Is this amount of play in my front driveshaft normal?

Thanks, also looking for any tips on removing the pinion nut. I struggled with it for over an hour today with a pipe wrench and a breaker bar. I'm struggling for leverage because the Jeep is on jack stands and not that high off the ground.
 
Just FYI, that is not play in the driveshaft, that’s backlash and spider gear play in the front diff. It is normal, just thought I should clarify the difference.

If I needed to remove the pinion nut I would do so with an impact. Considering that axle has a crush sleeve for pinion preload, make sure you know what you’re doing upon reassembly. I would suggest a new crush sleeve.
 
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I have a cheap porter cable air impact that wasn't able to get it to budge, so I've been trying with a breaker bar with no luck so far.

After watching a couple videos, I've marked the nut, the pinion shaft and the yoke with a paint marker and counted the exposed threads so that I can return the pinion nut to the exact same position (if I can get the damn thing off).
 
machoheadgames said:
Might need to buy or borrow one of the electric tools. A nice 1/2” impact in the neighborhood of $200-250 will zip it right off.
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Black Friday is coming after all. When shopping for an impact, is there a particular spec I should be looking for to ensure it's got enough torque to remove stuff like this?
 
GregBelleville said:
Black Friday is coming after all. When shopping for an impact, is there a particular spec I should be looking for to ensure it's got enough torque to remove stuff like this?
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I would imagine some of the Milwaukee mid torque 3/8” could do it, they’re rated in the 600 ft lbs range I believe…they would need a 3/8” to 1/2” adapter though and adapters sometimes suck the life out of the impact. The Milwaukee 1/2” high torque impact will for sure do the job, downside to it is it’s heavy and overkill for other jobs so it doesn’t always get used so much.
 
1/2" HF Bauer impact will do it and they're cheap.

I have a Makita 3/8 and 1/2"...only the 1/2" will do most of them...600 isn't enough sometimes for a 20 plus year old pinion nut.

-Mac
 
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I know this isn't my thread but I basically have the same question. Been dealing with a clicking noise that i thought was a brake line rubbing but now I'm thinking it could be this. Bad u joint?

 
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97' 4 Popper said:
I know this isn't my thread but I basically have the same question. Been dealing with a clicking noise that i thought was a brake line rubbing but now I'm thinking it could be this. Bad u joint?

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Compared to my video that looks very different, the play I had was confirmed as normal play in the gears inside the diff, in your video you can see that the play is in the u joint itself.
 
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Okay, that's what I thought but I wanted to double check. I have another question that's been bugging me. When doing pinion seal I always marked up the pinion, pinion nut, and yoke. If I understand correctly the driveshaft orientation itself doesn't matter, right? Just pull the shaft, do the u joints, and place back in? That's what I did with my TJ's rear driveshaft, but again I just want to confirm if I've been doing it right.
 
GregBelleville said:
Thanks, also looking for any tips on removing the pinion nut. I struggled with it for over an hour today with a pipe wrench and a breaker bar. I'm struggling for leverage because the Jeep is on jack stands and not that high off the ground.
Click to expand...

put a floor jack under the handle and jack it up to loosen the nut !
 
AzJeff said:
This is a good deal on a 1/2" cordless impact wrench with charger and battery. Look at the breakaway and fastening torque. Santa is bringing one. ;)

Ridgid Impact
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I mostly own Makita. Have some Ryobi and HF Bauer. Used DeWalt and Milwaukee with friends and at work. I bought a Rigid drywall saw and caulk gun two years ago. They were pure junk and were returned inside of a month. The drywall saw was designed to draw air in from the front of the tool to cool the motor...so basically it sucked in all the drywall dust and had to be blown on and cleaned every 2-3 uses to continue operating. The batteries sucked too.

My ten cents.

The HF Bauer cordless impact wrench is bare tool $129 and 1000 ft lbs of breakaway torque. Add in another $40 for a battery. As close as we are to black Friday I'd wait for a deal.

And honestly the best tool to get is the one you already have batteries for...

-Mac
 
I have a corded HF 1/2" and recently got the ryobi cordless impacts in 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" I haven't run into anything yet that the ryobi wouldn't handle.
The $44 corded impact from HF works just fine, its just very long and heavy, I kept finding myself in spots where it wouldn't fit or having to operate a 10lb power tool while stretched out and 1 handed.

I buy the refurb Ryobi stuff, kind of hard to beat the price black friday or not. https://www.directtoolsoutlet.com/product/P261
If you don't already have some ryobi stuff the batteries are cheap there too. https://www.directtoolsoutlet.com/product/ZRP197

Whatever you get you'll eventually want all the power tools including cordless ratchets, makes working on a vehicle so much easier.
 
Mac, Don't doubt your experience with the Ridgid tools you got and also don't think the 175 5 star reviews on the Ridgid impact are all fake. Guess I'll find out.

Agree about buying into the brand you have, I currently have 2 DeWalt 1.3 Ah batteries on drills that are showing their age so no big deal for me. This Ridgid is the best price for size & power that I'm seeing. It looks like you have to buy the battery and charger for the HF gun making the total right now over $200. Not seeing smoking deals on their BF flyer.
 
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