Do you guys know what driveshafts will fit a 2000 xj. Like the interchange years. It's got a 4.5 in lift kit and when I greased the front shafts it loosened up pretty bad. The jeep is new to me and i installed that lift so iono what else I'll find along the way lol. Would a longer shaft be better?

 

What loosened?

When you do lifts, sometimes drive shafts need be lengthened, and drive shaft angle need be adjusted by tilting the axle to accomidate the changed geometry.

picture of drive shaft angle , pinion angle will be helpful.

 

Well the title is A typo lol. Front* driveshaft. And the jeep hasn't been aligned just yet. Wanted to break in the springs before doing that. The pinion angle angle looks good to me. I'm an auto tech by trade but haven't put Angle finder on it. I get very little time to work on my own stuff in between frame swaps, harness repair and replacement and all the other stuff I do daily... and the part that loosened up is the slip yoke part. Only place where there's a grease fitting. It was nice and tight until I greased it. It's a possibility there isn't enough spline engagement?

 

Honestly I was just gonna get a used shaft in better condition to run it long enough to break it all in. That's why i was asking about what years will fit. I didn't want any settings to change when the springs settle. Iono if that's right or not but that's just how my brain works. I already had to redo the pinion bearing. I replaced the crush sleeve coz it was pretty damn loose. Whoever did it last didn't do it right but the bearing looked perfect so I caught it in time. I figure the play in the slip yoke will cause other parts to loosen or fail so I'm looking for cheap options until I get other stuff done and the sye and driveshaft done in the rear. There's a few driveshaft shops here in El Paso but I haven't dealt with any of them and still researching and reading reviews to figure out which one to try or just go ahead and spend the money on a Tom woods lol

 

There's approximately 3/4" of travel available on the front shaft. Up north here, we'd have a rust line to see how much it has changed, but perhaps there will be a wear line that's visible. The NP242 is even worse for the front driveshaft since the front output sits further rearward. I wasted money rebuilding and straightening a stock shaft before recognizing the issue and buying a TW model for approximately the same price as what I had into the OEM...

 

Front Drive Shaft Lengths

Model/Year/Engine/Trans/Collapsed Length/Part #

XJ 87/88 2.5 Automatic 27.950 53003912
XJ 89/93 2.5 Automatic 27.970 53005540
XJ 89/01 2.5 Manual 25.310 53005541
XJ 89/01 4.0 Automatic 30.660 53005542
XJ 89/01 4.0 Manual 29.250 53005543
XJ 89/00 4.0 Manual 27.080 Export 53005544
XJ 89/00 4.0 Automatic 28.620 Export 53005545
XJ 87/88 4.0 Automatic Export 53005260 *
XJ 95/01 Diesel 27.640 Export 52098208

ZJ 1993 4.0 Automatic 30.530 52098341
ZJ 93/95 5.2 Automatic 32.870 w/o CV 53008427
ZJ 94/95 5.2 A500 30.625 w/o CV 52087805
ZJ 94/95 4.0 A500 w/o CV 52098790
ZJ 93/96 4.0 Manual 52098344
ZJ 93/96 4.0, 5.2 31.875 w/ 231, 242 52087805
ZJ 93/95 4.0 Manual 30.000 w/231 52088090
ZJ 93/96 5.2 33.000 w/ 231 53008427
ZJ 96/98 5.2, 5.9 31.250 w/ 249 & Model 30 52098379
ZJ 1996 5.2 Automatic 32.875 w/ 249 & Model 30 52098501
ZJ 96/98 4.0 33.000 w/ 242 52098707
ZJ 96/97 4.0 Automatic 31.250 52098850
ZJ 1996 5.2 Automatic 30.750 w/ 249 & Model 30 52099246
ZJ 96/98 4.0 33.500 w/ 249 52099260

I got this from NAXJA forums

 

Well I just ordered the sye kit and both driveshafts from Tom woods. Hopefully by this weekend it'll be here....I know y'all don't know me but I just wanted to share this marvelous news with people that will appreciate it lol. If anyone is in El Paso Texas holler at me. I need friends to go wheeling with