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Rear Drive Shaft seized! Advice Appreciated

7K views 11 replies 6 participants last post by  TJJeepster  
#1 ·
Hey guys, i recently had my SYE leaking so i pulled the SYE and resealed it. Once i pulled the rear drive shaft i noticed i had a bad u-joint or two. I have the tom woods style (unsure of the brand) drive shaft with the CV joint. Once i got the drive shaft off the truck i noticed the shaft had no movement at all where the splines go into the yoke. It was seized up tight. After beating on it with a hammer while in the vice i still had not luck. i figured i don't just have a winch for "recovery" so i strapped the drive shaft to a tree and started winching, i had a friend trying to shock it free with two BFH's. After a few attempts and my truck about a foot closer to the tree it eventually broke free. I rebuilt the shaft with 3 5-1310X non greasable u-joints and Spicer greasable 211355X Socket Yoke as Mr. jerry Bransford had stated in a few posed i read. ( I run anything he recommends on my truck ) ..... after i got the drive shaft back together i still could not move it by had. I figured the weight of the truck would pull it back out after some drive time.

Im now noticing some vibrations while daily driving, should i pull the shaft and try to pull it apart again ? maybe i didn't line it up properly and its out of balanced now? Should i just take it wheeling and hope the flex will free it up ? ......

Thanks JF
 
#2 ·
My gut tells me it might be time for a new shaft. I wouldn't want mine to be stuck preventing travel every time the springs expand/contract. Heck, my jeep varies 1/2" just between an empty and full tank of gas and would think the splines should feely slip in and out to prevent a bind. Sorry I don't have any other advice.
 
#3 ·
You may have put the driveshaft back together out of phase, or in-phase, but 180 degrees out. Nonetheless, a DS that has a slip joint that does not slip is a problem. That slip joint should slide in and out very easily so that it can adapt to length changes as the rear axle moves up and down. I suppose developing a leak in the SYE could have been a sign of this, but it's better than the case breaking from a fused driveshaft jamming into it when you stuff your axle.
You could take your drive shaft to a driveline shop and have it balanced, but then you'd still be stuck with a balanced DS with new components that will not slip at the slip joint. Honestly the best bet is to measure your set-up accurately, and get some place like Tom Wood's Driveshaft or Tatton's ship you a new CV drive shaft.
 
#5 ·
too much grease can keep it from collapsing. get it apart again, and clean the splines really good.
might even try a small flat file on the splines. every one i have had was tough to move, but a winch was not needed.
usually a few taps with a hammer and it would move. get it spotless, put it back together, see if its any better.
 
#6 ·
Well i pulled the shaft today and bet the leaving hell out of it again to get it apart. I didn't try no grease joe but i did try cleaning it completely. Sprayed everything down then cleaned out each spline with a flat head screw driver, resprayed and then sprayed it down with a garden hose. Once i got it what looked to be damn near spotless i covered it in anti-seize and tried again...... i pushed it about 2inch on to the shaft and its was frozen again. I didn't think driveshafts when bad ? Maybe it got bent some how , idk ? confused . I'm now driveshaft shopping any recommendations? I'm poor and on a budget haha i see tom woods has one for 255, that seams a bit cheap though. i paid over 130 for the centering kit and u-joints in my driveshaft now
 
#9 ·
I had the same issue wiht a drive shaft I got years ago. They used that blue teflon crap or whatever on the splines and there was no grease fitting on mine. I repalced my entire shaft with one that had lube points for both the centering ball and the shaft itself.