Most Common Broken Parts
- Thread starter DirtyJeeP
- Start date
FrankenJeeper
New member
Plastic bushing on the ends of the transfer case cable.
JKBANDIT55
New member
As far as major breaks go, from my experience from the trips I been on, Drive shafts seem to be most common along with ring and pinon (teeth ripping). I have only seen one bent axle, and axle shaft. And all these happened on the harder trails where its common. But most of the moderate and easy trails Ive done, I rarely see anything broken, so I dont usually take parts with me on those trips.
Depends on how big your Jeep is, what parts it's running, the kind of trails you play on and how often. For what I see in your profile, I would bet you would see a front axle shafts break due to a u-joint cap falling out.
Yeah, I've seen a few of these over the years but, it's really not that common and nothing that'll leave you high and dry. You can still get under your Jeep and manually shift it out of 4WD.
Really? Honestly, I can't say that I've seen enough drive shaft failures to say that they are a "common" trail break. Likewise, I haven't seen enough r&p breaks to say that either. Now, this is not to say that I haven't seen any or that they haven't happend to me but, I, the Jeeps I drive and the trails I play on are anything but common.
The Wandering Jeeper
Caught the Bug
1. U-joints
2. Tie Rods
3. Shock mounts
4. Axles
2. Tie Rods
3. Shock mounts
4. Axles
JKBANDIT55
New member
Oh ya man, You go to the Colorado thread on JKF and you'll see what I am talking about. Theres like 3 pages on this trip in there.LOL We had a run last summer where two JKs both snapped their drive shafts on the same rock climb. It was steep and slick, The first guy was giving it wayyy to much gas, started bouncing and spinning tires and snap went his drive shaft. The 2nd guy pretty much did the same thing. The rest of us either winched up it or took the easier less steep side of the climb. Another drive shaft broke when snow wheeling, the guy was in front of me and gunned it up a steep hill that needed momentum, he hit a dry spot, or rock and boom. He was done.
The teeth on the ring and pinion I seen rip twice. But they were both running 37s. Im not sure if they had the right gears to run them or not.
The only reason I say they are common is because there really the only breaks I've seen during my wheeling adventures. But all these breaks were because of careless driving and could have been prevented. Also, it was for me anyway a tuff trail that most of the jeeps on that trip could have broken something, we really shouldnt have been running it anyway but it was a last minute decision after doing an easier trail in the area.
After seeing those breaks, Iv'e yet to go on a trail my jeep isn't ready for again. Thank god I didn't let my dare devil side out and try to show off like others. But hey it happens
Last edited:
Okay, I'm glad you qualified that because it seems to me that the breaks you saw were caused by inexperience or carelessness and could definitely have been prevented. Needless to say, they are far from "common" or, at least in my book.
JKBANDIT55
New member
Yup, It was bad, but i can honestly say, they learned from their mistakes. Gotta start somewhere:doh:
On a normal run, I just carry the tools I need to get me back off the trail. Perhaps the only spare part I carry is a sector shaft as there's no trail fix for a broken one of those.
jkjurny
Member
How about on a weekend on the Rubicon? Thanks!
You can break a sector shaft at any tire size. You just need to be driving fast and hit just one of your front tires on something solid like a rock or tree stump. The bigger the tire, the more stress you'll put on your sector shaft in general and the greater the chances you'll have of breaking it.
Regarding the play you have in your steering wheel, is it in the column or in the actual turning - as in, you turn it to the left and nothing happens for a quarter turn.
TheDuff
New member
seems like it is before the draglink. its like I turn the wheel a lil and nothing happens. so when I"m on the highway I get a lot more wondering sensation and keep having to correct the wheel. kinda seems like the postition the wheel is in to travel straight is never the same, always off a lil. when I got my alignment done a couple weeks ago the guy mentioned how hard it was to center the steering wheel. I had noticed some play before, but became more noticiable since last week when I got the 33's
Last edited:
The most common problem for what you've just described is a loose pitman arm nut or, a sector shaft with sloppy tollerances in the splines. This is a common problem with dropped pitman arms.
TheDuff
New member
ok, I dont have a dropped pitman arm, thankfully. maybe Ill pull the track bar there and have the wife hold the wheel and see how much play I have there. if I do decide to just replace the shaft, anything else I should be doing while Im working there or tricks I should be aware of?