I have a 2010 2-door JK with a manual transmission and a 2" Old Man Emu lift. Recently on a road trip the rear drive shaft fell out from the transfer case. I took it in to a dealership and got it repaired but they're trying to get me to buy a $1500 aftermarket rear DS. Im assuming the rear DS failed due to some geometry issue but not sure what exactly will correct the problem. $1500 is a lot, so if there's a way to fix the problem without plunking down that much cash. Maybe control arms for the rear? Any advice is appreciated!

 

How much lift did you actually get?
Any damage to the transfer case/yoke?
You can buy a double carton style driveshaft for around $500 and install it yourself. Depending on height you may need at minimum upper control arms to set pinion angle.

Or install another stocker. I will sell you one for 75 if you want it.

 

I had the dealership install a stock shaft for now until I can find a permanent fix. There was no damage to the transfer case or yokes. The lift was advertised as 2" but after install measured around 3.5" on stock 29" tires, now I run 33s. I was thinking control arms only? Would that be enough to continue on the stock shaft without anymore problems? And should I worry about the front shaft?

 

It's usually the front DS that will give you problems due to lift, not the rear, so I'm curious as to what happened? Did dealer figure out why it failed? 3.5" of lift isn't too crazy and shouldn't mess with your pinion angle that much in the rear but getting rear uppers can't hurt. I don't know your whole setup but at least front lower control arms if you can and a front DS so you don't rip the boot and hit the exhaust.

 

I just realized you have a 2 door so it's usually recommended front and rear aftermarket shafts with your lift. Not sure where they got their pricing but you can usually get front/rear DS package deals for a little over $800. And your gonna want front lower and rear upper control arms to correct pinion angle.

 

What aftermarket drive shaft are they trying to get you to pay 1500 for? Most aftermarket driveshafts at 500ish, top of the line one are in the 600s

 

Since the dealer already installed a stock driveshaft, I would leave it alone. No need to change it unless you have problems again.

 

What did they say happened to the original? I think you do not want to change pinion angle with stock shafts, only when upgrade to after market. I have 2 dr auto, with OME lift. I change out both shafts with Coast DS. $1,000 for both and installed myself.

 

They didn't give me a name of DS so that's why I was suspicious. No real explanation from them either, I was assuming based on what I previously read on this and other forums that my issue was somewhat related to the lift kit. Attached is a picture of what the old drive shaft looked like. Sorry I don't have a picture of the transfer case portion.

EDIT: I cannot attach a photo from my phone. I'll post one when I get home on Sunday.

 

Looking at the tcase end of the driveshaft, is the rubber boot around the joint torn and leaking? With a big ring of grease above it on the undercarriage?

Not uncommon at all for front shafts on lifted JK's, and to a lesser extent, rear shafts on lifted 2doors.