i was under the jeep looking for a gas leak when i noticed that my front drive shaft was bent. its got a bad bend in it and just a month ago it was fine. i have no idea how it happened as i haven't done anything but drive it on the street. how important is it to be straight? i want to be able to drive it in 4hi in the winter for getting to work.
If you're going to drive in 4hi, it's pretty important the front shaft be straight and balanced, or you'll get a vibration. Is it bent, or is it twisted (like a corkscrew)? Can you see any evidence of contact around the bell housing/transmission?
lucdog is correct in suggesting that it may just be a worn slip joint. It can look like the shaft is bent when it's really just free play... either way, you'll want to repair/replace it before you need it.
i dont feel like taking a pic right now but it defenatley has a bow to it. and theres no evidence of any contact with anything. the last time i used 4wd was when i was using it to pull out some bushes in the front yard. could that have done it?
Were you pulling the bushes in reverse? I'm pretty sure yanking people out in reverse is what bent my stock front shaft some years back. I don't have a clue why that would do it as the axle moves away from the t-case under compression. But it's the only thing I had done with my jeep other than drive it.
That's exactly what I ended up doing. I couldn't get the winch to pull without dragging the Jeep so I tossed it in four low locking the hubs and backed out pulling the bushes I had no idea that could bend the crap out of my front driveshaft though
yea, really. I'd like to hear how pulling in reverse causes the front driveshaft to bend...not something that would have popped to mind if i were doing it
I would never have guessed it would hurt the drive shaft, but I was told when I was a young lad that pulling anything heavy in reverse was a bad idea because you're using the "wrong side" of the gears in the drive train. I don't know if it's true, but for some reason it seemed to make sense to me at the time and I've avoided doing that.
My guess is also the slip joint, but my view from here is obstructed.
Did the front wheels take a hard bump going forward? That would cause the front axle to move backward momentarily possibly bending the drive shaft. Just a suggestion.
I agree with not pulling anything heavy, or creating a shock load in reverse. In my personal experience, the ring gear teeth would let go first.
I also think it would twist the shaft instead of just bending it.
So tell us exactly how much force was used pulling the bush out. The Jeep on a paved surface, 4000 rpm, slack in the strap causing a shock load to the drive line when tightened?
i had a strap around the bush and i had the winch cable hooked to it. i tried to use just the winch but even with the breaks on it was pulling the jeep to it so i put it in 4low and went forward for some slack and then i backed up. 3 or 4 pulls pulled the bush out. it wasent that difficult and i had no idea that this could hurt the jeep. i feel this is a weak point that i didn't know about. according to quadratech the length i need is 31.75 collapsed.
When you push up on the slip yoke, is there more than 1/2" deflection/free play?
My stock shaft wore out here and also, when the PO did the lift, he did not re-do the shaft and it was "slipped out" more than stock. I put on a tattons shaft that was mucho bigger and thicker for fairly cheap ($150)
I agree w/lucdog. You got off cheap. Could you imagine if that sucker let loose while pulling? I'm shuddering just thinking about 1/2 the shaft going through the oil pan, a chunk going into the fan...or some such catastrophe. Ya may wanna pull the front diff cover and do a little inspection. You were gonna service it w/new fluid anyway, right?
just installed it and testing it out tomorrow. thanks
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