Define "better" ?

 

what would be best suited for a DD/ weekend wheeler? i have cvs right now but im swapping my front axle soon and im wondering if i should keep the u joint shafts that are coming with the new axle, or just keep my cvs and sell the u joint ones?

 

U-joints are stronger than CV joints, and u-joints are replaceable. CV joints run a little bit smoother, which is desirable for Full-Time 4x4 equipped Jeeps. Given a choice, most off-road users would probably choose to have u-joints.

 

excellent. i will swap to the u joint style shafts, because i dont think i will use full time 4x4 much. it doesnt snow here and we dont get too much rain, so the only 4x4 modes i would be using is part time and low.

i seem to remember reading that some XJs came with bigger u joint on the axle shafts? if so, which ones was it? id love to upgrade from stock ZJ ones if the XJs are better.

 

..... remember reading that some XJs came with bigger u joint on the axle shafts? if so, which ones was it? id love to upgrade from stock ZJ ones if the XJs are better.

5-297 are the larger u-joints. Vacuum disconnect axles have the smaller 5-260 u-joints. No TJ, XJ, or ZJ D30 uses C-clips

XJ D30 U-joints

 

CV's are plenty strong, the only advantage on the axles is that you have a chance of repairing the shaft on the trail.

I'm not a fan, for dd uses I keep cvs on both jeeps. I love full time 4wd, even on dry pavement there is a difference in handling for the better.

Maybe I'll change my tune after I snap a shaft on the trail, maybe.

 

Doin a swap on the trail isn't bad (happened to me last year). I didn't know s*** about how to pull it out but was with a great group of guys and we stopped and pulled out the shaft and then I drove/got pulled out in 3wd :thumbdown: But at least I made it out. Mine is a AT-4wd so I like the cv's since it's my dd. I am going to start wheeling more so maybe I'll end up swapping them after i break 3 or 4 cv's lol.

One of my CV's let go on me yesterday. I wasn't even wheeling either, just turning to back into my parking spot :'(

Luckily, I got it on camera (in jeep cam)

oh the familiar sounds lol:rofl:

 

One of my CV's let go on me yesterday. I wasn't even wheeling either, just turning to back into my parking spot :'(

Luckily, I got it on camera (in jeep cam)

 

I ran CVs even with the crate 5.9. It's what you want to run. Most run CVs and never have and issue with them.

Hunter

 

After pulling myself together I decided to go see what kind of scraps I could find and what it looked like underneath

It's a 96 ZJ limited. Would anyone be able to tell me if I'm going to find C-clips, or will I just be able to slide the axle shaft out?

 

mine didn't have a c-clip...pop the wheel, brake assembly and hub off and slid the shaft right out....heard that some do/passenger side (mine was on the drive side) but Idk for sure.

 

Guess I'll have to find out when I do it. Gotta wait for the part to come in though. The part store didn't have any in stock. Stuck at home till Monday.

 

Just a friendly reminded, don't drive it til you at least see if you can pull the shaft (seriously pull the hub and if the shaft doesn't come out with relative ease, well someone else is gonna have to chime in). Don't wnat to mess up the spider gears or anything.

 

Ujoints, bigggest issue is peopke buy a zj anf the cv shafts r almost pooched anyway so they temd to go. Out nee ones in Im sure they are fine. But when cv joints go it sucks ujoints r easy to replace.

 

It's pretty easy to swap the cv shaft.

Pop the wheel off, pull the caliper off the knuckle (2x13mm bolts), pull the rotor off (falls off after the caliper is off), pull the cv shaft nut (35 or 36mm, factory is 36 but many aftermarket are 35), pull the three hub bolts (funny 12pt heads), may have to pull the abs sensor to get the shaft out, but it just pulls out.

Be careful putting the new shaft in not to damage the oil seals at the diff.

Reverse puts it back together. Knuckle to hub bolts get 75 ft lbs, axle nut gets 175 ft lbs.

 

I have 98, no c-clips. I don't think they use c-clips in front axles at all, but could be wrong...

 

You can buy an entire axle shaft with the CV joint and the boot installed at RockAuto for just over $40. The failure mode is usually caused by the boot ripping open and all the grease leaving the joint.

One tip, loosen the 36mm nut before you jack up the Jeep and take off the wheels (Provided you have a large enough center hole in your wheels.)

 

when removeing the unit bearings the the three 12 point bolts are normally rusted in there pretty good ive always heated them up its that bad for them? im not talking about super excesive heat going wild in there with a torch but doing it with some care and when reinstalling the unit bearing when you tighten the 35/36mm nut is there any proper way to do it such as spinning the bearing while tightening then loosening an retightening while spinning the bearing?

 

Soak down the bolts with some PB blaster or other good penetrant oil and be sure to hit both ends of the bolt. The tip of the bolt actually sticks though the threaded hole in the unit bearing and rusts. But I've always been able to unbolt them this way with no problems. Getting the unit bearing out of the knuckle, however, is a whole new problem. There is a method using the steering system to push the assembly out described here: http://stu-offroad.com/axle/unitbearing/unitbearing-1.htm and this usually works on all but the worst stucks. I have had to use a chisel to get out some badly rusted ones.

When you reinstall it, there is no need to spin it, just torque it down. You will most likely need to have the Jeep on the wheels on the ground to get it to hold in place while you torque it.

 

I've never had to heat the knuckles, just breaker bar and pb blaster.

I'm not in the rust belt though