Hello everyone,

I have some questions for you ZJ veterans out here.

I have a 1997 ZJ with around 165k on it. It was abused and unmaintained by its previous owner, and I've been slowly getting it back up to speed.

It sees mostly road time, with some light off road driving around a large property. No serious wheeling or climbing, just driving around mowed trails.

I believe it has universal joints in the front axles. They have been creaking and groaning and binding for several thousand miles now. It's especially noticeable now that it's winter time and I've been using the 4wd.

Tonight I'd like to fix them. I am considering either pulling them and replacing the universals, or installing new CV's then rebuilding the u-joint axles and keeping them for spares. My questions:

1. For my purposes, which would last the longest? CV's or universals?
2. Any other pros and cons to either?
3. How difficult is the conversion? From what I've read it sounds like CV axles should be a direct swap, but I'm not certain.
4. Are there any other parts I would need to purchase and install on the spare axles so that I could keep a complete set of axles handy that would be a simple swap?
5. If I stick with universal joints, are there any that are greasable? Is greasable a good thing, or will they need to be greased really often as opposed to a sealed bearing?
6. While I have it apart, what other front end parts should I consider replacing?
7. Would this be a good time to replace the extremely worn out shocks?

Thanks a lot for your help, guys.

 

I've run both and prefer the u joints. CVs can be a good thing but with the ones for ZJs they tend to be fine then wear out real fast and fail. U joints are fairly easy to replace and I'd recommend Spicers. If you want greasable they make them but I prefer the sealed as they are supposed to be a little bit stronger. If you do decide to go the CV route they are a bolt in with no other parts needed.

 

Thanks for the info!

I settled on u-joints. Got some that are greasable, and I'll try to keep up with greasing them.

The ones I pulled off are unbelievable. There were no bearings to be found. Turned to powder long ago. There was nothing inside but rust. I can't believe this thing has been running me through the snow all winter like that.