How To: Change front driveshaft / change a driveshaft head

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krisP

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Interesting... Been seeing recent posts of this issue. Are your replacement parts comparable to the old parts? Also did you seat the ball joint part on the spine correctly?

yep made sure it was the same part. What do you mean by correctly ? its on the splines with the c-clip in, unless you can put it on upside down ?
 

uss2defiant

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I remembered the first time I had the ball joint in then the c clip. The c clip wasn't seated in all the way, had to push the ball joint down for the c clip to seat fully.
 

krisP

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yeah the c clip was on all the way, i made sure of it from the last time i did it. i honestly dont know what could be causing it
 

jrsavoie

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Next time - which could be anytime now - I am going with the complete aftermarket driveshaft.

I believe you have to change the part on the transfercase to make installation easier.

There are links on the Jeep CRD facebook page.

I think it's about the same price as replacing with OEM parts.
 

krisP

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Next time - which could be anytime now - I am going with the complete aftermarket driveshaft.

I believe you have to change the part on the transfercase to make installation easier.

There are links on the Jeep CRD facebook page.

I think it's about the same price as replacing with OEM parts.

changing the yoke you mean ? that does not seem fun
 

krisP

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They say it is not so bad. I can guarantee you, I will not be wasting my time putting yet another rear joint on my front drive shaft.

i just dont see it being necessary the stock cv and the first replacement fit in fine, no reason this one shouldnt. Hopefully i can figure it out tomorrow and not be laying in snow since no garage ha
 

uss2defiant

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what about the whole assembly in general? the ball bearing assembly, bottom lid & top lid?
Were you able to get it down tight?
I used a c-clamp to press it all together.
 

krisP

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what about the whole assembly in general? the ball bearing assembly, bottom lid & top lid?
Were you able to get it down tight?
I used a c-clamp to press it all together.

yeah i also used a c-clamp, it was all pretty even with very little difference all around. It was fine in 2wd. Im going to take it back out and recheck everything tomorrow. Also getting now LBJs and a few other things put on tomorrow so ill have them look at it if i cant figure it out.
 

jrsavoie

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i just dont see it being necessary the stock cv and the first replacement fit in fine, no reason this one shouldnt. Hopefully i can figure it out tomorrow and not be laying in snow since no garage ha

Maybe not necessary. But I do not have time to work on things more than once. You're already on your 2nd or 3rd go round and I am on my 4th.

There may well be a different fix. But unless somebody tells me what that is, I am going for the completely different drive shaft fix.

When I did mine, I used the bolts, some nuts and the little plates to compress the joints before installing
 

krisP

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still some droning under load in 4wd, the diff side CV didnt seem to have overly excessive play but did sound a bit ***** and dry in there so might replace it and see.

all other cvs and u joints were checked by me and a mechanic and everything looked good
 

JDa

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Question on the front driveshaft head (one the that looks like a torpedo nose/connects to front differential). My helper (I would fire him but he is only 6) hit the very top of it with a hammer so now the nose is dented in. Is this an issue or can I still use it? It is all assembled and ready for install.

Also for the clamps is there a trick to them? I pulled it tight but doesn't feel secure like a worm clamp, any reason I can't use a worm clamp instead? Thanks.
 
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JDa

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So finally got to install it today. Changed both front and rear heads on the shaft and took for test drive. I can hear a hum in 4wd (part time or full time) from the front differential while driving. Additionally when I am stopped the humming is louder and I get a vibration bad enough that I want to take it out of 4wd. Never did this before, thoughts? Everything went in as advertised.

Separately is the drive shaft different for a crd vice 3.7L? I don't believe so but I just want to make sure.
 

JDa

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i just want to verify which way the front/differential side is supposed to go in. The video i watched showed the side with the raised edge (pict 1) going away from the differential and the flat side (pict 2) towards the differential. Thanks.
 

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Myke

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i just want to verify which way the front/differential side is supposed to go in. The video i watched showed the side with the raised edge (pict 1) going away from the differential and the flat side (pict 2) towards the differential. Thanks.
I believe that is correct. Ony replacement the caps would only fit one way. If yours is the same just see what site the cap with the boot fits on and then you'll know for sure.

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Myke

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I had trouble getting the bad cv joint off. I tried a mallet and heat. It wouldn't budge.

I went to Autozone and rented a 5 ton puller. It fit the transfer case cv perfect. Had to use my air gun to get it to pull it off.

Tools I used:
8mm socket
Socket wrench
3" extension
Rubber mallet
5 ton autozone rented gear puller
Snap ring pliers


I can fit under the Jeep without jacking it up.

I unbolted 4 of the front 8mm bolts on the cv joint going into the diff. Rolled the back 6" in netrual. Unbolted the remaining 2 bolts into the diff end of the cv. Now you can spin the shaft by hand and get all 6 8mm bolts on the transfer case cv.

Bang it with the mallet till it loosened up. Compress the shaft and pull out the cv on the transfer case side first and pull it up and over the transfer case so you have enough room to pull out the diff end and slide the diff side out and down.

Reverse this process to put back in.


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GeekFisher

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Thanks for the guide. I am waiting for the rear joint to come in from eBay to put it back in and get 4wd again :)
 

dude1116

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Hey guys. I'm about to do this again. Unfortunately the gasket that came with the new part is trashed and I don't have a lot of time. Anyone ever use rtv as a gasket on the rear dust cover instead of the cardboard gasket?
 
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ltd02

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I haven't done it, but thought about it last time, and really see no reason a little RTV wouldn't work. It really is just cardboard, maybe you could just cut a new one.
 

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