Damaged Driveshaft Question. Looking for Advice

[citizenatlarge]

1. '92 XJ

2. Engine- 4.0

3. Transmission- Automatic

4. 4WD / NP231

5. This XJ has no lift and stock diff gearing. All tires are the same size, and was not put into 4WD anytime within the past year.

Hello. It's been a while.. I need some advice please. This '92 Jeep Cherokee XJ decided to have her front u-joint on the rear drive shaft, transfer case side, seize up and cause some nasty looking damage. I think the u-joint was just as old as the truck and eventually locked up due to lack of maintenance on my part. ie-not greased.

I plan on replacing the driveshaft asap, but the weather here doesn't look good anymore for the next length of predictions in the weather reports.

So, to the questions: Have any of you seen this before, and is it at all safe for mild to and from to work and back? Some highway speeds along the route, but those can be avoided. My thinking is along the lines of what's less stressful to the joint?

I also flipped the driveshaft around so this weak point is at the rear differential, so that if it does fail, it won't act like a pike into the ground.

Thanks to anyone that can help.

I have 13 images total and instead of making a really long post, I'll link one, and then the album from my imgur account if that's ok.

http://imgur.com/a/6Rmxx <---Album Link

 

[mako my day]

Yep. get a driveshaft from a junkyard, and a new ujoint. That one is toast.

 

[Talyn]

I would replace it. I wouldn't be interested in seeing first hand the damage an unsecured drive shaft can do.

 

[citizenatlarge]

Thanks for taking the hard stand against driving with it like this guys. I had to consider every option. Called CAP in Richmond and they'll have me one by tomorrow or Fri for all but $27..

Maybe I can squeeze the sucker in tomorrow. :sunshine:

 

[xcm]

Now you know when to change a driveline ujoint... about 2-3 months ago! $27 lesson.

It is harder to tell with an automatic trans.

 

[citizenatlarge]

Yeah.. I hear you.. There was literally no warning whatsoever. Just a sudden shaking that started while going down the road. We drove it a bit slower and the shaking was worse than if we kept it around 45mph until we got it home. I could swear it was the driver side motor mount I didn't replace last year when I had to replace the head gasket..

Nope. That didn't do the trick. Then I found this mess.

 

[kastein]

Wow, that is some bad damage. Actually it looks like the ujoint trunnion wore right through the ear of the yoke on a previous owner and then they just installed a new ujoint like nothing happened, since there is rust on the surfaces of the notch...

Make sure you get the driveshaft from a donor with the same engine, transmission (auto), 4x4, model year 95 through 87, with the same rear end as yours has, or it will be the wrong length. You can consider a dana 44 and a chrysler 8.25 to be "the same" for purposes of driveshaft dimensioning, the factory did (part number for the rear d/s for an 87-90 with 4.0/AW4 4 speed auto/4x4/dana 44 rearend is the same as the early 8.25 equipped 90s XJ part number, as I recall.)

Compare the length side by side when you get it and don't be afraid to tell the junkyard they got you the wrong thing if it doesn't match.

edit: nevermind about the previous owner bit, I only looked at the one picture here before posting. Yeah, I don't recommend driving on it like that. Also, I'd recommend spicer or neapco ujoints only, parts store brand ones tend to be garbage and wear out quickly. I believe there are some spicer and neapco vendors on here, if not, I get most of mine from northerndrivetrain.com. Order part number 5-153x for the ujoint and make sure to get a new strap kit as well, 2-70-18x, they are supposed to be replaced every time you remove the driveshaft but few people do. If the threads in the yoke are packed with road debris, the thread is 1/4-28 UNF and they clean out pretty easily with a cheap tap.

 

[xcm]

Yeah.. I hear you.. There was literally no warning whatsoever. Just a sudden shaking that started while going down the road. We drove it a bit slower and the shaking was worse than if we kept it around 45mph until we got it home. I could swear it was the driver side motor mount I didn't replace last year when I had to replace the head gasket..

Nope. That didn't do the trick. Then I found this mess.

That's odd, the two times I've done this to my driveshafts, it was obviously my fault for ignoring noises/vibes for waaaay too long hence my comment. Maybe kastein is correct in his theory about the previous owner.