I recently picked up my 06 LJR and it had been running solid. Its a relatively mild build with what looks like a 2" spring lift and bump stops, 265/75 Goodyear Wranglers and not much else. However i found the much ballyhoo'd angry sparrows sound started to show up about 2k miles after purchase. I removed the front shaft and had it sent to a local driveshaft shop to be rebuilt rather than purchase a new one.
After reinstall I've run into vibration issues above 65 mph, clunky sounds when turning at low speeds, and other odd noises here and there that make me fear either my transfer case or front diff are now minestrone. These warning signs were naturally ignored in a young and dumb decision to hit Box Canyon here in AZ. The trail went smoothly with no issues but the front end did take a few good rocks and knocks along the way. When I was driving home on the highway however, no such luck. When turning left on a large 2 lane freeway-to-freeway ramp at about 60-65 the Jeep went into a death wobble that lead me to have to slow to about 15-20 before it subsided. It was late in the day so there was no other traffic, but it was definitely a sketchy situation. I have since removed the shaft and today ran up to like 84 mph, as well as took the same curve and had no issues, to include the other vibrations and clunky noises I had heard with the rebuilt shaft prior to experiencing DW. So now i am left with a 2WD LJR, coin spent for a rebuilt shaft thats suspected to have given me death wobble, and a whole lotta questions.
My first finger always points to my own idiocy so my first question regards driveshaft orientation, as well as "how much did i break it". I did mark the shaft, but when it was returned to me the shop had heavily painted it and my index markings were long gone. Is it possible i got this exactly backwards and that would be the cause of all these issues? I dont suspect torque to be an issue because they were torqued to spec and were still tight upon removal. Could I have royally jacked everything by going wheeling with a compromised front shaft? Could the shaft itself be bent? I dont have reason to blame the shop for bad work besides covering my indexing, but failures happen. Should i take the shaft in? They mentioned a warranty but I fear they will turn me around because i installed it myself? Should I just resort to the original alternative and fork coin for a new shaft altogether? Thanks for any help, attached are some photos of the front end for reference (see anything? I'm a decent mechanic but relatively novice to Jeeps) and a photo of the shaft.
After reinstall I've run into vibration issues above 65 mph, clunky sounds when turning at low speeds, and other odd noises here and there that make me fear either my transfer case or front diff are now minestrone. These warning signs were naturally ignored in a young and dumb decision to hit Box Canyon here in AZ. The trail went smoothly with no issues but the front end did take a few good rocks and knocks along the way. When I was driving home on the highway however, no such luck. When turning left on a large 2 lane freeway-to-freeway ramp at about 60-65 the Jeep went into a death wobble that lead me to have to slow to about 15-20 before it subsided. It was late in the day so there was no other traffic, but it was definitely a sketchy situation. I have since removed the shaft and today ran up to like 84 mph, as well as took the same curve and had no issues, to include the other vibrations and clunky noises I had heard with the rebuilt shaft prior to experiencing DW. So now i am left with a 2WD LJR, coin spent for a rebuilt shaft thats suspected to have given me death wobble, and a whole lotta questions.
My first finger always points to my own idiocy so my first question regards driveshaft orientation, as well as "how much did i break it". I did mark the shaft, but when it was returned to me the shop had heavily painted it and my index markings were long gone. Is it possible i got this exactly backwards and that would be the cause of all these issues? I dont suspect torque to be an issue because they were torqued to spec and were still tight upon removal. Could I have royally jacked everything by going wheeling with a compromised front shaft? Could the shaft itself be bent? I dont have reason to blame the shop for bad work besides covering my indexing, but failures happen. Should i take the shaft in? They mentioned a warranty but I fear they will turn me around because i installed it myself? Should I just resort to the original alternative and fork coin for a new shaft altogether? Thanks for any help, attached are some photos of the front end for reference (see anything? I'm a decent mechanic but relatively novice to Jeeps) and a photo of the shaft.