

There is your problem. Get some good quality parts instead of getting cheap parts over and over.

_________________
2002 Jeep KJ Sport 3.7L 4x4

245/75-16 Mastercraft Courser HSX, 16x7 Cragar, 2" OME MD Lift, ARB Bumper
AEM Brute Force Cold Air Intake, Flowmaster Super 44 Muffler

Currently working on: Full service on transmission & bed-lining ARB bumper

viewtopic.php?f=43&t=84650

Sounds like something else is causing these parts to wear excessively fast. Maybe look inside your front diff and possibly t-case?
I personally like to figure out the problem instead of shooting in the dark with buying parts that fix the immediate problem but not the long-term (read: real) problem.

_________________
2003 Limited, Silver - L.O.S.T. # 068957 Rockies
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2127390/14
2006 Kawasaki KLR650

If I remember correctly, he's not geating "cheap" parts. He just has a good source (family I believe?) that he can get a better deal on them.

_________________
-Gavin
2006 4x4 Sport ~ Dark Khaki
2.5" Rockfather II
Tow Hooks ~ HH Rear Hitch
Hella 500's

gwip Design

Well if I bought the mopar parts, it would cost an arm and a leg.


Also, I have had Jeep look at the problem a few times and they CAN'T figure it out. that is costing money to find nothing wrong.

I am starting to think the lift is causing my problem.

_________________
2003 KJ Sport JEEPZILLA Edition
American Flag flying high
Frankenlift removed =(
Moabs and plenty of pin striping
Flexable people don't get bent out of shape!
Current MPG 6" to a gallon
L.O.S.T. # BL065211
www.ItAtYourHome.com

Think outside the box, I know its cliche but diagnostics is very hard on any vehicle, and the more you can think "maybe this is causing it" about every single questionable part the more you can narrow down the problem without replacing things unnecessarily.
That's why I said differential...does your 4-wheel drive work? Any noises? Maybe your front diff is trashed or just worn? Maybe the new parts you are putting in are just outside of spec and they're causing the problems. You'd think it have to be something between (but not excluding) the t-case and the wheels to cause that problem.

Good luck!

_________________
2003 Limited, Silver - L.O.S.T. # 068957 Rockies
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2127390/14
2006 Kawasaki KLR650

Now I uderstand what it means in your quote/ list " Always new cv's & driveshafts. Sorry for laughing & goodluck with the fix.

_________________
2010 Unlimited Rubicon

4wd work fine. even 4lo no problems at all.

_________________
2003 KJ Sport JEEPZILLA Edition
American Flag flying high
Frankenlift removed =(
Moabs and plenty of pin striping
Flexable people don't get bent out of shape!
Current MPG 6" to a gallon
L.O.S.T. # BL065211
www.ItAtYourHome.com

Just a thought... It seems that most of this is centered around the front diff, CVs coming out, DS going in. Two ideas, either a junkyard front diff swap (after a rebuild), or if you have not done this already, put in a tru-trac. Either way, you get new parts up front. At the very least, it may not be a bad idea to open up the front diff and look around just to see if this may be the source. Since you (used to) wheel in mud, you may have had a bad seal without knowing it and some mud got into the front diff which may have worn or damaged some parts. I know the front diff is turning even in 2 wheel drive, but the additional torque of 4 wheel drive going to the front diff may be enough to tighten things up, or temporarily make the problem go away.

_________________
2006 KJ Sport, Dark Khaki, 3.7 Litre
NSG370 6 Speed Manual Transmission | NP241J Command Trac HD Part Time 4wd | 3.55s | 245/70R16 Firestone Destination A/Ts | Mopar Tow Hooks & Skids | Powerslot Brake Rotors | ARB Rear Differential Cover

have you had the INNER drive axels changed at all ????

I was having some strange noises with mine & thought it was a bad CV, but low & behold the teeth on the INNER shaft that goes into the CV were TOAST , we literaly had to grind off the CV to get the shaft out ( rusted shut in there) thanks to this funky NE weather we have, ofcourse wheelin in mud & water don't help either

anyways problem solved, new CV new Inner shaft all is good

the inner shaft ( $150) is a DEALER ONLY ITEM believe me we tried

_________________
PETE
ADMINISTRATOR
L.O.S.T. 4 LIFE
04 COLUMBIA ED. & 04 SPORT

How tall is the truck? Take a shot of the CV angles and put it up.
Probably too tall... do the CV's fail or do the boots just blow?

_________________
Seth Green
Western Sales Manager
ARB USA
Used to have: 02 Rene w/ SFA Swap. Sold... I'll miss her
New Baby is an 07 1500 Dodge HEMI
6" Lift and lots O Go Fast parts

That is your whole problem....................

