shaking liberty / how to check components

kevent · **Joined:** Mon Aug 27, 2012 11:47 am **Posts:** 22

Hi guys this is my first post on this forum but i read a lot of treads on it ... First of all i wanna apologize about my english , it can be bad at some time since french is my first language .

Ok now , i got a 2005 jeep liberty 3.7 L with selectrac tranfer case ( 2wd / part time / full time / n / 4lo ) and now it is shaking when i drive it over 40 mph . i had L27 recall done on it 2 weeks ago and the mecanics told me it was a drivingshaft joint but didnt checked it at all.. since he didnt take even 30 sec to tell me wich one is to do .

i saaw on many treads that transfercase side joint on the frond drive shaft is weak . i also read that some axle shaft on driver and passager side might be the cause of that vibration ..

Now i need to know how to check those parts to check wich one to replace first.

i tried to shake the axle shafts and i can move them about 1/16 on the front diff end but not on the wheel end , and that for both driver and passenger side . Boots looks ok
is it normal to get this gap from the spline ???

About the front drive shaft , i tried to move it all way and i got about 1/8 turn of backlash but dunno how to check the cv joints on it ...

Since remplacing those parts are about 200$ each i just wand to be able to locate the problem before replacing everything..

Thx guys for your help and if comeone have some pics to help me it would be apreciated ..
:banghead:

kevent · **Joined:** Mon Aug 27, 2012 11:47 am **Posts:** 22

ok i made some test and its doesnt seem to be tires .. switched both of them with spare tires and didn,t changes anything. it happens mainly when im on gas... if i even get off the gaz or switch to neutral it get off ... or mainly get off since tires have bad wears... anyone got any answer ?

Cardhu · **Posted:** Mon Sep 10, 2012 12:28 pm

could be rear drive shaft U joint. Does it happen in 2 WD? Is it worse or about the same in 4WD?

When you maintain speed, does the noise get less then when accelerating or decelerating.

The backlash or looseness of the shaft on your front drive shaft is similar to mine and hasn't been an issue for me. Inspect the rubber boot on the Front Drive shaft at the transfer case. That is typically what goes first, then you need to service it.

tommudd · **Posted:** Mon Sep 10, 2012 1:26 pm

check the rear boot on the front driveshaft
if its torn or missing there could be part of your problem
easy fix 80 bucks or so to replace boot and head
rear ujoints you can't really check unless you pull the driveshaft out and check them. They most times get rusted and won't move
front right CV and Intermeditae shaft have splines that slide together have to pull them to really check them good
Trying to tell someone what a vibration is on line is very hard to do but the above is where I would start

kevent · **Joined:** Mon Aug 27, 2012 11:47 am **Posts:** 22

well yes it happend on 2 wd and it is the ssame on 4wd... rear drive shaft easy to remove??? is it the only 4 bolts on each side of it??? boots from front drive shaft is ok ( a very small boots insite the shaft joint housing) how do i check ujoints on rear drive shaft??? i think ill go that way first .. since my jeep was parked a while ... its the 3th car .. but our tercel gaz saver broke so we used the jeep

what about the both front axle shaft ?? can be that???

Cardhu · **Posted:** Tue Sep 11, 2012 11:36 am

If the boot on your front driveshaft is in good shape I would start with the rear drive shaft. U joints are ~10 - 20 bucks each. the rear drive shaft has 2. The rear most of the 2 is likely what will fail first. Changed mine at~ 80 000 km so they don't last forever.

If your rear U joint is hot after a drive its likely in the process of turning the needle bearings to dust. Once you disconnect the 4 bolts on the flange yoke (pic below) rotate it to see if they are "rough". I also had no movement or slop in the joint before it failed was rough when disconnected and experienced a bad vib under accel and decel which minimized when you put on cruise but was very noticeable still

proceed to loosen the CV clamp at the transfer case and remove the shaft if your set on replacing them. If you bugger up the clamp you will need another one (8 bucks mopar) to keep the boot on.

http://www.stu-offroad.com/axle/ujoint2/ujoint-2.htm
has a pretty good tutorial on replacement, can use a vice if large enough instead of hammer. Just make sure they are centered when pushing bearing caps back on else they will gouge the yokes.

I also used a socket over the cross to keep it centered as I pushed in the other side as they are much tougher to put in when squish in the flange yoke entry ways. The flange is also softer steel then the bearing caps and can leave score marks if not properly aligned. And nobody wants to buy a new flange.

kevent · **Joined:** Mon Aug 27, 2012 11:47 am **Posts:** 22

Well guys there is some update .. i remover the rear drive shaft ant the u-joint on diff side is messed up .. im kinda happy to find that since its the cheaper part ... i got a question now.... do i have to buy the flange too or only u-joint could be ok ??? .. and the axle side and t-case u-joints are the same... planning to do both of them since i got them remover atm ... i think imma buy some greasable ones si i could grease them each oil change .... illl try to post pics soon and now i starting to be a real jeep fan even if its always broken ... as everyone says " its a JEEP thing " :JEEPIN:

any online parts on canada you could suggest ? direct lik would be apreciated to those u-joint not sure wich one to chose

Cardhu · **Posted:** Thu Sep 13, 2012 9:42 am

you do not need to buy the flange, just don't damage it pressing out the u joint. Then you'll need a flange like i did.

Lots of religion on grease-able vs non grease able.

I went with moog / precision u joint 270 greaseables, Next ones will be non greaseable 269 as zerk or lack of one on the 270s is not as effective at pushing grease into the joint as I would like.

heard napa gold something or others are popular too.

Glad you found your problem.

as for ordering I used rock auto, I save up enough parts to make paying duty / brokerage in Canada Worth it.

tommudd · **Posted:** Thu Sep 13, 2012 9:50 am

I use NAPA greaseable ones all of the time with no issues

shaking liberty / how to check components

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