Sinking Creek 4WD Association

I'd really appreciate some help on this y'all... Cause I been in unknown territory here for awhile now with all these mechanical issues and it's been awful hard to keep up with the amount of shit hittin the fan I need my baby back!

The latest thing I been puzzlin/clueless over is what to do about a new rear driveshaft. When my rear U-joint went out recently, I tried to fix my cracked rear case half and broken main/output shaft with JB-Weld and a Rugged Ridge Mega-short SYE. Worked for a little while runnin on my front axle (with some vibration and new noises), but eventually started spewin fluid (not exactly sure from where though). Maybe a poor seal between the rear case half and new rear retainer...

The worst part is, the Jeeps stuck back home, so I'm tryin to figure all this stuff out from Blacksburg and trips back are costly. So I guess my only option on the rear case half now is to get another one, right?

As far as the drive shaft goes, I guess I need a CV slip-yoke one, but don't know much more than that... I've heard bits and pieces of what might be good, but as far as comin up with a full solution of a good solid dependable shaft for an affordable price and that I won't have to replace for a long time, I'm lost

I'm also kina lost as to what else would be worth changin/modifyin/replacin and considering when makin decisions - the best time to upgrade is when old parts go bad, but I gotta balance that with my budget.

The camber problem - it's bad, my front BFG A/Ts are wearin horribly (more money down the drain ), and I haven't really been able to figure out why it's off so bad. So far, the only possible solutions I'm aware of are to get a new axle (which I'd be all for if I had money) or get an alignment and then hope that offset ball joints could correct the angles...

So ye, these are the most pressing issues I guess I'm strugglin with. Thanks for reading through my long ass sob story. I'll wait to whine about the rest til I get these managed.

Lord, I sure wish this thing wasn't my DD...

MtnManMatt wrote:I'd really appreciate some help on this y'all... Cause I been in unknown territory here for awhile now with all these mechanical issues and it's been awful hard to keep up with the amount of shit hittin the fan I need my baby back!

The latest thing I been puzzlin/clueless over is what to do about a new rear driveshaft. When my rear U-joint went out recently, I tried to fix my cracked rear case half and broken main/output shaft with JB-Weld and a Rugged Ridge Mega-short SYE. Worked for a little while runnin on my front axle (with some vibration and new noises), but eventually started spewin fluid (not exactly sure from where though). Maybe a poor seal between the rear case half and new rear retainer...

The worst part is, the Jeeps stuck back home, so I'm tryin to figure all this stuff out from Blacksburg and trips back are costly. So I guess my only option on the rear case half now is to get another one, right?

As far as the drive shaft goes, I guess I need a CV slip-yoke one, but don't know much more than that... I've heard bits and pieces of what might be good, but as far as comin up with a full solution of a good solid dependable shaft for an affordable price and that I won't have to replace for a long time, I'm lost

I'm also kina lost as to what else would be worth changin/modifyin/replacin and considering when makin decisions - the best time to upgrade is when old parts go bad, but I gotta balance that with my budget.

The camber problem - it's bad, my front BFG A/Ts are wearin horribly (more money down the drain ), and I haven't really been able to figure out why it's off so bad. So far, the only possible solutions I'm aware of are to get a new axle (which I'd be all for if I had money) or get an alignment and then hope that offset ball joints could correct the angles...

So ye, these are the most pressing issues I guess I'm strugglin with. Thanks for reading through my long ass sob story. I'll wait to whine about the rest til I get these managed.

Lord, I sure wish this thing wasn't my DD...

For the rear shaft, pick up a cherokee front. It will have the proper joints at each end. You can shorten thm yourself without too much trouble, I've dont 3-4 now that see pretty high speeds without issue, however if you aren't comfortble doing that a driveshaft shop can shorten/retube it for an affordable price.

Have you checked your front ball joints or unit bearings? Run a straightline across your front axle to see if its actually bent. Both of those options are more likely than the axle being bent as badly as itd have to be to cause the camber issues you have.

Chances are the case is leaking because its cracked so good, find a replacement and trade out the rear half. You shouldn't have too many new vibes running on your front shaft, it spins all the time in a TJ regardless of 2wd or 4wd.

For the rear shaft, pick up a cherokee front. It will have the proper joints at each end. You can shorten thm yourself without too much trouble, I've dont 3-4 now that see pretty high speeds without issue, however if you aren't comfortble doing that a driveshaft shop can shorten/retube it for an affordable price.

Have you checked your front ball joints or unit bearings? Run a straightline across your front axle to see if its actually bent. Both of those options are more likely than the axle being bent as badly as itd have to be to cause the camber issues you have.

Chances are the case is leaking because its cracked so good, find a replacement and trade out the rear half. You shouldn't have too many new vibes running on your front shaft, it spins all the time in a TJ regardless of 2wd or 4wd.

Firstly, thanks Will

Driveshaft - So it's definitely better goin the swapin hackin route than forkin out 400 bucks for one of these fancy ones? The price certainly sounds nicer, but I'm jus tryin to gauge the pros and cons, ya know? And if I go the swapin hackin route, ya reckon the Cherokee is the best option? I mean hell, I don't have any better ideas, but I just thought ya wanted a larger diameter for a rear (like 3")? I've also heard a lotta banter bout different yokes and the best U-joints and whatnot, but I got no idea what I really NEED. I don't want the thing to explode again in a month or two, but I can't really afford to be crazy overbuildin either...

Camber - Unfortunately I can't really take any measurements til I go back home. I was kina jus tryin to figure my options out so that I know what I need to know when I do go back. Last I remember, I lifted the front end and tried rockin the tires top to bottom, I couldn't really feel (or see) any movement on one side and could see just a slight bit of movement in the upper ball joint on the other. It didn't seem to me like that would be enough to throw it off that bad though, but hey, I'm no expert...

And while we're on the subject of the front end, is there any reason why I can't throw a steel pipe around that dernd tie rod to keep it straight and avoid gettin another one?

Front Shaft/T-Case - Ye, I knew the front shaft was always spinnin, so that's why I was wonderin bout the vibration. Lately though, there's been so many new noises and I hadn't driven the Jeep in awhile, so its kina hard to keep track... I've had rear vibration at high speeds for awhile now and it's been on my list to look into, but I guess that was the U-joint so I can cross that off... The t-case, ye, that's what I figured. I was hopin to avoid havin to find another, but I guess there's no way around it. I saw one on eBay for $45, but Matt offered me a whole NP231 for 75 so I guess I should do that for extra parts...

Agh piss. I went and wrote a novel again.

MtnManMatt wrote:Last I remember, I lifted the front end and tried rockin the tires top to bottom, I couldn't really feel (or see) any movement on one side and could see just a slight bit of movement in the upper ball joint on the other. It didn't seem to me like that would be enough to throw it off that bad though, but hey, I'm no expert...

Try getting more leverage. I've thrown a lug wrench or locked breaker bar to a lug nut before to really get a feel for bad ball joints. Sometimes it'll surprise you what movement won't show up with the ole 6 and 12 test.

FYI, you check ball joints by raising the tire just off the ground and putting a pry bar under it and using that to put pressure up against the tire. At least that's what inspection shops are taught to do. Make sure you check you track bar and TREs for play too. Those can cause funky tire wear and steering problems.