Service your driveshafts... and everything else for that matter!!!

Jkzinger

Caught the Bug
Not necessarily. A serviceless double cardan isn't such a bad thing. Just like serviceless u-joints, some would argue that they're stronger. You just need have your drive shaft rebuilt on a regular basis. That would include having the double cardan replaced.

I totally agree with this. It is pretty easy to rebuild the shaft with new u-joints and the double cardin. Not super expensive either.


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jesse3638

Hooked
I totally agree with this. It is pretty easy to rebuild the shaft with new u-joints and the double cardin. Not super expensive either.


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Yeah I'm fortunate enough to have a local shop who can do this. Last time it cost parts plus 20 or 25 for labor. With all the right tools I'm sure it takes him less than an hour. It was around 100 for the front. The rear grenaded so it need an H-block as well and new center ball. It was about 75 more. All said for both I think it was $285 when finished.

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fiend

Caught the Bug
My rear developed a vibration so I took it in this morning. It’s no longer straight after taking some hits. Also the portion of the flange that secures the u joint is beat up and ground down from rock contact. $460 to rebuild, pick up Wednesday. Oh well. After a couple of trips to Moab, Rubicon, many local trips to Big Bear, Calico, Cougar Buttes, etc., I guess it’s the price to play.


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jdofmemi

Active Member
What a way to get reminded to grease up your shaft, and all the other parts that need lube.

I would hate to see what the bill is going to be for that one.
 

wjtstudios

Hooked
How so? If you play at all off-road having your shafts rebuilt or at the very least inspected should be done yearly.

I inspect both DSs multiple times per season for play in the joints or trail damage and grease them when I do. You think it’s worth pulling them and having the guy who built them for me, inspect them every year?


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Ddays

Hooked
Soooo, This scenario happened to me as well. On my way to Moab last year to EJS no less. I was in Nebraska cruising along on I-80 doing 75-80 and my Tcase came apart. In my case all of the fluid did catch and I had the whole stock car going down the back stretch of Daytona on fire deal going on. Pretty exciting. In my case I did not have any vibrations before this came apart. My tires were balanced for this trip and I would have noticed it. I also had an Adams shaft with no grease fittings, although I don't think that this is exclusive to Adams. I took the destroyed shaft to a local shop that builds their own pieces and had them rebuild it. I asked them about it and they said they see these double cardans come apart like that. Was there a vibration that I missed? IDK, I've been driving for quite a few years so I like to think I would notice something amiss but hey, maybe. I've personally never had anything like that happen. Now added to my yearly maintenance routine is to have both inspected and balanced by them. I am in no hurry for mess to happen again.

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I inspect both DSs multiple times per season for play in the joints or trail damage and grease them when I do. You think it’s worth pulling them and having the guy who built them for me, inspect them every year?


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100% absolutely worth it. This repair is approaching $4000 quickly and could have been much worse due to the fact that it caused a fire. So yeah, inspecting them regularly and having them rebuilt/balanced once a year is a small price to pay if it prevents a failure of this magnitude.
 

cozdude

Guy with a Red 2-Door
This reminds me that I really need to rebuild both my front and rear shafts, mainly the front cause it has was more miles on it
 

jesse3638

Hooked
I inspect both DSs multiple times per season for play in the joints or trail damage and grease them when I do. You think it’s worth pulling them and having the guy who built them for me, inspect them every year?


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100% absolutely worth it. This repair is approaching $4000 quickly and could have been much worse due to the fact that it caused a fire. So yeah, inspecting them regularly and having them rebuilt/balanced once a year is a small price to pay if it prevents a failure of this magnitude.
The drive shaft on our engine that came apart had a life expectancy of 50k miles. It failed at about 55k. Of course we did not get this info until after the failure. It was inspected annually by our fireshop and had recently had a TSB issued to pull and inspect. They found nothing out of sorts. Like I said mine was on the jeep for about 4 Years and had about 25k on it when it started chirping. I think if you inspect it yourself thoroughly at least once a year and keep it greased if possible you'll be OK. I check and grease mine (rear only, front has solid u-joints) every 4000 miles at my oil change interval. I'd assume if you wheel often and/or live where they salt the roads it could shorten the need to rebuild the driveshaft. It would probably be best to contact the manufacturer and inquire as to life expectancy and recommendations for a CV rebuild. It's all about knowing your equipment.

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jeffj

Caught the Bug
Soooo, This scenario happened to me as well. On my way to Moab last year to EJS no less. I was in Nebraska cruising along on I-80 doing 75-80 and my Tcase came apart. In my case all of the fluid did catch and I had the whole stock car going down the back stretch of Daytona on fire deal going on. Pretty exciting. In my case I did not have any vibrations before this came apart. My tires were balanced for this trip and I would have noticed it. I also had an Adams shaft with no grease fittings, although I don't think that this is exclusive to Adams. I took the destroyed shaft to a local shop that builds their own pieces and had them rebuild it. I asked them about it and they said they see these double cardans come apart like that. Was there a vibration that I missed? IDK, I've been driving for quite a few years so I like to think I would notice something amiss but hey, maybe. I've personally never had anything like that happen. Now added to my yearly maintenance routine is to have both inspected and balanced by them. I am in no hurry for mess to happen again.

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I was definitely thinking of you reading through this thread.
 

jeffj

Caught the Bug
I have always pulled and greased my front and rear shafts every oil change. On my new jeep, the front has no fitting and the back has them on the double cardan only. Started asking around and my drive shaft shop said the same thing that Eddie said about it being stronger. I do agree with that, but if any joint dries up, its going to fail, no matter how strong they are.
 

jorgelrod

Hooked
Not necessarily. A serviceless double cardan isn't such a bad thing. Just like serviceless u-joints, some would argue that they're stronger. You just need have your drive shaft rebuilt on a regular basis. That would include having the double cardan replaced.

How often would that be? My front ds is greasable up front, but not on the double cardan...
 
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