cmetheny

Hello All,

New to the forum but I've trolled for months during my build and I figured it was time to post. I recently purchased a RC 4 inch lift for my 2000 WJ and started installing it last week to find that the metal sleeve in the lower control arm bushings were too long for the brackets..Whoomp Whoomp. So I had to send the send the control arm back and I'm currently waiting on the new one to come in.

While waiting I figured this would be a good time to start looking into this front drive shaft issue that seems to haunt some and never bother others. I've read different peoples issues with this and like I said, I've read posts where people walked away from 3-4 inch lifts and never did a thing and then I've read some who made it less than 500 miles before that OEM Rezeppa-Rezeppa took its last breath. So, I've decided to just install the lift and see what happens. If I need it, fine. If I don't, no harm no foul.

My biggest question is where have you gone to get a double cardan drive shaft? I know about Tom's and Carolina but I'm not exactly into paying for a drive shaft that's damn near close to the cost of the kit that's ultimately going to cause the issue. I've read people going to the junk yard or pull and pay lots but obviously I'm not looking for my year model. That would be a little counter productive. So if I take that approach am I looking for 2002 and up since that's the year they switched over or can I go with an older model. Also, what's the scoop on the yoke? If I pull a double cardan from a yard do I need to get those yokes as well of will they fit on the OEM yokes I have? ANY help is much appreciated. Like I said, I think I'm just going to install the kit and get it aligned and see what happens but in the event that I end up needing to change the drive shaft I was hoping to get some feed back on how some of you have changed that OEM Rezeppa shaft to a double cardan at a decent price.

Thanks.

Jimmay

I got mine from the junkyard, same think with the yoke. I think 2002 was the cut off, so youll want something that year or newer. You will need both yokes. The transfer case one is easier to reinstall, just torque it down to 90-130 ft lbs.

The front is a bit more involved. There is a write up floating around on how to do it. I did not follow it. I just put the nut back on and gave it a little more. Ive put about 10k on it since then and it hasnt exploded yet.

cmetheny

Thanks for the reply.

You didn't need anything else but the yoke and the shaft? Everything mounted flush with your existing set up?

Jimmay

Yup, everything was just plug and play for me. My transfercase already had the yoke for u joints on it so I just needed the one for the differential. Is yours a 4.7 or the 4.0?

cmetheny

Mine is the 4.7 as well. Glad to hear it was plug and play. I'll probably just take the front out and check the yokes before heading out to the yard to be safe.

dave1123

If you want my opinion on torquing that front yoke, the pinion bearing preload is set by a crush sleeve and the torque on that nut. Overtorquing can overload the bearings and cause premature failure. I know! I did this on my rear axle when changing the pinion seal. I'd hate to see you destroy your front axle because you didn't do it right. JMHO.

cmetheny

Thanks for the input, Dave! Do you happen to know the torque specs on that?

dave1123

Okay, I'll go thru it one more time;

Jack up the front end and remove the front tires and brake calipers and front driveshaft if it isn't already out. Put an INCH-POUND wrench on the nut and find out the torque-to-turn the pinion. I should be about 18-20 inch-pounds or less normally. Then, lock the yoke with something to hold it and remove the nut. This will be around 150 foot-pounds or more because the nut is a interference thread. Change the yoke and seal. reinstall the nut until most of the looseness is gone then start checking the torque-to-turn until is no more than 2-3 inch-pounds more than before.

The trick here is it takes a lot of torque to remove the nut, but the torque-to-turn the pinion is the most important part of this. When you're installing a new pinion and bearings, it sometimes requires over 300 foot-pounds to start crushing the sleeve, then it gets easier. If the pinion bearings have too much preload on them, they will burn up.

That write-up people were talking about was about installing a new ring and pinion set in a D44a axle but the procedures are the same. The writer talked about using a big pipe wrench and a cheater pipe to hold the yoke from turning. It's still around, but the pics have been deleted.