CHEAP PARTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Time for some decent replacement parts that are worth a darn and not made in China or Tiawain.I agree with jeepkj02 100%.Time to fork over some cash for replacements from Napa,CarQuest,JE Reel,or get the good ones(OEM).

Also, one thing you could try but a little dangerous. Jack up your vehicle and put it on jack stands. Then put it in 4wd low and 1st gear. Get someone to sit in the truck and just let it idle with their foot over the brake just in case. Then get underneath and take a look to see if anything is vibrating. When i did this my front drive shaft was broken and out of alignment. It was vibrating and skipping and was causing the whole transfer case to vibrate as well. Increase the RPM to see if that makes any difference as well. Also, try 2WD. Good Luck!

When i drove without the front drive shaft i had a bad vibration especially on the highway. The vibration went away when i put in the new drive shaft. I probably should replace my U-joints as well.

If I had to put money on this I would be looking at a front diff issue.
even cheep parts should last if all they are doing is spinning
bearings going out on the front diff
even if it is the pinion bearing going bad it could cause the CV's to go bad

good example of this kind of stuff
at work we have a LARGE truck ,55,000#+ worth of truck, rear pinion bearing went bad and the truck would vibrate noticeably at highway speed ,65+ under that it was fine
Now this truck has 12 tires on it and they range in price from $600 to $250 each and the tire company said this is probably the cause but you can not balance truck tires so just let it go until the tires need replacing ,so they let it go
well 20K miles later it got a good oil leak between the engine and the transmission ,rear main bearing went bad
long story short a $500 repair to replace the pinion bearing ended up costing close to $20K ,engine and trans over haul
and then it was discovered that that bearing was bad

I would not have replaced the front drive shaft with another oe style shaft I would have converted to use a TJ/XJ style front shaft and I would have done the same in the rear add an sye to the T-case and bam done and U-joints for those shafts are $15 each and can be replaced 100's of times

you may want to disconnect the front shaft and check for play at the pinion
also check to see if there is up and down front to back movement where the CV shafts go into the front diff
if you find play at these points then this could be it
and look at it as a blessing ,you get to not only do the above mentioned up grades but also get to put in a True Track
heck yeah

Troy, I have had MOPAR CV's the last 3 times and they failed with in 3 months.
so I went with the after markets and same if not the same freaking time frame.

What do you suspect is the problem?

_________________
2003 KJ Sport JEEPZILLA Edition
American Flag flying high
Frankenlift removed =(
Moabs and plenty of pin striping
Flexable people don't get bent out of shape!
Current MPG 6" to a gallon
L.O.S.T. # BL065211
www.ItAtYourHome.com

Only thing I can think of at this point




It has to be

THE NUT BEHIND THE WHEEL

Ok sorry but what else is it?

Tom

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MUDD'S MOTORSPORT'S We do IFS lift installs ,
03 OVERLAND EDITION /Kilby-Skidrow-Mopar-4XGuard skids/ 2.5 inch TOTAL CONTROL JBA coilovers -JBA Arms/MOABS-31 FALKEN WILDPEAK AT3W / 4.10's etc, 04 Kilimanjaro Edition loaded, plus 05 KJ limited

Here's a thought. You said you never went off-road since April so have you been driving in 2WD only? If you are running around in 2WD then your front CVs and drive shaft should not really be failing because there is no drive train stress on them since they are unlinked from the TC. If you were to drive in 4wd on pavement you would have binding issues in the drive train. Perhaps there is something wrong with the transfer case so that it is not completely unlinking the front DS when you go to 2WD mode. If so then the problem would be with the transfer case.

How would the CV's and front DS both be going unless there is a common binding issue? And how could something be binding them unless there is something to bind it, ie the TC? Thus, i would really check my TC. Jack the vehicle up and see if you are getting any binding issues with the TC. Also check to see that your front wheels freely rotate from each other and from the rear end.

When you replaced the previous CV's, what type of damage did you see? Was there anything obvious showing you how they failed, what the actual failure was? Also, If you lift both front wheels off the ground with the TC in 2WD, do they turn freely? That may show you if the TC is not really out of 4WD. Maybe remove the front driveshaft while the weather is still warm and drive around for awhile to see if the front differential or CV angles are causing the problems. You are going to have to isolate one section at a time to zero in on the problem. Good luck.

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2002 Silver Sport 4x4 3.7L-5 Speed NV3550 Manual Transmission-NV231J TC-Frankenlift-AllJ Interior Rack-ARB Bumper-Hella Driving Lights-Electric Trailer Brake-Moog LBJs-JBA 4.5 UCAs-Detroit Trutrac (Front)-245/70/16 Dueler A/T Tires-Amsoil EaA201 Air Filter-Tom Woods Custom Front Drive Shaft-Rock Lizard Gecko HD Roof Rails-Onboard Co2