99WJv8

I have a 1999 Jeep GrandCherokee with the 4.7l v8
when I bought it; had the 247 TC in it with the front drive shaft laying in the seat. Turns out the 247 clutch pack was toast so I replaced it with the 242 select trac, mind you it is NOT the 242HD I pulled this one out of a IL6, ive heard many different opinions about putting such a TC behind a v8 but ive had good luck with mine. Recently it started vibrating really bad at highway speeds (My highway speed is usually 70-75mph) I checked the CV joints on the front drive shaft and the front CV joint that bolts to the front axle had some play in it so I replaced it. That helped a lot but I still have a vibration at highway speed, a vibration that's not sopost to be there. Its not really violent but its there all the time, it doesn't matter if im accelerating or not once I get over 65mph its vibrating.


p.s I checked the driveline going to the rear and there is no play anywere which is expected seeing as both u joints are brand new.

dave1123

Welcome to CF!

I've been told the 242 is about 1.5-2" shorter than the 247, therefore the rear driveshaft isn't inserted into the t/case as far as it should be. This will cause abnormal wear on the internal splines of the shaft sleeve and make it spin off center, causing the vibration. IDK if this is the cause, but that's what I've been told. If this IS the cause, it will get worse. You'll have to get a longer driveshaft, probably a custom or homemade one. If left long enough, it could cause failure of the t/case output bearing.

99WJv8

Indeed, when I swapped the 247 to the 242 my v8 rear drive shaft was slightly to long so I had to use the IL6's drive shaft which concerned me because it didn't slide onto the TC's output shaft very far. Ill check it out and post what I find.


but first to check ill take the front drive shaft out and see if there is still vibrations

99WJv8

I checked the rear drive shaft again and still no slack in it.


I removed the front drive shaft then took the jeep down the road at 70mph and there was no vibration..
again one of the CV joints is brand new and the other one is probably 3 months old

dave1123

Point of information, your front axle is a D30, not a D44.

There are 2 types of CV joints used on front shafts on jeeps, the double-carden and the Rzeppa. My 2000 WJ 4.0 has a double-carden on the t/case output and a Rzeppa on the diff end. Which one of yours is new? Also, there is a splined section in the middle with an adjustment lock nut. Is that nut tight and is there any movement in the splined section?

99WJv8

Im not sure what mine is all I know is it was a 3 piece set which is the actual cv joint and then the two dust covers also the splined section of the shaft the cv joint slides onto doesn't have a nut or an adjuster of any kind, it just slides onto the shaft and has a snap ring holding it in place
I just bought a cv joint that was the same as the old one that I had removed


this is the one I bought wich is the same as the old one: http://www.carparts.com/details/Jeep...oDLA&gclsrc=ds


also I didn't know about the front being that I just assumed since it was the 99 v8 that the front and back diffs were the same which is the D44 with vari loks

dave1123

Honestly without pics, it's difficult to know what you have so I can try to figure this out. There are so many different types of driveshafts used on jeeps and they tend to change without notice.

99WJv8

Yea that's what the hyper link to carparts is for they have a picture of what I have, I havn't figured out yet how to post pictures

dave1123

With the new feature, all you do is put the pic in your computer picture library, click the "insert image" icon at the top of the "Reply to Thread" message tile. That will bring up a page asking you where to find it. Click "Search your devise", find it in "pictures", and install it. Really cool, because before you had to use imgur.com or something like that.

Your link just shows the part. I need to see the installed driveshaft, complete. Not necessarily on the jeep, but complete end-to-end.

99WJv8

Front CV joint


CV joint on the TC output

ok sorry if you can see them well, I took the pictures with the drive shaft installed on the jeep because its kind of a pain to take that thing off

dave1123

That's okay, I get the picture LOL! That shaft doesn't have much leeway to adjust it's length, so if it's not a problem with the rear CV joint, I can't tell you what the problem is.

The driveshafts with a double-carden on the t/case end and a single carden on the front end have a splined section in the middle that adjusts it's length as the vehicle goes over bumps. If that splined section is taken apart, it can be put back together "out of time", meaning the front and rear joints aren't aligned properly. This can cause the vibration you describe. I've never heard of this happening with CV joints however. Your splined section is inside that rubber boot, I would imagine. The only suggestion I have is take it to a driveline shop and see if they can tell you more.

99WJv8

Will do, thank you for the help.