ok, so i found the source of my vibration on my 92 cherokee. seems the bearing on the tailhousing is bad. just searched my local pnp and could not find a matching tailhousing. attached is a photo of one just like mine, can someone help me id it? from what i can find it is an aw4.

 

Did you actually pull your tailhousing to check the bearing? Anyhow the bearing you need is for a tcase not your transmission. The transmission has no output bearing, atleast not the one your referring to. Im not positive but the 231 Tcase and 242 Tcase might have the same output bearing, and that is what needs to be replaced.

 

Nope haven't pulled it off yet but there are parts of it on the driveshaft

 

Can you get a picture of what is going on? Im having a hard time picturing what is going on.

 

as said above, can you post a pic of the "parts of it" on the driveshaft? the slip yoke goes over the splined end of the output shaft, it does not go into a bearing. the only thing the outside of the yoke touches is fluid and the output shaft seal on the end of the extension housing you posted a picture of.

 

I don't think there is a bearing in the tailshaft housing, I think it's a bronze bushing. It is normal to have some minor up and down play at the slip yoke.

 

ok, hearing that there is only a bronze bushing at the end of the tailshaft it is a big help. seems that the vibration is most likely a bent driveshaft.

here is how it started: yesterday i replaced the rear springs in my jeep since the ones that were in it were totally flat, if not concave. after they were replaced when i test drove it, it clicked from the rear, after putting it up on jack stands to locate the noise i found that the driveshaft was hitting itself at the first U joint, and it was bouncing around in the tailhousing, with pieces of the rear bushing on it, and thought it might be a bearing. that was bad allowing it to bounce around, but after removing the tailhousing and hearing that it is only a bushing, not a bearing, i am inclined to believe that my rear driveshaft is most likely bent.

along with that, would it be easier to get it rebalanced/straightened, or try a junkyard part, and hope they didn't mess it up with the forklift?

 

i dont believe i have ever seen a bronze bushing in the tailhousing ever unless all 6 tcases ive taken apart didnt have them. i sure as hell dont have one in mine and it works just fine. the problem is probably the bearing. once you take the tailhousing off you should see if its bad. if so i have an extra bearing sitting in my tool box that is barely used and had no problems with it before hand. i just ended up with 2 and one went in when i rebuilt my tcase

 

I think the "bushing" he is refering to is the fluid seal found on the newer Tcases. If the tcase is the same style as the one in the pic posted, then it does not have this bushing/seal. Instead it has a part metal/rubber seal that goes on the end of the tailcone. That might be the bearing/bushing he was refering to in the beginning. That seal should cause your vibrations though. In the worse case it would let your tcase fluid leak all out.

 

I think there is an older thread somewhere on here about the "weakness" of the output shaft (rear) of the 231 tcase.
I bent my driveshaft on my 99 two months ago.
Had a new one fab'd up for $135 bucks.
Still had a vibe.
With the rear d shft removed and the rear end up on jack stands, I idled my jeep and watched the naked output shaft wobble about a 1/4".
Swapped my donor 94 tcase and d shft in.
No vibes.
My 99 t case did not have the cone/bushing like my 94 does.
Gotta remove the cone and see if it "wobbles"
Minimal wobble is like in tenths of an inch or something.
Hope this is some info you can use.