Sinking Creek 4WD Association

Is anyone avaiable in the next week to help me with this? It would be much appreciated! I can't buy you beer, but I can buy subway or the like. I'd really like to have 4wd for Potts Mtn!

Worst comes to worst... it was suggested that you can just put your front shaft in for the trail. Then take it back out for the ride home. Should be no reason why that wouldn't work. Getting parts for the double cardon part can be harder than it seems.

Mr.WJ wrote:Worst comes to worst... it was suggested that you can just put your front shaft in for the trail. Then take it back out for the ride home. Should be no reason why that wouldn't work. Getting parts for the double cardon part can be harder than it seems.

I guess we'll deal with that when we get to it. I want to change the u joint first and hope that fixes it. No clue how though.

Wes, I will be available today after 6 pm and tomorrow until about noon, I sent you my phone number on FB.

If the driveshaft is still out, it'll take a few minutes. I can meet you at your jeep in the chicken hill lot or something, and I'll bring tools.

InvertChaos wrote:hope that fixes it. No clue how though.

Don't just throw parts at it. It will be obvious what is starting to fail per inspection. It will be one of the three u-joints or the centering ball.

Tear the whole shaft down, replace all of the ujoints, clean, and re-lubricate the CV components, put it back together, and reinstall the shaft.

This is a simple, straightforward procedure. I did the rear CV shaft in my Bronco when I was 16 or 17 in a couple hours having never changed a ujoint or knowing what a constant velocity double carden driveshaft was. Do some research and know what you are doing going into it so Jake doesn't end up doing it for you and you learn something.

BadAssEddie wrote:

InvertChaos wrote:hope that fixes it. No clue how though.

Don't just throw parts at it. It will be obvious what is starting to fail per inspection. It will be one of the three u-joints or the centering ball.

Tear the whole shaft down, replace all of the ujoints, clean, and re-lubricate the CV components, put it back together, and reinstall the shaft.

This is a simple, straightforward procedure. I did the rear CV shaft in my Bronco when I was 16 or 17 in a couple hours having never changed a ujoint or knowing what a constant velocity double carden driveshaft was. Do some research and know what you are doing going into it so Jake doesn't end up doing it for you and you learn something.

Is changing all 3 u joints and the centering ball not throwing parts at it? I want to learn how.

InvertChaos wrote:Is changing all 3 u joints and the centering ball not throwing parts at it? I want to learn how.

No it's not. You are determining what is the issue through inspection and troubleshooting and rebuilding the driveshaft while it is out and apart. For an extra $20, why would you not replace old u-joints with unknown service life on them, especially if you have the CV apart to rebuild the centering ball assembly? You are not replacing the centering ball if at all possible. It is likely that it just needs to be cleaned and re lubricated. You should always lubricate wear items when you are servicing parts.

Not to steal Jake's thunder, but I will be wrenching this weekend and you are welcome to come out to my shop were I have a bit more tools and equipment and I'll be happy to walk you through it, or you and Jake could come out there and use the facilities. Either way, don't be intimidated by it. CV's are alot more scary looking than they are.

P.S. I have some ballin' Marine high temp super dooper grease that should help prevent this happening again.

BadAssEddie wrote:

InvertChaos wrote:Is changing all 3 u joints and the centering ball not throwing parts at it? I want to learn how.

No it's not. You are determining what is the issue through inspection and troubleshooting and rebuilding the driveshaft while it is out and apart. For an extra $20, why would you not replace old u-joints with unknown service life on them, especially if you have the CV apart to rebuild the centering ball assembly? You are not replacing the centering ball if at all possible. It is likely that it just needs to be cleaned and re lubricated. You should always lubricate wear items when you are servicing parts.

Not to steal Jake's thunder, but I will be wrenching this weekend and you are welcome to come out to my shop were I have a bit more tools and equipment and I'll be happy to walk you through it, or you and Jake could come out there and use the facilities. Either way, don't be intimidated by it. CV's are alot more scary looking than they are.

P.S. I have some ballin' Marine high temp super dooper grease that should help prevent this happening again.

I'd agree if we were working on the CV end. We replaced the yoke end u joint, so that's 1/3 u joints replaced so far. If I can source all of the parts needed to rebuild a CV joint, I'll definitely take you up on your offer. So, are you saying that instead of a new centering ball and such, I should get the two extra u joints only and clean/lube the ball? Or what parts exactly are you recommending I get?

You should be able to inspect each u-joint and see if one is bad or lacking grease. I would wait to see what you need before buying any parts. I doubt all 3 u-joints are bad, highly unlikely they all went bad at once. I don't think its necessary to replace all 3 u-joints unless they are trashed, you might be able to grease the centering ball throw some new grease in the caps and reassemble.

The CV assembly definitely has some wear to it and lack of grease. I wouldn't hesitate to say that the ujoints at the CV and maybe the assembly should be rebuilt. At the rate of being able to pull those caps, I would just replace the ujoints.

Quite a but of rust on the shaft and everything.

I mean this is OE stuff from 2004. I have no doubt everything is looking a little rough and probably in need of replacement. Which is why I kind of just want to knock everything out if I open the CV assembly.

InvertChaos wrote:I mean this is OE stuff from 2004. I have no doubt everything is looking a little rough and probably in need of replacement. Which is why I kind of just want to knock everything out if I open the CV assembly.

Yea if you bother to break it down you may as well.


Now have you had a chance to run it with the new ujoint yet?

Lil Whitey wrote:

InvertChaos wrote:I mean this is OE stuff from 2004. I have no doubt everything is looking a little rough and probably in need of replacement. Which is why I kind of just want to knock everything out if I open the CV assembly.

Yea if you bother to break it down you may as well.


Now have you had a chance to run it with the new ujoint yet?

Not yet. I lost a bolt for the strap so I had to pick up a new one. Going to throw the shaft back in today.

If the axle end u-joint was not defective, it is not going to fix the issue.

Like Jake is saying, you should just rebuild the entire shaft.

Matt, I always just replace all the u-joints when I am working on shafts because it doesn't cost much or take much time. I'm aware all three are not going to be bad. If you have one failed u-joint and the others are the same age and have seen the same service life, they are more likely to fail in a short time as well, than a new joint. This practice prevents having to pull the shaft and service another part later down the road.

So, I'm going to try and diy the driveshaft this week. All I should need at this point is 2 ujoints, the centering ball kit, and grease correct?