Front Drive shaft play

[Opt]

I was checking around under the jeep today and have a question... Other than the end to end play of the front drive shaft.... is the suppose to be ANY other play in it? If I grab a hold of it right in front of the transfer case and try to move it up and down, I have a small amount of play, maybe 1/32 - 1/16 at most. Just enough that you can feel the slack in it.

 

[ThunderbirdJunkie]

In the rear of the driveshaft? It's probably toast. Peek inside there and look and see if there's still a boot in there.

 

[Opt]

Yes... in the rear, where it connects to the transfercase. Will crawl back under and check to see if the boot is intact or not. I could see the front boot clamp but didn't look inside the collar. The reason I checked was because I have a **very** slight vibration when in full time above 40mph. Only recently started to do it, and doesn't do it when switched back to 2wd. Only noted it cuz I'm **** about stuff like that. Everything else ***looked*** ok and was tight.

Now to get a tarp to lay on in the snow to recheck it....

 

[ThunderbirdJunkie]

The boot is inside the joint.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[Opt]

Boot looks good. When pushing up/down or side to side... you can feel & hear the click... but you cant really see shaft move while it's happening. Probably in the early stages of going out.

 

[family KJ]

I just replaced mine 2 weeks ago...You could see my balls (ball bearings of course)lol3.gif It is VERY simple to replace. If you buy one, I would make sure it is new or from a good source as any non-balanced shaft will give you more problems.

 

[Opt]

Will probably have the whole front end checked to be sure thats my problem first... anything wrong with UAP/NAPA remanu's if I need to replace it?

Just can't see anything else obvious that's wrong under there, that would give me the vibration in FT 4wd. As soon as it's placed in 2wd it stops.

Any other ideas? (all drivetrain oils were replaced last spring)

 

[family KJ]

I got mine from a shop in NJ that buys overstock items from the dealers. Don't know much about remanufactured ones...I just would not buy one from a junk yard or parts yard.