Bmartee

Need some help figuring out which length cv axle I need. I have a 99 Cherokee Sport. I was looking through the older threads but couldn't find anything about the length. Preciate it!

Bmartee

Nevermind....found the problem. My parts were displaying under the wrong vehicle. As you were.

salad

Grand Cherokee? Ain't no CV axles in a Cherokee.

Bmartee

Really? So what would the part be called that connects to the hub assembly and slides into the axle itself?

salad

Just an axle shaft; it uses a single-cardan Spicer universal joint. Grand Cherokees shipped with an Rzeppa CV joint on their axles. These joints are common on FWD cars.

Bmartee

Okay gotcha. Yeah, I'm looking at possibly needing to replace both of those shafts but hey're pretty expensive. Would it make more sense and be as cost effective to change out the entire axle to one that doesn't use the axle shafts?

Firehawk068

That would be called an axle shaft...................."CV" refers to the term "Constant Velocity" which is a different type of joint than the "U-joint" style used on the Cherokee...............
The "U-joint" design is NOT a Constant Velocity joint............

salad

Nope not at all. 2WD axles are rare and there's a fair amount of labour in swapping one versus just an axle shaft.

Why do the shafts need to be replaced?

Bmartee

I have this clunking sound when I turn left or right. I've read through a few posts here and on other sites and it seems to be the joint on the axle shaft is going bad. I've been trying to diagnose this problem for several months, threw a bunch of parts at it and still haven't fixed it.

Bmartee

So are you saying the Cherokee only has u-joints and not cv joints? Because what I'm seeing is the u-joint at the wheel, but then the axle shaft comes out and has a cv joint on the end passing through the hub.

Bmartee

Ohhh...I see what you're saying now. At the end of the axle shaft is the u-joint. Sorry, this is new terrain for me. I'm trying to familiarize myself with the Cherokee so I'm sef-sufficient with repairing it. Still riding the learning curve. So would the "clunking" point to bad u-joints?

salad

What a stock XJ axle looks like:



CV joint as used on a ZJ or WJ:

Firehawk068

Correct..............The Cherokee has U-joints, not CV joints at the wheel hub.
You can check those u-joints easily.............Jack up the wheel. Take a pry bar, or something similar and lock the inner axle shaft(the long part that goes inside the axle tube)to keep it stationary, while you try to rotate the wheel...................If you see any play at all in the u-joints, replace them...

It really isn't that difficult a job, but it involves pulling the wheel hub bearing assembly (you will usually need a slide-hammer for that with a hub adaptor- easily rented at Autozone cause they rust in place in the steering knuckle) and also pulling the diff cover off , and removing the spider pin, to remove the c-clips that hold the axles in.
So you will need a new gasket and some gear oil to refill..........

Bmartee

Really? Well maybe the problem is deeper than I'm thinking. I thought it may be the hub assembly and removed the left side. Once I did that, the axle shaft is loose in the axle. I was able to pull it out with no problem at all. Could that indicate a deeper problem?

Firehawk068

It's been awhile since I was inside my D30..............Maybe the axles just slide out with no c-clips to hold them in?
I know the rear axle has c-clips........