Can you modify your drive shaft so you dont havd to buy a new one?

 

your rear shaft? no. but you can use a front driveshaft off of another XJ.

 

some ppl us a front dl as a rear dl, but i have been told that is not a good idea

 

who told you that?

 

Several drivelind shops I know of don't recommend it. The front shaft uses thinner wall tube than a factory rear. They work OK but when I compaired the size of the splined shaft of the telescoping joint on my front and RE rear there is almost an inch difference in size. The RE weighs about 10 lbs more as well so I'd say it has thicker wall tubing as well.

 

the owner of 5 different jeeps and one is a well modded xj, and he works at 4wheel part store and sees and the fd up stuff ppl do to there rigs when they bring them in to get fixed, im not saying dont do it, i have heard that its not a good idea to me.

^i agree with this guy.

 

fully extended front dl next to a rear dl both out of the same xj, how are u going to use this with an sye?

 

Using an SYE.. ELIMNATES the slip yoke (hence the name) The yoke is fixed to the output shaft of the t-case. And the Double cardian joint (right side of pic on the front d-shaft) bolts to the t-case end, and the u-joint bolts to the axle end..
Allows for better driveline angle and movement.

 

for a budget shaft, the front works fine. that slight difference in thickness is not going to make a difference coming down on a rock.

and if you need a little more length, the ZJ front shaft is a couple inches longer than the XJ front shaft


the question the op asked was obviously geared towards saving money, which an OE shaft will do, and will last for years. if he asked something like "whats the best double cardon shaft for an SYE"? my answer would have been different.

 

i have run a grand cherokee front shaft on my Dana 44 rear with 4.56 gears, Detroit locker (harshest automatic locker there is) and 35" tires. i beat the living hell out of it, and my "thin walled front shaft" has taken the abuse and asked for more. there is nothing wrong with the front shaft being used on the back at all. i have run mine for years now, the only thing that failed on it was the stock u-joint that i replaced for 10 bucks. a whole lot cheaper then 300 for a custom shaft

 

exactly