Bad day on the trail

Turbo21

New member
Our local offroad club headed to Phoenix offroad Park in Steubenville Ohio for a day on the trails and the first few hours were great. Good friends and tons of mud. But after a mile trail ride through the creek I exited to head back up the hill for about a half mile climb through the muddy switchbacks I made it about 200 yards up the hill and all of the sudden I just lost all momentum. Back wheels spinning. Nothing in the front. Damn Guys in front couldn’t stop on the hill or they would be stuck and about 10 jeeps behind me now are stuck after a few hundred yards of winching I was able to get to an area where someone get passed me Proceeded to hook up and get towed the rest of the way in 2 wheel drive
At the top of the hill we crawled under and nothing looked out of the ordinary. So thinking transfer case is toast. But after the 1 1/2 hour trip home on the highway I crawled under again and found the driveshaft laying on the exhaust. I am thinking it was pulled out just enough from the tc on the trail to not engage but not enough to rip the boot and pull free. So better news than a blown tc. Gonna figure out what driveshaft to buy today
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Turbo21

New member
WTF? How many miles did that thing last on the stock shaft?!

I had the Terraflex high angle rzeppa joint on since June

Been on the stock shaft with the lift since March

The real reason it failed wasn’t because of the lift or angle. My slip joint boot tore off a few months ago. Yesterday it was 27 degrees while we were out and all the mud and water that got in the slip joint froze solid. The first time I really flexed the suspension pulled it out of the transfer case. When I got the shaft on the ground last night I had to beat it with a hammer to break the frozen ice up and be able to slide it in and out. So the lift wasn’t the issue. The torn slip joint boot finally caused the failure


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Turbo21

New member
You will spend as much at the car wash as a new driveshaft is going to cost


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Definitely not cleaning it in the driveway this time. Tired of using a snow shovel to shovel all the mud up. This is what wheeling in the north east looks like


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Ddays

Hooked
I had the Terraflex high angle rzeppa joint on since June

Been on the stock shaft with the lift since March

The real reason it failed wasn’t because of the lift or angle. My slip joint boot tore off a few months ago. Yesterday it was 27 degrees while we were out and all the mud and water that got in the slip joint froze solid. The first time I really flexed the suspension pulled it out of the transfer case. When I got the shaft on the ground last night I had to beat it with a hammer to break the frozen ice up and be able to slide it in and out. So the lift wasn’t the issue. The torn slip joint boot finally caused the failure

How would being frozen cause the joint to come apart? Sounds like it was too short to me.

This is what wheeling in the north east looks like

Brick's from the Midwest - they have mud there too.
 

Turbo21

New member
:thinking:
So which is it?

The slip joint froze solid. So when my Jeep flexed the slip joint on the driveshaft did not allow the driveshaft to slide in and out like it normally has on the last 20 wheeling trips i have been on. I have had it way more flexed than it was when it failed


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Turbo21

New member
Has anyone ever used Oliver drive shafts from North Carolina ? Saw them on amazon and looks like a decent driveshaft for the price.


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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I had the Terraflex high angle rzeppa joint on since June...

Which would do nothing to change the fact that your CV boot was sitting at a constant state of pinch even on pavement.

Been on the stock shaft with the lift since March

In other words, it didn't last very long.

The real reason it failed wasn’t because of the lift or angle.

I'd have to disagree but clearly, you can believe that if you want.

My slip joint boot tore off a few months ago. Yesterday it was 27 degrees while we were out and all the mud and water that got in the slip joint froze solid. The first time I really flexed the suspension pulled it out of the transfer case. When I got the shaft on the ground last night I had to beat it with a hammer to break the frozen ice up and be able to slide it in and out. So the lift wasn’t the issue. The torn slip joint boot finally caused the failure

Being as tall as you are, your drive shaft was already close to being fully collapsed and your CV boot was in an constant state of pinch. More than likely, your CV boot had ruptured and bearings inside had fried. More droop certainly wouldn't have helped anything but yeah, a seized up slip shaft would have either.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Has anyone ever used Oliver drive shafts from North Carolina ? Saw them on amazon and looks like a decent driveshaft for the price.


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So long as it's a 1350 shaft, you might be good to go but being as tall as you are, you really should have a custom shaft made to your specific length needs.
 

Ddays

Hooked
Nothing wrong with local either- check out Point Spring on Neville Island. They redid my front shaft last spring. No reason they can't make you one. They make em for semi's and construction equip, so
They can handle a 1350 shaft. Make sure you're them you want solid joints if you do go there.
 

Turbo21

New member
So long as it's a 1350 shaft, you might be good to go but being as tall as you are, you really should have a custom shaft made to your specific length needs.

They claim their shafts work with a 2”-6” lift. Not sure how they do it if everyone else needs measurements specific to the jeeps setup


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Turbo21

New member
Nothing wrong with local either- check out Point Spring on Neville Island. They redid my front shaft last spring. No reason they can't make you one. They make em for semi's and construction equip, so
They can handle a 1350 shaft. Make sure you're them you want solid joints if you do go there.

I have heard of a few guys using point spring. Just don’t know how they are on price


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Red Knight15

Caught the Bug
Has anyone ever used Oliver drive shafts from North Carolina ? Saw them on amazon and looks like a decent driveshaft for the price.


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I have heard good stuff about Oliver shafts.
But I’m running Adams 1350 s in mine. At 6” you will need a custom shaft most likely so I would contact Adams.


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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
They claim their shafts work with a 2”-6” lift. Not sure how they do it if everyone else needs measurements specific to the jeeps setup


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LOL!! Sounds like you've got it all figured out :thumb:
 
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