[LoneWolf04]

Well, i recently purchased a dana 30 front axle out of a 93 YJ and while I was going through it I noticed the drivers side shaft has been changed as it has the large u-joint size in it and the passenger shaft has the small u-joint size in it. While replacing the joints I slid the drivers shaft back in and it seats properly, but when I tighten the axle nut it pulls the shaft out about 1/4" and the dust cover that is supposed to butt up against the tube opening is not where its supposed to be.

I've been reading and it sounds like the only dana 30s in the YJs that had the large u-joint size was ones equipped with ABS, or cherokees with ABS. There is no tone ring on the shaft so is this why the shaft is being pulled out when tightening it down? Is there a spacer or something made to put in place of the tone ring so I don't have to buy one? Any help would be appreciated.

Almost thinking of changing it back to the small u-joint and replacing the axle shaft seal on the side to do so. Thanks for any help.

[Axl Jack]

In 95 they went with bigger ujoints. You gotta watch. I went to replace mine, and when I went to the parts counter and asked for ujoints for a 94 without ABS.... they gave me the larger ones for a 95.

So it may not necessarily be the previous owners fault.

[flame0086]

Originally Posted by Axl Jack

In 95 they went with bigger ujoints. You gotta watch. I went to replace mine, and when I went to the parts counter and asked for ujoints for a 94 without ABS.... they gave me the larger ones for a 95.

So it may not necessarily be the previous owners fault.

He's right. In 95 they had larger ujoints. However, I thought you could switch them with out any problems, am I wrong? I haven't notice a dust cover for my axle tubing, but I am still learning the more technical things about axles.

[LoneWolf04]

The dust cover is on the axle shaft itself, it pulls away from the axle tube opening when I tighten up the axle shaft nut. Either way the axle shaft is pulling out of the pumpkin on the drivers side and the passenger side doesnt pull out when i tighten it down

[leftlanetruckin]

i run chromo axles so im no expert on a stock setup...., but i would check to see if the axle has a good contact with the differential.... if there is lots of contact, and the shaft is protuding slightly inside the carrier, then i'd say its fine.
the plastic cover is just that, a pos piece of plastic.....if you want good axle seals, get the aluminum ones.
another thing to consider is the axle disconnect....do you still have it? if so then the 2 axles arent gonna look exactly the same...
sounds like the guy broke the driver side axle (common) and went ahead and replaced it with either the 95 shafts, or a tj/xj shaft (which all have the bigger u joints)
try getting a used pair of tj shafts, and do away with the disconnect. least then you will know both are right, and only have to carry 1 spare u joint!

martin

[kloppk]

The larger u-joint axle is fine to run.
Heck it's stronger!
Just slide the plastic piece toward the axle tube after you have everything tightened down. (They can get bumped and move back and forth on the axle shaft)