Hi everyone, this is my first post here. Please bear with me as this will take a little explanation. I have an 01 with the I-6 and manual transmission with the Dana 35 and 307 gears. She was completely stock when I got her. Last winter, the rear diff started making an ominous noise and turned out to be the pinion bearing on the Dana 35. Since I wanted to put in a locker, I elected to get a Dana 44 from ECGS with an ARB locker and 410 gears installed. I also decided to install a lift so I got the 2 inch OME kit with JKS adjustable track-bars and disconnects. I've never done this kind of work on a vehicle before and it's been an adventure but the knowledge I've gained has been well worth it. Now I've run into a problem; I can't get the drive shaft to hook up with the differential. The control arms are all hooked up, the shocks and springs are installed, and I have the anti-sway bar installed on the axle but not hooked to the frame yet and the track bar installed on the frame but but not hooked up to the axle yet. Now, the jeep is on jack-stands and the axle is in the absolute lowest position that it can possibly reach and the u-joint on the driveshaft runs out of travel before it will achieve the angle necessary to couple up to the diff. If I jack up the axle, the shaft will couple up but I can't believe that the driveshaft u-joint should be the limiting factor on downward axle travel. I don't know that is supposed to be the limiting factor. I have not set the tj down on her wheels and tightened the control arms and shock bolts yet. Do I need to do that before trying to install the drive shaft? Thanks in advance for any insight and advice you guys can give, I'm stumped.
Rear driveshaft fit
- Thread starter Vulture
- Start date
Put the wheels on, lower the Jeep on the ground, then bolt the driveshaft to the pinion output.
If it still doesn't bolt up, then your driveshaft is too short and you ordered the wrong size.
If it does bolt up, make sure the slip joint on the driveshaft is sitting at the halfway mark of it's travel area.
If it still doesn't bolt up, then your driveshaft is too short and you ordered the wrong size.
If it does bolt up, make sure the slip joint on the driveshaft is sitting at the halfway mark of it's travel area.
Need more cowbell, er, drive line. If it does fit while on the ground and you decide to run with it, make sure to limit rear end droop to avoid pulling apart while on the trail.
A Dana 44 is about 1" longer at the pinion yoke than a Dana 35. However, I'm pretty sure that other than the difference in pinion yoke length, a Dana 35 driveshaft would bolt up to it.
I'm having a similar issue. My 06 has a 4" suspension lift and a 2" body lift with a 1" engine lift. I have a SYE but there is still some serious pressure in my driveline and I definitely get some vibrations. I actually think one of my brand new u joints is going out. The guy at my local trans shop said I might have a degree of dif (Dana 35) angle left to play with but that's it. I just put 35's on and the PO had 33's. Is a longer drive shaft the fix or are there other things I need to be looking at?
FNG
FNG
Take a picture of your current driveshaft (with decent lighting) and we can easily tell you if it's too long or too short.
Vibrations are caused by a lot of things. Could be bad u-joints, could be bad driveshaft angles, an out-of-balance driveshaft, or it could even be wheels that need to be balanced. If it has a lift on it the first thing I would do is make sure the pinion angles are correct. If they are, then I'd start looking at the driveshaft to make sure it's okay. After that I'd be checking the u-joints in the driveshaft.
Using the camera's flash always gives better photos of dark objects with a bright light behind them. All I see are black silhouettes due to the bright daylight behind. Using the automatic flash mode won't work since the bright sunlight fools the sensor so the flash won't flash, you have to manually set the flash to go on with each photo. 
Ok I'll get some better shots in an hourUsing the camera's flash always gives better photos of dark objects with a bright light behind them. All I see are black silhouettes due to the bright daylight behind. Using the automatic flash mode won't work since the bright sunlight fools the sensor so the flash won't flash, you have to manually set the flash to go on with each photo.
These are as good as I can get right nowUsing the camera's flash always gives better photos of dark objects with a bright light behind them. All I see are black silhouettes due to the bright daylight behind. Using the automatic flash mode won't work since the bright sunlight fools the sensor so the flash won't flash, you have to manually set the flash to go on with each photo.
The photos are bad enough that it's really hard to tell even what your pinion angle is. But in one photo it looks like the pinion angle is way too low which would definitely cause vibrations. And is the female half opening of the driveshaft positioned half-way up the splined section on the male half as it should be?
This is how your axle's pinion angle should look... the axle's pinion shaft should be pointing directly up the driveshaft.
This is how your axle's pinion angle should look... the axle's pinion shaft should be pointing directly up the driveshaft.
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Extending the upper rear control arms will raise the pinion angle.
Unbolt both upper control arms. Use a jack to lift the nose of the axle so the pinion angle points at the proper angle. Then set the control arm lengths so they match up to the bolt holes and bolt them back into place. Be sure to adjust the control arms the same... if you adjust one side 3 turns, the other side has to be adjusted three turns too. You may have to jack the nose up just a tad higher than the desired height so it will settle down to the required angle after you remove the jack.
The only way to know how much of the male half of the shaft is still inside the other half is to pull it apart and look. But make darned sure you mark both halves of the driveshaft before you pull it apart so you how how they go back together in the same orientation so the front and rear u-joints remain in phase with each other.
It's also worth mentioning, if you don't know what you're doing here it's highly advisable to take it to a reputable 4x4 shop.
I say that because if you dont have much experience with this you can easily drive yourself crazy messing with pinion angles, driveshafts, control arms, etc.
I say that because if you dont have much experience with this you can easily drive yourself crazy messing with pinion angles, driveshafts, control arms, etc.
Yeah I think you may be right. When I had the axle shaft bearings replace is when that happened. He took the u joint off the pinion and when he went to put it back on it wasn't lining up so he jacked up the rear dif and pulled down on the female end of the drive shaft. I don't have a garage right now so with the colder weather it's tough to get at it myself. FML
Update!
Soooo I adjust my upper control arms and my pinion angle is great now!...... however while driving home she was bucking like a bronco so I'm like what gives it should have the opposite effect right? Well I pull in to get gas and check my rear shocks to find that they are literally pinned against the lower pucks the rear springs sit on.
Who likes to learn the hard way? This guy lol. Guess I should have made adjustments to upper and lower control arms. Doh!!
Soooo I adjust my upper control arms and my pinion angle is great now!...... however while driving home she was bucking like a bronco so I'm like what gives it should have the opposite effect right? Well I pull in to get gas and check my rear shocks to find that they are literally pinned against the lower pucks the rear springs sit on.
Who likes to learn the hard way? This guy lol. Guess I should have made adjustments to upper and lower control arms. Doh!!