Ive noticed lately that I have a bunch of play in my front driveshaft. Tonight when I get home im going to drop the driveshaft and check the yoke. The yoke is just bolted to the diff right? Im hoping its just loose in there and needs to be tightened. What else could cause this extra play? I have 159k on my XJ, could that hole where the diff bolts to the yoke get egged out or something causing all the extra play.

Thanks for any help, This is a new one for me I have no idea.

THanks
Greg

 

a bad pinion bearing will do it. happened to me before

 

well whatever you do dont go tightening that nut on the back of the yoke, if you do it will completely screw up your contact pattern on the front ring and pinion. if you do anything with that nut the front gears need to be reset. Now if you have a bearing out then it will all need to come apart anyways

 

Wrong. the 99 xj should have come with a high pinion dana 30 which uses shims to set bearing preload. He can crank down on the pinion nut and not change anything. Although a torque wrench should be used to set it to the pinion nut to the correct torque.

On a side note even if he had a low pinion, with the crush sleeve, over tightening it would not change the gear pattern. It would just give you way to much pinion bearing preload and destroy your bearings

 

x2 too much pinion preload on either will wear the bearing even more. preload is measured by the torque required to spin the pinion, the FSM says what it should be but thats when the rest of the axle is not assembled. If you research 'changing d30 pinion seal' will basically tell and show what to do

 

And i learn something every day, figured it was a crush sleeve in there. That sure makes it easier if the yoke ever needs to come off

 

Need more info.

Is the movement rotational?
In and out?
Side to side?

 

Movement is in and out and rotational, a little more than I figure would be normal.
Im thinking its the bearing so im going to order a new bearing and oil seal or whatever I need to replace it. Doesnt look like it would be a hard job at all.

 

Assuming it is the rear bearing...

You'll need to:
Pull the shafts
Pull the carrier
Drive out the pinion

If it's the inner....a different can of worms.

 

Wow, I was looking at that totally wrong then. I was thinking pull the nut that holds the yoke on, pull the yoke, pull the oil seal and bearing and replace. I figured it would be a 45 minute job. Tells ya how much I know.

 

Check the u-joints at both ends while you're at it. If they are shot you will have excess rotational play.

 

The bearings are a press fit, so you can't simply slip them off.

 

Bummer, I went out at lunch to check it again, and it just rotational slop and a little vertical action. Its goes up and down a slight smidge (technical term there), and rotates maybe 2 inches left and right.

Do you guys think its still ok to wheel on? Ive been looking forward to this event we are having tomorrow for months.

 

Could be time to open it up an have a look. Could be normal bearing wear.

Try to find a local wheeler that's familiar with setting up gears and ask for a second hands-on opinion.

 

^^THIS!!