YJ: CV driveshaft angles.

[OU812]

Yesterday I removed my Tcase drop spacers. They were about 1 1/2 inches. The angle of my drive shaft looks ok to me. But I am now hearing a clicking. I can tell it is coming from the rear and it is rotational. The clicking is very light but turns into a louder squeak under load. Before I take it down to the driveline shop, anyone have an idea where this might be coming from?

[Schmo]

What are the angles of the DS and Pinyon? How long have you had this DS . . . could a U-Joint, the CV Joint, or center ball be going bad?

[OU812]

The drive shaft has been on the Jeep as long as I have owned it which is a little more than a year. I didn't measure the angles. The ujoints feel good because I can’t rotate the driveshaft any more than the slight preload in the gears. Funny thing is before I raised my transfer case I had a little driveline vibration under load. But now I do not. Just this clicking/squeaking noise.

[Schmo]

I'd check the angles first. Seeing that you've had the DS for a while, it could just be the CV or Center Ball wearing out . . . have you been good about lubing it up? My center ball wore out on mine in about a year and a half (probably cuz I didn't lube it) . . . it started by making a slight noise which quickly turned into a vibe and horrible racket. Also grab the DS and try to shake it and see if there is any play . . . it might not be bad enough yet for you to feel it, but when mine got bad, I could actually feel the play in the CV.

[Drewminator]

X2, the CV ball kept clicking on my jeep and then it just gave out, WHAM! Just like that. It was just years of being pounded by a Detroit locker in the rear, even with the correct angle. Since then, went to an ARB with a new DS. I would definitely check the center ball like schmo said in his reply.

I'd check the angles first. Seeing that you've had the DS for a while, it could just be the CV or Center Ball wearing out . . . have you been good about lubing it up? My center ball wore out on mine in about a year and a half (probably cuz I didn't lube it) . . . it started by making a slight noise which quickly turned into a vibe and horrible racket. Also grab the DS and try to shake it and see if there is any play . . . it might not be bad enough yet for you to feel it, but when mine got bad, I could actually feel the play in the CV.

[OU812]

I went to HF and got an angle finder at lunch. I checked the angle and the pinion is 1 degree higher. So that should be ok. and I gave it a shake and it feels ok. I have seen a CV centering ball fail before. We couldn’t figure out what had failed till we jacked up the rear end and put the Jeep in gear. The drive shaft was flaling all over. Maybe that’s my next step. Seems odd that it could be the centering ball though. It was fine before I raised my tcase. And immediately after, I started hearing the noise. Unless the straw that broke the camel’s back was the first rotation.

[Schmo]

I went to HF and got an angle finder at lunch. I checked the angle and the pinion is 1 degree higher. So that should be ok. and I gave it a shake and it feels ok. I have seen a CV centering ball fail before. We couldn’t figure out what had failed till we jacked up the rear end and put the Jeep in gear. The drive shaft was flaling all over. Maybe that’s my next step. Seems odd that it could be the centering ball though. It was fine before I raised my tcase. And immediately after, I started hearing the noise. Unless the straw that broke the camel’s back was the first rotation.

If I recall correctly, you want to get your pinyon in line with the DS or a bit (1*-2* max) under . . . when you accelerate, your pinyon is going to go up a bit so having it under the DS is better. What you described regarding the center ball failing is what I experienced, but not at first. I heard a light noise at first, mine was only noticable when I was decelerating at low speed and there wasn't noticable play in the DS . . . but that didn't last long and after the trip home, it was making horrible noises, and I could feel the play in the joint by wiggling the DS.

[bails85]

what is a center ball?

[Schmo]

what is a center ball?

It's actually a pretty good name for it . . . it's basically a ball in the center of the CV joint between the two u-joints.

[OU812]

Joe I think you are right. I put the rear end up on stands and put the jeep in gear. It looks like the double cardian joint is not balanced. I am going to drop it off at Oceanside driveline tomorrow to have them look at it. If that's what it is they will have to replace it and rebalance the drive shaft. One of those few things that just can't be done in my garage.

[Schmo]

Cool . . . I hope that's all it is . . . shouldn't set you back too much. Let us know if that's all it was.

[OU812]

Ok, the drive line shop says that the centering ball is bad AND my drive shaft needs to be leangthend. So $400 and Ill be done. Also my front driveshaft slip splines are bad so tack on another $200 for that and I can wheel again. J.E.E.P. I am going to run with no front driveshaft till I can save some more coin. I really expected to need a new centering ball and it would cost $200 and be done. Looking around I don't see too many other options. Any ideas?

[Schmo]

Ok, the drive line shop says that the centering ball is bad AND my drive shaft needs to be leangthend. So $400 and Ill be done. Also my front driveshaft slip splines are bad so tack on another $200 for that and I can wheel again. J.E.E.P. I am going to run with no front driveshaft till I can save some more coin. I really expected to need a new centering ball and it would cost $200 and be done. Looking around I don't see too many other options. Any ideas?

400 bucks is way too much. You can buy a fancy custom drive shaft built to the specs that you need for less than that. I think I paid 300 bucks for my rear DS from Tom Woods and when my CV/Centerball went bad, it was like 150 bucks for them to fully rebuild it, new CV joint, all new U-joints, and rebalanced. Sounds to me like the shop is trying to take you for a ride.

[OU812]

I talked to the driveline shop and they are going to do it for $320 so I told them to get at it. I looked at TomWoods site and it looked like I wouldn't get a shaft for less than $500.

[Schmo]

I talked to the driveline shop and they are going to do it for $320 so I told them to get at it. I looked at TomWoods site and it looked like I wouldn't get a shaft for less than $500.

Not sure what you are looking at but I have both a front and rear shaft from Tom Woods and both were right around the 300 mark . . . usually the SYE + CV DS combos are around 500. $320 still sounds a bit high unless you are getting an entirely new shaft. That's why I ended up upgrading to a new front DS vs rebuilding the old one . . . figured at the cost to rebuild, why would I want to still have the old splines, etc that might wear out in the future.