99 TJ Centering Yoke "Angry Sparrows"

[vito2772]

Hello all,

So in the North East, we recently got very cold very quick. I daily my TJ so I am definitely aquatinted with new noises or behaviors that happen. All of a sudden yesterday, when the temps dropped into the teens for the first time this year, I now have a fluttering/squeaking sound coming from the front side of the vehicle.

Initially I thought it was just a bearing on the serpentine belt pulleys, but after some more testing, it is not RPM related. More corresponding to vehicle speed.

When the vehicle is ice cold, I will have the flutter/squeaking over 15 mph and it is its loudest at 25 mph, with clutch engaged or not. From research, it seems that this is the centering ball on the double cardan joint in the front driveshaft. When I put it in 4wd, the noise is gone under load it seems. But once the engine reaches temp, the noise is completely gone. I don't quite understand why the noise would go away once the engine reaches temp if it is a driveshaft issue, maybe after some movement the grease inside heats up and lubricates as intended?

Unfortunately I didn't get a good video capturing the audio, but sounds pretty much exactly as this video shows.

Tomorrow I am going to try to disconnect the driveshaft at the differential yoke and see if this does in fact silence the sparrows. If so, I will remove the driveshaft completely until the necessary parts come in to rebuild.


In terms of parts, I found these two kits. It seems the only difference between the two is that one have the Dana Spicers and the other one doesn't. They are the exact same price. Which one should I go for? Spicer or Dana Spicer?

https://www.dennysdriveshaft.com/p3...1310_series_includes_dana_spicer_211544x.html
https://www.dennysdriveshaft.com/p3..._for_jeep_with_oem_1310_series_non_greas.html

Does it seem I am going in the right direction to solve this problem?

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Dana-Spicer and Spicer are the same. I'm having trouble finding the difference between the two kits. Both include the same three Spicer 5-1310X u-joints, centering yoke, boot, bolts, etc. And both sell for the same price. I'd call Denny's to find out what the difference is.

And if disconnecting the front driveshaft stops the angry bird squeaking I wouldn't reconnect it. A seized CV is known to be able to cause the t-case to grenade.

 

[vito2772]

Dana-Spicer and Spicer are the same. I'm having trouble finding the difference between the two kits. Both include the same three Spicer 5-1310X u-joints, centering yoke, boot, bolts, etc. And both sell for the same price. I'd call Denny's to find out what the difference is.

And if disconnecting the front driveshaft stops the angry bird squeaking I wouldn't reconnect it. A seized CV is known to be able to cause the t-case to grenade.

I will definitely call up Denny's if it does turn out to be the front driveshaft. At first I'm going to just disconnect the front end and tie it up, and If it does stop the squeaking, I'm going to try to remove the driveshaft entirely until the parts are replaced.

 

[vito2772]

Found something quite interesting. Upon taking the Jeep out this morning to go to the store, the noise was completely gone from a cold start. When I parked at the store, I had to jump up onto a bit of a curb, causing a bit of flex on the front axle. Right after driving off the curb, the noise returns... Come to think of it, when I first heard the sparrows, it started right after coming off of a small curb causing some flex. I'm guessing this small flex is moving the double cardan joint and presenting the noise? Either way, I'm about to drop the front drive shaft and see what happens.