Hi, my jeep has been sitting for months. It used to roll smoothly down the highways previous to sitting. We lowered the axle to rebuild the engine. I learned afterwards they have to be put back on the same way they came off and should be marked while removing.

Now when approaching 50mph the steering wheel starts to wobble a bit and evens out, feels rough overall when rolling. Does the front axle Ujoint matter when it’s in two wheel drive? Or should i be focusing somewhere else? The rear ujoint has been replaced

Thank you for any insight!

 

What you're describing sounds more like a worn steering component or tire balance.

The front shaft is always spinning in 2wd on a 2000. It shouldn't matter if it the front u-joint goes back on 180* out as the shaft is balanced. Check that the u-joint is sitting properly back on the yoke. If any caps came off, it's possible the needle bearings are messed up. For trouble shooting, you can just remove the shaft entirely and go for a drive.

 

Great troubleshooting idea! I know there are needles missing, they were pretty bad. I was focused on the engine at the time. I’ll just grab another one of these spicer ujoints from napa.

Thank you!