Front Drive shaft question and advise

desertrunner

desertrunner

Active Member
While i wait on my trail leader package to ship out i am trying to gather a list of the additional parts im going to need one of which is a front drive shaft

the trail leader package comes with a 1350 front yoke installed already in the PR44 and i was looking into Adams 1350 DS for the front on my 2dr

First question is i know i will have to get the axle installed then measure the length for the DS but i am currently on 1"ish of lift and plan to keep in that way for now on 33s, when i do eventually move to 37s im thinking of going to 3" plush rides. Am i going to run into issues with length (so to speak) when i move from 1" to 3"?

second question is Adams offers the 1350 with greaseable or solid U joints. Is it worth the extra $30 to just go with the solid U joints or will the greaseable joints be fine?

and third would it be worth my time and effort to just pull the stock yoke flange out of my D30 and reuse it in the PR44 to continue to use my stock front driveshaft for the time being? If it is even possible to pull the stock flange out of the D30 and use it in the PR44 (im not sure it would even fit to be honest)
 
JAGS

JAGS

Hooked
What size lift? That will determine if you need/should get a front.

Unless you are going to custom order the Adams with upgrades, I'd go JE Reel. Various reason, but mainly their out-the-box DS is just built better.

JE Reel will also recommend solid u joint. They used to use greasable but found they were more often wearing out about 10k miles or more sooner than the greasable.

Hopefully others will chime in on the scientific details. But that is the gist.
 
desertrunner

desertrunner

Active Member
JAGS said:
What size lift? That will determine if you need/should get a front.

Unless you are going to custom order the Adams with upgrades, I'd go JE Reel. Various reason, but mainly their out-the-box DS is just built better.

JE Reel will also recommend solid u joint. They used to use greasable but found they were more often wearing out about 10k miles or more sooner than the greasable.

Hopefully others will chime in on the scientific details. But that is the gist.
Click to expand...

i am currently on a set of 4dr springs on my 2 dr so about 1" but i do eventually want to run 3" plush rides, so i know with my current lift height i do not NEED a front DS but the fact that the PR44 i ordered will be coming with the 1350 yoke installed already im thinking i might as well get the new DS now. If not i will have to pull the 1350 yoke off and see if my stock yoke from my D30 will fit the PR44 to run the stock DS.

good to know on the JE Reel too ill look into them, I also ran a Coast on my last JK and didnt have any issues but i have heard good things about Adams so that was just where i looked first
 
Speedy_RCW

Speedy_RCW

Hooked
desertrunner said:
While i wait on my trail leader package to ship out i am trying to gather a list of the additional parts im going to need one of which is a front drive shaft

the trail leader package comes with a 1350 front yoke installed already in the PR44 and i was looking into Adams 1350 DS for the front on my 2dr

First question is i know i will have to get the axle installed then measure the length for the DS but i am currently on 1"ish of lift and plan to keep in that way for now on 33s, when i do eventually move to 37s im thinking of going to 3" plush rides. Am i going to run into issues with length (so to speak) when i move from 1" to 3"?

second question is Adams offers the 1350 with greaseable or solid U joints. Is it worth the extra $30 to just go with the solid U joints or will the greaseable joints be fine?

and third would it be worth my time and effort to just pull the stock yoke flange out of my D30 and reuse it in the PR44 to continue to use my stock front driveshaft for the time being? If it is even possible to pull the stock flange out of the D30 and use it in the PR44 (im not sure it would even fit to be honest)
Click to expand...

I've had great luck with Adams and they have great customer service as well. If your PR44 is coming with the yoke installed I'd leave it that way. No sense in possibly screwing up your pinion preload putting a stock flange on temporarily (will it even fit?). Get your axle installed and measure for the new shaft. I'm guessing when you go to your new suspension you'll still be okay on the shaft but worst case scenario you can get it retubed from a local shop for a reasonable price. Hell, if you go Adams you can tell them your plans and they could probably just make it slightly longer than their standard to accommodate your future suspension. Can't speak for the other manufacturers as I've never used them. Just my two pennies.


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
Agreed with Speedy. Leave the axle as is. Dynatrac puts a lot of time into these things. Get your 1350 shaft. Use your Jeep. Up the road if you need to lengthen it, a driveshaft shop can do that. I've found most good American ujoints that are sealed hold up fine, just my experience.
 
JK_Dave

JK_Dave

Caught the Bug
WJCO said:
Agreed with Speedy. Leave the axle as is. Dynatrac puts a lot of time into these things. Get your 1350 shaft. Use your Jeep. Up the road if you need to lengthen it, a driveshaft shop can do that. I've found most good American ujoints that are sealed hold up fine, just my experience.
Click to expand...

