A little update on my shaft, **** and bull story...
I ordered up the shaft. It came right away and looked like a pretty decent OEM shaft. I ordered the needle bearing and the seal just in case I needed those also. I beat the car apart and the old shaft came out with no problem. The old shaft looked really good with little noticeable wear on the splines or where the needle bearings ride. I put the new intermediate shaft in but didn't replace the bearing or seal. I replaced the passenger CV shaft with one from Napa. I took it for a ride and it still made the grr grrr grrr rotational noise that had me going bonkers. I then pulled out the front drive shaft and the transfer case CV joint boot was cracked but not trashed. There wasn't much play in the joint and it still had lots of clean grease in it. I drove the Jeep without the front shaft and it was a bit smoother but still had that grrr grrr noise. I then ordered the cv kit and waited. While I was waiting I thought, could I be low on front diff juice and wiped out a pinion bearing? It was full and looked great but I replaced that expensive stuff anyway. I drove the car for a week and that noise was just as bad as before and had me wondering what it could be and secretly wishing what ever it was would just seize up, fall off, or what ever, just so I would find out what it was. But my wife drives the car with my kids so that's really not a capital idea there.
Every time I change the oil I rotate the tires and inspect them closely for shifted belts, etc. Been there before. I roll them on smooth pavement and scoot behind and watch the sidewalls, tread, and tread surface for anything that isn't uniform. These tires have been fine all along. They are the first replacement of the same tires that came stock. Goodyear Wrangler SR-A. The car now has 138,000 miles on it and the tread still has 7/32 center depth. I thought that I would try using the old, never used spare to swap out my tires to see if the noise went away. I started with the driver's front and the damn sound is gone. I looked at the tire I took off and cannot tell what could be making that noise but it is definitely gone. I received the cv joint and installed it and the car runs great, smooth and quiet.
My lesson learned is that grinding grr grr grr sounds that drive you nuts can certainly come from decent looking tires.
I need a driver's door now to start fixing some rust spots.