Drive shafts replacement, thoughts?

Jod0001

Jod0001

Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2023
Messages
26
Location
Tallassee Al
So, I know the old saying, everything we have on this earth came from the earth and sooner than later the earth is going to come for it, we’ll let me tell you what, the earth has been coming for my Jeep lately. With this being said, I have the old shake rattle and roll going on. Raised one of the front tires, spun it and heard the front drive shaft clunk. Got under the Jeep, spun the tire again and one of the ujoints at the T-case is bad. Watched a few videos on how to replace them, a lot of PB blaster, hammering, pulling, and a cussing for good measure. I have a few questions though.

First, thought about just swapping out the original drive shaft and saving the time on removing and replacing ujoints. So in Alabama it’s mainly red clay where I am at so I don’t play on rocks nor do I have the urge to. My plan for the Jeep is chromoly axles, changing out the gears for the 35s and lockers. Mainly putting the chromoly axles in because of the lockers. Being that I don’t intend on rock crawling this Jeep do any of y’all feel it is necessary for heavy duty drive shafts? I under stand the weakest link theory but based on how I “use” my Jeep how weak is that “link” (drive shaft) in the mud?

Second , went searching for drive shafts on the old interweb and noticed 99% of them are for automatics only. What is the deal with that, I would say over 90% of TJs are manual’s? Just thought that was interesting.

Third, off topic, do any of y’all have issues with this website? It lag behinds a lot, I can almost type a full sentence before the words appear. I often get fake virus alerts, fake Amazon awards and I’m redirected a lot to the main page. This is the only website I have come across that does this. Also when posting my phone gets really hot like I’m have been watching YouTube for a while. I’m still rocking the iPhone 10.
 
site performance is quite a lot better if you're a supporting member. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Regarding the chromoly axles, make sure you know what you're buying if you have a dana 35 back there. Somebody here will chime in with the specifics, but the 4340 chromoly will not work with the dana 35 outer bearings; they'll wear the axles prematurely. There will be lots of opinions on your choice of 35's.

If you're going to swap out the driveshaft, Adams & Tom Woods are the two most popular here. One of the Tom Woods guys shows his face around here occasionally. Call them, they'll tell you exactly what you need.
 
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Unless you are running tons and 40s there is little reason not to stay with 1310 series shafts on a TJ. It does little good to go with 1350 shafts and make your ring and pinions the weak link.

Service your shafts with Spicer SPL ujoints and appropriate double cardan components or if you do not want to do that @Shawn at Tom Wood's can help you with replacement shafts.
 
hear said:
site performance is quite a lot better if you're a supporting member. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Regarding the chromoly axles, make sure you know what you're buying if you have a dana 35 back there. Somebody here will chime in with the specifics, but the 4340 chromoly will not work with the dana 35 outer bearings; they'll wear the axles prematurely. There will be lots of opinions on your choice of 35's.

If you're going to swap out the driveshaft, Adams & Tom Woods are the two most popular here. One of the Tom Woods guys shows his face around here occasionally. Call them, they'll tell you exactly what you need.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply, luckily I have the Dana 44 (2001 Sahara addition)in the rear but I have the Dana 30 upfront, although I know there are a lot of people who give the 30 a lot of praise for what it is. But as far as the website performance, it’s like everything else in life. You pay for what you get, and not being a supporting member I’m paying for it.
 
Blackjack said:
Unless you are running tons and 40s there is little reason not to stay with 1310 series shafts on a TJ. It does little good to go with 1350 shafts and make your ring and pinions the weak link.

Service your shafts with Spicer SPL ujoints and appropriate double cardan components or if you do not want to do that @Shawn at Tom Wood's can help you with replacement shafts.
Click to expand...

Yeah I’d rather break a drive shaft and replace that over opening up the axle. Thanks for your reply.
 
Jod0001 said:
Thanks for your reply, luckily I have the Dana 44 (2001 Sahara addition)in the rear but I have the Dana 30 upfront, although I know there are a lot of people who give the 30 a lot of praise for what it is. But as far as the website performance, it’s like everything else in life. You pay for what you get, and not being a supporting member I’m paying for it.
Click to expand...

There’s nothing wrong and everything right about a Dana 30 and 35’s locked with 4340 chromoly shafts.
 
If you are getting a clunk from the double Cardan in the front drive shaft you should take care of that right away. You risk having the drive shaft grenade the transfer case.
 
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TurboTJ said:
If you are getting a clunk from the double Cardan in the front drive shaft you should take care of that right away. You risk having the drive shaft grenade the transfer case.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I thought about just pulling it out untill I had time to mess with it. Luckily it’s not my DD.
 
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Mud can be more damaging than rocks if you drive with the motto "when in doubt, throttle out"

as for the website, no issues here and im not a supporting member. I am running chrome with the uBlock Origin extension enabled.
 
Ir0nH3@d said:
Mud can be more damaging than rocks if you drive with the motto "when in doubt, throttle out"

as for the website, no issues here and im not a supporting member. I am running chrome with the uBlock Origin extension enabled.
Click to expand...

I agree with that but I have a winch so hopefully I would have a tree in reach. Yeah I’m just running on safari on my phone.
 
Jod0001 said:
Yeah, I thought about just pulling it out untill I had time to mess with it. Luckily it’s not my DD.
Click to expand...

Ir0nH3@d said:
Mud can be more damaging than rocks if you drive with the motto "when in doubt, throttle out"

as for the website, no issues here and im not a supporting member. I am running chrome with the uBlock Origin extension enabled.
Click to expand...

TurboTJ said:
If you are getting a clunk from the double Cardan in the front drive shaft you should take care of that right away. You risk having the drive shaft grenade the transfer case.
Click to expand...

One thing I failed to mention, once I get up to about 20mph the noice goes away, I contribute that to the rotating force making the drive shaft line up correctly between the T case and the axle house. I figured it’s like a spinning top, when it’s spinning fast it’s spinning straight and when it slows down it begins to wobble. Is this theory incorrect?
 
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