So my jk was making a horrible noise today on my way to work crawled under neath didn't notice any thing. Well got home and found this!! A cracked and chipped roller sleeve thing on my u joint for my rear drive shaft... I have no clue what after market drive shaft is on the rear. So I don't know if there are different sizes or what not for u joints!??? And is it ok for me to drive to work tomorrow on it? It's about 30 miles round trip... Please help

 

No i would not drive it like that. If it fails on the to or from work, ur riding the renta a wrecker home method. It is either a 1350 or 1310 u-joint( most likely a 1310.). These are common component in aftermarket driveshafts for jk. Any autoparts store has them in stock.

Call in sick and find a local repair shop( or u can do the replacement urself but since u dont even know what it is-i recommend u let a mechanic fix it). A local flatbed ( just do not let them tow one end or the other of ur jeep- all 4 wheels must come off the ground. Period) wrecker can be had for 40-60 bucks or u shop around in the phone book. Have them tow u to the shop and let mechanic work thier magic. If u are not mechanically enabled- owning a modified jeep can be expensive hobby.

And again- no u cant drive it like that for long. When it does give up, the damage will be much more expensive and u still have to ride the wrecker!

 

Thanks for the tip. Yes I know it's an expensive hobby!! I have built 90% of my rig myself in the garage... So yes I am mechanical inclined!! Lol I mean besides not knowing the proper name for the roller thing on a u joint.. I'll hit up napa first thing in the morning! Hope this beast makes it atleast 13 miles or looks like I'm getting some cooler parts!! Atlas?? Maybe sooner than never lol

 

Lol thank goodness....i was truely worried when the "thingy" term was thrown out there!

I believe that part of the u joint is refered to as the bearing cap. Someone chime in if u have heard another name for it.

 

Oh by the way- make sure its a Spicer branded u joint that is greasable after installed. Very important. Alot of the prands out there are chinese garbage ujoints that will fail. Spicers are king. Good luck.

If u want to know that u are not the only one in a bind due to failed ujoint, go to JK Talk and look for Tom Woods Sucks. That debate about poor chinese ujoints is very hot topic!

 

Yeah I already knew about splicer, thanks!! Also checked out the TW sucks thread before I posted, just flashed through it. Also found that 4wheelparts has a ruler you can print out the you can measure the u joint or the flange. Food for thought for everyone else out there
...

 

Just remove your rear shaft and then you can drive in 4 hi to the shop of your choice to replace your U-joint.

 

I only take my rig to the shop for tires...and if I had the tools I'd do that myself. Did I come off as a mall crawler kook??

 

Well.... Um..... Err.....yea. Lol!

 

X2. Been there. Done that. Just not on the JK...yet