Dealer says I have to replace front driveshaft???

[2003jeepKJ]

I took the 2003 Liberty Sport in for the airbag computer recall, it took over a year for them to get the part. Anyway, I told the Service man to check the suspension, it wonders. It seems when I leave off the gas the car does a very slight jerk. Sometimes it will do this when cruising during highway driving.
It feels like when you hit uneven pavement.
This problem is happening in 2 wheel drive.

The Tech said that I have to replace the front drive shaft for $600.00. The sealed joint is most likely failing and causing the tension on the suspension. I found this explanation rather ridiculous. How can it cause any torque on the front, if it's not in 4 wheel drive.

What do you think?

What might be causing this little jerking feeling.

The Tech said the rest of the suspension is good.

Thanks for your help!

 

[HoosierJeeper]

A bad front joint (either the diffend or tcase end) could be noticeable in 2wd...mine was. But it definitely was not felt through the suspension. Both of the joints are replaceable btw, the diff end is $180ish and the tcase $50.

 

[tommudd]

Check the upper tri link and also the lower control arms for bad bushings
LCAs will cause it to wonder a little bit from one side to another when you either get on it hard or let off the gas

 

[TwoBobsKJ]

Drive by that dealership some time this week, pause in front of it, then LAUGH OUT LOUD cuz you're never going back there again!!!(partysmile)

The front driveshaft has nothing to do with the rear suspension (you knew that already though) and for the record the front driveshaft does NOT have to be replaced just cuz the CV joint(s) goes bad.

The CV on the transfer case end of the shaft is easily replaced (look for the How-To in the, um, How-To section) and the part itself is available from driveshaftparts.com for only $45.

Tom has the answer for the "jerking" left and right. Mine tracked straight once I replaced the rear lower control arm bushings thanks to his suggestion.

Bob

 

[2003jeepKJ]

So, that I understand what you guys are saying, is that the wandering is not from the front shaft but more than likely the LCA's.
Tommudd---Yes it does wonder a little bit from one side to another when you either get on it hard or let off the gas.

The dealer said that I should just take the front drive shaft off for now and not to get an aftermarket one. This really scared the hell out of me, because you do want to trust the Dealer and fact is, it's my daughter vehicle and I don't want her having any problems because I was too cheap to spend $600.

So, what do you think I should do?

Can I replace the LCA's myself or best to have a shop do it.

I couldn't find a thread on here on how to replace the LCA.

 

[tommudd]

rear lower control arms are pretty simple
2 bolts per side holds them on, have to also remove the lower shock bolt , but otherwise pretty simple . Best if possible to have it up on jackstands of course. IF they have been loose you may have to pull the rear diff forward some to get the bolts back in, but again no big deal.
NOW after you get both of the on, DO NOT tighten them fully, get full weight on the suspension and then tighten them

 

[2003jeepKJ]

I want to replace the front not the rear.
So, how do you replace the fronts, too hard to do?

I was looking under the Jeep today and I can see a slit on the boot at the transfer case.
How bad is that?

 

[tommudd]

Confused
why do you want to change the front lower control arms now?
Did you have someone else look at it or ??
Now onto the slit in the boot of the front driveshaft, its a fairly easy fix, unbolt 6 bolts per end pull it out and replace the CV head . TwoBobs gave you the link above

 

[JeepCoMJ]

His issue is wandering. The tech says front driveshaft.

It's wandering from an issue up front.

Remove the front driveshaft. It's 12 bolts. Then tell us if it wanders.

It does make sense that the front driveshaft joint being bad would cause issues up front. example, under load, the loose joint torques one way, and when letting off the gas, it torques the other way. This can cause the differential to torque.

More likely, though, one of the axle shafts has a bad CV

 

[tommudd]

Not necessarily
rear lower control arms will make it wonder as well when the bushings are bad
They will do a nice dance when going down the road and also on take off and slowing down
Granted he did say the front boot has a slit in it but
guess we'll see
BUT he does need to check further before throwing parts at it

 

[SiRRuS]

Not sure if this helps but, I had my front Drive shaft replaced about 6 months back because of a massive rattle, it was like shacking a bunch of stones in a steal pipe, When it was taken off it was completely sheared but there was no wandering though, just a hell of a lot of rattle.

 

[AVR2]

I want to replace the front not the rear.
So, how do you replace the fronts, too hard to do?

Very easy. I thought it would be tricky to do single-handed because the front lower arms are so damn heavy, but it really was a breeze. That said, I have a decent ball joint separator (actually an OTC Pitman arm puller) and a W7150 cordless impact which broke all the necessary bolts loose in seconds

Here's the procedure in brief:

Remove the wheel, and for maximum working room the caliper and rotor as well (although you don't have to). Support the LCA with a jack. Disconnect the sway bar drop link, the strut clevis and the lower ball joint from the LCA.

Using something like correction fluid, paint a line across the head of each of the cam bolts and onto the axle to mark their relationship, then remove the bolts, and then lower the jack to remove the LCA.

Reassembly is the reverse (I used the jack to lift the new arm up into place), remembering to line up the paint marks on the cam bolt heads with the marks on the axle before tightening the nuts, and don't torque them until the Jeep has all its wheels on the ground - I don't pump iron, so I needed a long cheater pipe on my torque wrench to get the cam bolts tightened to their proper spec. You'll then need to take it for an alignment.

 

[2003jeepKJ]

I will take the driveshaft off and see how it acts. If it still wanders I'll get a 2nd opinion on the LCA and then redo the boot myself.
Thanks Guys!

 

[2003jeepKJ]

Thanks to TwoBobsKJ, I purchased the front driveshaft repair kit from driveshaftparts.com. The only hard part of doing the whole project is that I had to drop the trans cross member.
I couldn't get the bolts off the exhaust and I didn't want the chance to break them.

IIRC, the parts cost about $50, it came fast and I had the autoparts machine shop, R&R the joint for $25.00.

Just think, the Dealer said it would cost $600 for a new driveshaft and that I couldn't repair it.

Thanks guys for all of your help!

 

[yellocoyote]

It just takes a little creative twisting, and the driveshaft will come out without removing anything else.