Is my front driveshaft too short? pic attached

[z06elmo]

Hello All,

I have a 2001 XJ with ~6" lift Low Pinion Dana 30, NP231, 5-speed. I have some vibes on my driveshaft around 50-60mph. It could be out of balance, but i was thinking what if the driveshaft is over extended. Here is a pic of my front drive shaft as it sits with weight on the wheels and on the ground. how many more inches are there left for it to extend? Should i get a longer driveshaft?

 

[twodoorXJ]

Make sure all the u joints in the drivehshaft are tight, along with the centering ball, and the slip joint.

I would also check that the pinion is tight on the axle, and that the outout on the tcase is tight.

 

[RCP Phx]

It depends on your lift(you left out the major details).A short arm lift actually collapses the shaft when the suspension is at full droop.My 2000 w/ a LP D30 and LA's only see's 1/8" of yoke travel throughout its entire suspension cycle.

 

[BlueCuda]

Thats probably not tooo bad. I believe a shaft from an automatic will be a little longer. I at least know there is two different lengths out there. I borrowed one from a friend and it was barely long enough to reack the yoke on my jeep.

 

[z06elmo]

It depends on your lift(you left out the major details).A short arm lift actually collapses the shaft when the suspension is at full droop.My 2000 w/ a LP D30 and LA's only see's 1/8" of yoke travel throughout its entire suspension cycle.

I'm sorry about that - normally pretty good.
It has a rough country long arm. running about 6" of lift at the moment. I'm how much more extension does it have? if it's currently fully extended, does that effect driveshaft balance?

 

[old_man]

Looking at the shiney area, it appears that you should not lengthen the shaft by more than about an inch, but it looks fine. I have seen the splines get loose and cause problems. I would pull the shaft and take it to a driveline shop and have them check it out for balance and runout. Personally I wouldn't lengthen it.

 

[z06elmo]

Looking at the shiney area, it appears that you should not lengthen the shaft by more than about an inch, but it looks fine. I have seen the splines get loose and cause problems. I would pull the shaft and take it to a driveline shop and have them check it out for balance and runout. Personally I wouldn't lengthen it.

Thanks for the response, that's pretty much what i wanted to hear. I'm planning on taking it to a shop over the long weekend.