[tige]

Afternoon,
I am checking my options on rebuilding the front driveshaft vs replacing. Those of you who have rebuilt your front driveshafts with greaseable u-joints how are they holding up?

Thanks
Chris

04 Rubi w/auto

 

['05TJLWBRUBY]

I've not bought a new driveshaft for the rig yet. Local shops who rebuild them then spin balance properly are every bit as good, if not better in some aspects than buying aftermarket. Mine are still stock from '05, have over 70K on them, rock rash, ground ears, and still run true. Choice is up to you.

Best of Luck,

Mike

 

[bojang]

My shaft is fine, just make sure you grease them regularly. I do know, that when they go bad, it is possible to buy a whole new shaft for not really that much more than the cost to put in all new parts and your time.

 

[RubiconRic]

Water and mud will wear it much more quickly than normal. I've rebuilt mine with all new components once, and I cleaned, greased, and re-assembled all the components another time. This time around (currently my DS is out of commission due to the centering ball) I am just going to have a local driveshaft shop do it. Even though I'm more efficient now at doing it myself, I just have too many other things going on. The main reason why I wanted to learn initially is because I wanted to figure out how it all worked... I feel the more you know about the intricacies of your rig the better.

 

[chris03rubicon]

I would always rebuild a drive shaft. One of my buddies called me the other day and the dealership wanted 1300.00 to replace the rear drive shaft and carrier bearing in his Duramax. He had it rebuilt for 350.00.

 

['05TJLWBRUBY]

I would always rebuild a drive shaft. One of my buddies called me the other day and the dealership wanted 1300.00 to replace the rear drive shaft and carrier bearing in his Duramax. He had it rebuilt for 350.00.

Sounds about right. One of my supervisors at work had a 1-ton Dodge diesel and spent about that on his rear shaft. He knows enough about turning wrenches to basically open up his fuel door and put diesel in, and that's about it. He was upset last year that he had a vibe/wobble that his dealer said was a worn joint in the shaft and it would cost him pretty close to the same for the front. Being just divorced and out of money, that wasn't an option for him so I took some tools to work, had him get under the rig and pull the front shaft. I took it to my guy who rebuilt the entire thing complete all the way around, balanced it and warranteed it then I took it back to him and we put it back in. I think he paid the cost of parts which wasn't much considering what the dealer wanted for a new shaft. Most of that was the new CV assembly that was installed. I think he may have had a date that night and ate something other than ramon with the money he saved. Also learned how to actually turn a wrench on something that day, but that's another story...

Best of Luck,

Mike

 

[tige]

Well pulled the front drive shaft and still getting the squeeking, hoping its the rear (I already have a spare). Called the dealer and they wanted ~$250 for the front - for that price I'll get a better one.

 

['05TJLWBRUBY]

Well pulled the front drive shaft and still getting the squeeking, hoping its the rear (I already have a spare). Called the dealer and they wanted ~$250 for the front - for that price I'll get a better one.

How do you define "better"?

 

[tige]

[quote="'05TJLWBRUBY" How do you define "better"?[/quote]


Get a Tom Woods to match the rear shaft - Upgraded heavy wall tube larger/stronger slip yoke & spline stub (XC OR XB spline) for $299. built with our “Gold-Seal” universal joints.

 

[RubiconRic]

There was a thread somewhere discussing whether to upgrade the front ds or not. What I got from it was that the best option would be to rebuild (either yourself or from a ds shop) or if you're in a pinch (or extra cautious) to buy an OEM one and then rebuild the original one later so you have a spare. Something about how the front one is already plenty strong enough, and you don't have to worry about supply issues bc you can get one through any jeep dealer, wear, etc.

When I have a squeak at slow speeds and I can't figure out where it's coming from I put the Jeep into 4lo and walk along side it to listen. Eh, maybe not the safest but it works.

 

[f9k9]

I do not recall the link concerning rebuilding a front DS but, DoctorD commented that he would just buy a new stocker versus rebuilding one. I rebuilt mine and screwed a few things up but, have learned a few things since. 18 months ago, the parts were over $125. The dealerships were hurting and I was given a price of $175 for a new oem ds. I upgraded to an aftermarket COAST front DS for $300 and finished rebuilding the stocker for a spare.

It is really all about your personal tool collection and how much experience that you have wrenching. My time was worth more to me than jacking around melting plastic caps and sucking up to my ex father-in-law to use his vise.

I imagine DoctorD has a boat load of tools accessible to him and if, just buying a new stocker is his preference, it sounds smart to me.