Front d-shaft eating u-joints

[IllianaXJ]

Earlier this year (Feb) I replaced the front d-shaft axle end u-joint before Winterfest because it was starting to chirp. I have wheeled it 3-4 times since, nothing hardcore and maybe 3k road miles. It started chirping again last weekend upon deceleration, and now I have angry sparrows following me all the time.

I use Brute Force joints and the yoke has been converted to u-bolts.

Any ideas why I seem to be going through u-joints so quickly? I removed the d-shaft when I installed my Teralow a month or so ago, and I checked the caps to make sure the needle bearings were in place before re-assembly. Maybe I tightened the u-bolts too tight and it deformed the caps?

 

[WB9YZU]

Earlier this year (Feb) I replaced the front d-shaft axle end u-joint before Winterfest because it was starting to chirp. I have wheeled it 3-4 times since, nothing hardcore and maybe 3k road miles. It started chirping again last weekend upon deceleration, and now I have angry sparrows following me all the time.

I use Brute Force joints and the yoke has been converted to u-bolts.

Any ideas why I seem to be going through u-joints so quickly? I removed the d-shaft when I installed my Teralow a month or so ago, and I checked the caps to make sure the needle bearings were in place before re-assembly. Maybe I tightened the u-bolts too tight and it deformed the caps?

"Converted" to U-bolts? Like in you modifed the stock yoke?
Take the DS off and examine the joint again, both parts of the "X". Perhaps it is low on grease, or maybe it's rusted. If you ran the creek, you may have gotten water in the joint.

There is the possibility that it is not the front U-joint at all, but one of the two in the CV or perhaps the CV connecting yoke is dry or worn.

 

[IllianaXJ]

"Converted" to U-bolts? Like in you modifed the stock yoke?
Take the DS off and examine the joint again, both parts of the "X". Perhaps it is low on grease, or maybe it's rusted. If you ran the creek, you may have gotten water in the joint.

There is the possibility that it is not the front U-joint at all, but one of the two in the CV or perhaps the CV connecting yoke is dry or worn.

Yep, drilled out the threads for the strap bolts and got u-bolts that fit. There is a writeup somewhere on here about it.

I'll check that out, thanks.

 

[Tim_MN]

It is difficult to check but the centering ball may be worn out and the source of your noises.

 

[IllianaXJ]

It is difficult to check but the centering ball may be worn out and the source of your noises.

Could be. It's the stock d-shaft out of my 91, and has 200,000+ miles on it. I'll definitely give it a once-over.

 

[Durango-Bob]

The noise is from the center portion of the double joint. This should have been replaced when it was rebuilt. Sounds like it wasn't, so that's where you should start.

 

[razdrvr]

How tight are you getting those ubolts? Over tightening can deform the cups and cause accelerated wear.

 

[IllianaXJ]

Shaft has never been rebuilt, just u-joints changed over the years. AFAIK the CV has never been touched.

U-bolts; tight but not waaay tight.

 

[RCP Phx]

Well if were talking about a 2001 then its a LP D30.So how much lift are we talking about?Whats your castor angle?

 

[IllianaXJ]

It's a 2001 with a '98 HP30. ~ 5.5" of lift give or take. Couldn't tell you in degrees, but it's not bad.

 

[85xjwoody]

By the looks of it I might say that u-joint is a little dried out but I could be wrong. I say check that first and see if those needle bearings are dry. Then check the pivot ball on the other end. HTH

Kim

 

[CharlesS]

It is difficult to check but the centering ball may be worn out and the source of your noises.

Have to agree with Tim.... After 200K; it is definitely time to look into rebuilding the double cardan joints....
I have wheeled my '98 since '98 and have rebuilt both front and rear (installed SYE) double cardan joints... The most common part that goes bad is the spring loaded centering cup...
If the ds U joints are the greasable type; then you should be giving them several squirts of grease at least once a year....