2005 TJ Rubicon u-joint

DipStick45

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Jun 4, 2024
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New jersey
I just broke the u joint between the drive shaft and the axle on my 2005 Rubicon. Jeep is lifted 4” and has a double cardan drive shaft. Had some weird driveline issues today so I went under and found the u joint had broke. I don’t know the brand of the driveshaft and was just wondering if it is the same as a stock Dana 44 u joint. Any knowledge would be appreciated.
 
Pics would help, I’ll tag @Shawn at Tom Wood's too, he is a drive shaft pro and very good to help.

Short answer- I doubt it- and a variety of joint sizes are used by builders depending on target tire size and predicted load,etc.

you may need to pull it and mic it.

My prediction the shaft needs checked front to back- sounds like it may have been ran dry, worked hard or both.
 
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These are the photos I snapped today. Wasn’t able to get the bolts on the transfer case side off so they are soaking in pb at the moment. Not too sure what to measure so please let me know.

Thank yoy
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This is one of our shafts. The joint you need is a Spicer part number 5-213X for that end. The two joints in the double cardan are Spicer part number 5-153X.

Here's some info on replacing the joint at home https://4xshaft.com/blogs/general-tech-info-articles/diy-u-joint-replacement. It's important to note that this shaft is incredibly rusty, so I'm confident that there are going to be some other parts that need replacement. If you watch the video on the page linked above you'll hear me say something about "if the shaft looks like it came off an old shipwreck, it's probably not worth salvaging". This might be one of those. Or maybe the rust is more superficial than it looks and maybe the bearing cap bores and the moving parts of the shaft are not as bad as they looks.
 
This is one of our shafts. The joint you need is a Spicer part number 5-213X for that end. The two joints in the double cardan are Spicer part number 5-153X.

Here's some info on replacing the joint at home https://4xshaft.com/blogs/general-tech-info-articles/diy-u-joint-replacement. It's important to note that this shaft is incredibly rusty, so I'm confident that there are going to be some other parts that need replacement. If you watch the video on the page linked above you'll hear me say something about "if the shaft looks like it came off an old shipwreck, it's probably not worth salvaging". This might be one of those. Or maybe the rust is more superficial than it looks and maybe the bearing cap bores and the moving parts of the shaft are not as bad as they looks.

it is from NJ, it is as bad as it looks.
 
This is one of our shafts. The joint you need is a Spicer part number 5-213X for that end. The two joints in the double cardan are Spicer part number 5-153X.

Here's some info on replacing the joint at home https://4xshaft.com/blogs/general-tech-info-articles/diy-u-joint-replacement. It's important to note that this shaft is incredibly rusty, so I'm confident that there are going to be some other parts that need replacement. If you watch the video on the page linked above you'll hear me say something about "if the shaft looks like it came off an old shipwreck, it's probably not worth salvaging". This might be one of those. Or maybe the rust is more superficial than it looks and maybe the bearing cap bores and the moving parts of the shaft are not as bad as they looks.

I think im going to try and disassemble the drive shaft. The two u joints at the tcase end feel fine but I’m going to replace them anyway if I keep it. Going to evaluate whether I keep it once it’s all apart. Thank you so much for the help.
 
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