Interesting, I've heard of going to get a shaft shortened, but never lengthened. I assume they'd just be welding additional tube onto the shaft then? Is that safe? I'm asking seriously because I don't know.

While it may be a custom build, he may be better off asking for a shaft that can accommodate 1-3" of lift so it doesn't have to be modified when he's ready to upgrade. That'd be my route anyway.
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
JK_Dave said:
Interesting, I've heard of going to get a shaft shortened, but never lengthened. I assume they'd just be welding additional tube onto the shaft then? Is that safe? I'm asking seriously because I don't know.

While it may be a custom build, he may be better off asking for a shaft that can accommodate 1-3" of lift so it doesn't have to be modified when he's ready to upgrade. That'd be my route anyway.
Click to expand...

I'm not 100% sure, but I know it can be done. I believe the ends are cut off and re-used and a new section of shaft is installed.
 
desertrunner

desertrunner

Active Member
I plan on calling Adams at some point too to get their advise on it and see if a shaft for 1" of lift will also work for 3" or even if I do need a longer shaft later send it back to them to get lengthened, I'll update this thread if I get some new info from them

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
J

JKDream

Guest
BaddestCross said:
From what I've seen shopping around, most new shafts are for 0-6" of lift unless you need something crazy.

Sent from my SM-N915P using WAYALIFE mobile app
Click to expand...
This. The slip joint accomodates a wide range of movement. It's the same as a stock shaft, which is why it works on no lift or a lot of lift (with the exception of the CV). You should be able to bolt on any premade aftermarket driveshaft without issues.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
desertrunner

desertrunner

Active Member
Ok so just got off the phone with Adams and what they said was if I instal the axle to get the measurement at my 1" lift I should be good to go up to 3.5" without an issue since they have a few inches of play in there. If I end up going to like 4-5" then yeah I'll have to get a longer shaft but I have no intention of going that high so shouldn't be an issue.

He also said with the Ujoiunt that the solid is better and should last 75-100k miles and the cost difference is so little that there really isn't a reason he would reccomend the greaseable over solid.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
BaddestCross

BaddestCross

Active Member
desertrunner said:
Ok so just got off the phone with Adams and what they said was if I instal the axle to get the measurement at my 1" lift I should be good to go up to 3.5" without an issue since they have a few inches of play in there. If I end up going to like 4-5" then yeah I'll have to get a longer shaft but I have no intention of going that high so shouldn't be an issue.

He also said with the Ujoiunt that the solid is better and should last 75-100k miles and the cost difference is so little that there really isn't a reason he would reccomend the greaseable over solid.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using WAYALIFE mobile app
Click to expand...
Good to know. Are they giving a better price if you order direct?

Sent from my SM-N915P using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
Speedy_RCW

Speedy_RCW

Hooked
JK_Dave said:
Interesting, I've heard of going to get a shaft shortened, but never lengthened. I assume they'd just be welding additional tube onto the shaft then? Is that safe? I'm asking seriously because I don't know.

While it may be a custom build, he may be better off asking for a shaft that can accommodate 1-3" of lift so it doesn't have to be modified when he's ready to upgrade. That'd be my route anyway.
Click to expand...

WJCO said:
I'm not 100% sure, but I know it can be done. I believe the ends are cut off and re-used and a new section of shaft is installed.
Click to expand...

They replace the entire tube with a longer piece. If a shop wants to just add a piece of tube, I'd go to a different shop. Once you do your suspension you can measure the exposed spline and see if you're still good. Here's a description. Sounds like you'll be fine though.

IMG_1517.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
jesse3638

jesse3638

Hooked
My vote is for solid as well. I had my front and rear rebuilt last year. I went to a local shop who only uses Spicer solid joints. He said they are stronger and should last quite awhile. I also just replaced the 1350's on my Titan. The only reason I did was because I had the drive shaft out to replace the carrier bearing. They had over 100k on them and honestly probably didn't need to be replaced. They were Spicer solid joints OEM from Nissan.

Sent from my 831C using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
desertrunner

desertrunner

Active Member
Speedy_RCW said:
They replace the entire tube with a longer piece. If a shop wants to just add a piece of tube, I'd go to a different shop. Once you do your suspension you can measure the exposed spline and see if you're still good. Here's a description. Sounds like you'll be fine though.

View attachment 273896


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
Click to expand...

sweet! good info i will keep this in mind when i do eventually move up in lift and take a look at how much shaft i have left :thumb:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom