Traceamount

So long story short, ridin trails with a friend in his Bronco, he gets stuck. We hike out the woods, get my Jeep (98 Jeep Grand 5.9 limited) to pull em out. Strap up, yanked him out, all 4 tires were spinning some for a couple sec, he pulled right out. Then my ABS light came on - no big deal, it goes back off after about a minute, but then there comes this clicking/clunking noise from around the front diff. It sounds worst from 5-15 mph, about 20 it quiets down to a small click, not a clunk. I stuck my head under and it looks like there a bearing?? where the front drive shaft goes into the diff, which appears to have failed. Babied it home @ 20mph and parked it. Any ideas? The click goes faster as I accelerate, I put it in neutral and drifted - had no effect on the sound, it just gets louder/faster as i accelerate untill about 20mph it disapears. Is that a bearing right there that could have failed? Or something worse inside? Thanks!

Edit: If I rev the engine at a stop in park or neutral, no noise/clicking thing. Only when I actually move forward.

hookedonxjs

U joint?

Traceamount

Bout to go crawl under and look. However from what I could see on the trail, it looked moist where the drive shaft goes into the front diff. Possibly even eaten up the end of the boot a little. Will bring a cam and come back, thanks for the quick response. Not a good time for this to happen

Traceamount

Its right there where the boot touches the round part. Deffinately a bearing of some sort there, worn out. I can lift the driveshaft about 1/2 in. Never done any drive shaft/axle work but, I got tools and a
Haynes guide and common sense, this something that can be fixed by an amateur? Thanks again for the help (Looked all in the Haynes cant find the bearing/part, idk what its called)

jeep bandit

can you get a picture from the bottom? that might help people figure it out if they have multile angles.

jeep bandit

and im not sure on gc's but is that a cv joint? if so that could have grenaded

Traceamount

Looking more at the Haynes (and less frustrated now) it does appear to have a CV joint there. Can I replace just that joint? Or could the drive shaft be damaged from bouncing around in that hole? I found a full, im guessing new, front shaft for $195 if I needa replace the whole thing. Will get more pics tomorrow if need be. Anyone else got a 2nd opinion or wanna confirm this? Thanks!

- Just read into the Haynes more... "The CV joint is not repairable; if the joint or its boot is worn or damaged, the driveshaft must be replaced" So I guess my new question would be, how complicated is it to replace? Any tips/directions to a write up or anything would be great. Looks like u just take 2 bolts of the u-joint, slide it out and slide the new one in. There anything about lining it up if replaced with a new front shaft?

- Also just realized I posted this in the wrong place Supposed to be in Grand Cherokee section lol

LongArmXJ

cv joint. replace them w the axles out of an xj. they have u joinst and are more servicable. i have a 96 cherokee w a 98 grand front axle in it. i wheeled it for a while and the cv shafts started clicking.

Loganfwx

Seeing as this the the Cherokee section, my expert knowledge would say the easiest way to fix your problem would be to sell that and buy a Cherokee. Haha. At least you wouldn't have any CV joints to mess with.

Traceamount

Aww but I love my Grand! Never get rid of her Anyways @ Longarm - its the drive shaft front CV that died, not the axel CV. I found Carolina Driveline does a shaft that bolts on - but the CV is replaced on the front with a u-joint. Therefor I dont have to replace the front yoke on the diff - is my understanding. Confirm/deny?

- Also if some nice mod could move this to GC forum would be cool Although I appreciate the help ive gotten here!

xjmarc

You have to replace the yoke as well but it's not very hard.

Traceamount

My understanding was this shaft bolts on in place of the CV without replacing the yoke in the diff end. However I could be terribly mistaken

http://carolinadriveline.com/uploads...p?Category=121

Thanks for the help! Feel free to correct me if im wrong, its late, and im sad without my Jeep. If not - any suggestions on a good place to get another one? Im in Alabama, but willing to pay shipping, just wanna fix it with the least amount wrench turning due to limited time

xjmarc

That one does but for about 50 bucks at a junk yard you could get a shaft and yoke out of an XJ or ZJ with the u-joint and then it's all factory parts not specialty stuff you can't find at a parts store Sunday evening when you need to get home. Just a thought.