Front Driveshaft Rebuild

TJ05

Member
Original poster
Joined
Feb 7, 2019
Messages
47
Location
Michigan
So for any of the michigan people on on here, last weekend i was up in Saint Helen Motorsport area. I went through a lot of water and even more sand. On the way to the parking lot and the whole way home I had a crazy squealing going on or "angry sparrows" as I have read on here. I pulled the front DS, sound went away. When it broke loose, i lost a cap on the axle side u Joint and the joint didn't look to good to begin with, so i went and bought the spicer kit from dennys driveshafts with the 3 sealed u joints and centering yoke for a little over 100 bucks. Ive got an arbor press, and i think all the tools to do the job, but are there any other things i should keep in mind when rebuilding it? I forgot to mark it when taking it out, but if i am not taking the DS in two pieces, am i okay? If there are any tricks to this job, please let me know! thanks guys
 
Careful using a press, its possible to bend the ears. The recommended way is to use a hammer and socket. I use a ball joint press (shame), but I've done it enough to know when something isnt right with the ujoint if its not setting correctly. I packed my centering ball with lucas red 'n tacky. Dont forget to remove all the snap rings and replace your ujoint straps on the yoke. Pretty easy job really.
 
Keep an eye on that pesky centering yoke spring. They like to sprout legs. Make sure the cardan joint operates freely and easily after installing the new joints. Give the H body a couple good whacks with a hammer to seat the ujoints in.
A good bench vise will be your friend.
 
Wack off. The rust and put a few coats of rusty metal primer and some Rustolium pain on the shaft while it's out. Carefully not to kick off any balancing weights.
 
Check the slip yoke for excessive play as well. When I did mine at 135K miles, Adams Driveshafts said it was marginal. So I just went with an all new shaft. He also measured to adjust for my lift.