cvs have more moving parts= more to break. cvs dont allow as much angle on the drive shaft but are stronger.
as for driving with the front shaft out... its just like unlocking the hubs on a dana 44 or other axle and driving around i dont see how its going to hurt the case? and putting it in park will do the same thing in 2wd with or without the shaft unlike what was mentioned above.

 

What makes them stroger than a u joint, though?

 

take a good look at the exploded view of a double cardian joint on page one and you will notice there are two u joints in there. from my experience that i have and my opinion, less parts is better and less likely to break than adding more parts just like a spool is stronger than a locker in general.
double cardian (cv joints) were not made for wheeling (the ones we have in our stock xjs at least) they were made for the occasional snow or fire road nothing rough and were made to be smooth like mentioned before.

if its your wheeling vehicle put a u joint in it. if its your dd then id say learn how to rebuilt the cv joint. it isnt that often that i have seen them break in conditions that guys on this forum wheel in.

 

every type of front shaft is a double cardan shaft. the difference is in the other end............

 

Gotta question I have the front cv joint going into the back of my hoghead
Now it costs 249 to replace that joint
Yes is it my DD but I would much rather buy a 8 Dollar u-joint

What would u recommend I do ?
Is it rele hard to rebuild them ?

 

^ This ^ ... My cv joint axle has a double caradan joint connecting it at the xfer case.... I'm talking about the cv end, the end that connects to the front axle. I can't see why anyone in their right mind would say cv > u. A metal ball full of bearings and grease can't be stronger in any way than 2 solid pieces of metal. On the trail, if a u joint breaks, quick swap and your back up and running... A cv joint blows and you better hope you have an entire drive shaft out with you.

 

True good point

 

this is want i am doing today. I am putting usa reman cv shafts in my girls zj and removing the knuckle joints. It cheaper to go with good cv shaft then it is replacing knuckle joints all the time. Most places have a good lifetime warrenty on cv shafts so if you kill one you can get a new one free. I us them in my xj also and i us it hard. only broke one in three years and it was replaced for free

 

If I wasn't so lazy I'd go get a picture of my front drive shaft. You don't have to run a cv depending on how much lift you have.

 

what I am saying is all ZJ and XJ front shafts are double cardan on the TC end, regardless of if its a U joint or a CV shaft

 

So, my jy only had 4 keeps in stock, and none were remotely close to having what I needed. I'm getting pretty desperate at this point... If anyone reading this has a drive shaft (cv or u joint at this point) laying around, I'd be willing to pay ya + shipping for it.

 

Pm me I think I have a cv joint and a few other pieces laying around we can work out a deal.

 

Cv joint on the drive shaft is what sentencing talking about. You're thinking if the cv half shafts, in the axles.

 

I'm not sure if this will help but when I got my 99 it was cheap as hell cause the cv on the front was toast and smacking everything super loud. They thought it was the 4.7 blowing up (the jy) so I gave them some cash and took the drive line off. The look on there face's was priceless when I hopped in it and got sideways out of the parking lot. When I got home I put an old XJ drive line on it. bolted right up without mod..... best $1200 I ever spent

 

Anyone have any suggestions for a place in Omaha NE to do this conversion?