Was enjoying a night of pinball league and got a call from my wide along the lines of "something just exploded on the jeep and I can't move". Once I got to the scene, it was pretty easy to see the driveshaft hanging down. I helped the two police officers push it onto the curb to get it out of traffic and wait for AAA. I took a. look and just disconnected the driveshaft from the rear yoke and drove it home in 4WD/FWD.
Driveshaft yoke is toast, but otherwise not much damage. Will definitely need a new driveshaft and u-joints. I have replaced a lot of things on that Jeep, but don't think I ever replaced the driveshaft ujoints. I'll have to take a closer look at the front yoke. It is shiny where the driveshaft rubbed. At least I made it onto Waze. Always something. Tubtumper will ride again.

 

Lifted?

 

No warning noise?

I have not changed any Uni or Cardan joint on my 250k '96

I know I probably should

 

Judging from the fine powdered rust, your joints have been dry for a while. Also how the one end of the joint is basically half what it should be the bearings have been gone and just eating away at the joint cap and ultimately the driveshaft itself. Finally clunked itself out of the driveshaft all together.

 

You can tell by the picture the U-joint caps are dry as a bone and rusty.
you were living on borrowed time.

Preventive maintenance is a good thing.

 

This is my wife's XJ. Yes it is lifted. 2.5" OME lift. I don't drive it anymore for a variety of reasons that you can probably all guess. She said there had been a "clicking" noise. I have replaced so many things on the Jeep, but I don't think I ever replaced the driveshaft ujoints. Should be a pretty simple repair. I have a 95 YJ, 98 XJ and this 99 XJ. There's always something to take care of.

 

dry joints will die a horrible death, also, really any amount of lift on a slip yoke is going to cause premature wear and if you would like your ujoints to last longer you should think about SYE.

 

Gonna need an O2 sensor too...

 

Dang. I did not notice the O2 sensor wire taking a hit. I had just replaced both over the summer. At least the rear one is a lot easier than the front one. I've been looking at an SYE install, but haven't gotten there yet. Will get it back on the road and then decide on next projects.

 

I can't see the pictures anymore.... But if only the 02 sensor wire is broken you can prolly repair the wire(s) instead of replacing the whole sensor.

 

Looking for some help here. I ordered a driveshaft from Rockauto that said it was for the 99 XJ rear driveshaft with 8.25 corporate axle (which is what I have), automatic (AW4) . the length spec. didn't make sense, but I thought I must be missing something. I did a rough measurement on the damaged driveshaft from yoke to yoke (without the extension that goes into the transfer case) and it is29". The spec for the Rockauto Dorman one is 46.5". I don't see any listings on Rockauto that are even close.
This XJ does have a 2.5" OME lift and does not have an SYE. I have been thinking about an SYE but just want to get it back on the road right now. There weren't any driveline vibrations or anything abnormal without the SYE. Any one have pointers to a place to get a stock XJ driveshaft for the corporate 8.25 rear axle? I did some searches and didn't come up with much. There are a couple on eBay but they look really rough. there is a pick a part nearby but I'd prefer to not crawl around in the mud since we have had a lot of snow and rain recently. Would defintiely appreciate any help here.
This is the extension on the too long driveshaft from Rockauto.

 

Nevermind. I found the right one. There are two listed on Rockauto with the DRA rear axle. I ordered the one for the 2WD. Was able to verify with the Jeep parts catalog. https://cdn.xjjeeps.com/pdf/en-us/19...ts-catalog.pdf

 

How much did they wack you for a new driveshaft $$ ?

I probably would have gotten one from the boneyard or marketplace for 20 bucks. and slap new u-joints in it.

 

$289 with shipping. I can live with that. It's ben really wet here with snow and rain and I really didn't want to deal with the pickapart. The new driveshaft comes with ujoints (I bought replacements sicen I have to do the 98 ujoint also). Will be here tuesday and should be a pretty quick replacement job. Looking for a ball joint press so I can do the front ujoints and all the joints on my 98 as well.

 

I did ball joints a while back.
speaking of $$ I sprung for the OTC mopar ball joint adapters..... OTC #7894
It was honestly the easiest time I ever had replacing ball joints. money well spent IMO