Axle U Joint?
- Thread starter Horn
- Start date
JeepinMaxx
Active member
Abrasion Sleeve said:13 I think....
god I hate getting old... :swear_mad:
took off my front DS yesterday and forgot what size the bolts are on the tcase side. 1/2 inch BTW..
How many axle NEJeep u-joints, unit hubs, ball joints do you think we have we done over the the last dozen years at your garage! We should know this :rotflmao: BTW my TJ has 5/16" on the T-Case side...
I was going through a stack of receipts the previous owner had and it turns out we did Ball Joints, Unit Hubs, and Axle U-Joints at a Wrenchfest at your place back in 2008
Mary asked me why I was so crabby after removing my front DS yesterday. 
RedJeepster1
Active member
I usually use 13mm on the bolts. I have had the best luck with a closed end wrench and a rubber mallet to break the bolts free. If they have't been off in a while they could put up a good fight.
JeepinMaxx
Active member
AeroKroil penetrating oil and a hammer with an 1/8" punch
(glad the steering wheel method worked for you!)
(glad the steering wheel method worked for you!)
Yup, I just did a bunch on some spare shafts I had. Like Bruce said, just find an exposed end, and put a screwdriver on it and hit it with a hammer. They may fly off.
RedJeepster1
Active member
After starting to ruin one of my nicer screw drivers doing this the other day, I switched to using a punch. Worked equally as well, but didn't ruin my screw driver. Persistence and a good hammer should be the ticket.
MasterDrazhar
New member
Horn said:
Spray both sides with Kroil... Put the ear on the floor, or vise, put a socket on the end cap and give it a really good wack! Pry the clip out as mentioned or use a pair of c-clip pliers. Flip joint over and repeat.
Horn
Active member
Thanks everyone. Finished up the other day. I ran into a time crunch Wednesday so dropped off the axles and joints at a local shop and had them press them in while I took care of some family obligations. Then got everything put back together for daily driving duty with 20 minutes to spare. I learned a bunch of new things along the way. Didn't solve the original issue I was chasing down but I'll keep looking into other areas now and completed a job I was planning to do at some point this summer. On to the next thing. I've got a new top waiting to go on.
Horn
Active member
Continuing this as I'm coming back to looking into this issue again.
U-joints and front unit bearings didn't take care of the original noise so I'm still tracking it down.
Sounds and feels like clicking or snapping from the front especially noticeable when entering or exiting parking lots or highway entrance ramps (I'm pretty sure a little body roll makes it worse) and when turning sharply like when backing into a parking space. With Jeep stationary it can be felt through steering wheel when turning it lock to lock. Happens maybe 2-3 times each full lock to lock turn. Is slowly getting worse.
So far I've gotten under and tugged on just about everything I can find a couple of different times including with wheels on the ground and off the ground and haven't found anything I can tell that is loose.
Made sure that the track bar was torqued to FSM specs on axle side. It was.
Last weekend I had a helper around and I had him turn wheel lock to lock with Jeep running and wheels on ground while I listened. Can hear it louder under front but can't see anything that looks like it has extra play or is rubbing. Everything underneath is stock. I spent a bunch of time holding onto just about everything I could as steering was moved back and forth to see if I could feel where it was coming from. Couldn't get any better idea than generally under front and related to steering.
I'm ready for new ideas to try and also getting to the point of being ready to have someone with a more experienced eye and ear take a look and listen sometime to see if they can shed light on it. I'm stumped at the moment.
U-joints and front unit bearings didn't take care of the original noise so I'm still tracking it down.
Sounds and feels like clicking or snapping from the front especially noticeable when entering or exiting parking lots or highway entrance ramps (I'm pretty sure a little body roll makes it worse) and when turning sharply like when backing into a parking space. With Jeep stationary it can be felt through steering wheel when turning it lock to lock. Happens maybe 2-3 times each full lock to lock turn. Is slowly getting worse.
So far I've gotten under and tugged on just about everything I can find a couple of different times including with wheels on the ground and off the ground and haven't found anything I can tell that is loose.
Made sure that the track bar was torqued to FSM specs on axle side. It was.
Last weekend I had a helper around and I had him turn wheel lock to lock with Jeep running and wheels on ground while I listened. Can hear it louder under front but can't see anything that looks like it has extra play or is rubbing. Everything underneath is stock. I spent a bunch of time holding onto just about everything I could as steering was moved back and forth to see if I could feel where it was coming from. Couldn't get any better idea than generally under front and related to steering.
I'm ready for new ideas to try and also getting to the point of being ready to have someone with a more experienced eye and ear take a look and listen sometime to see if they can shed light on it. I'm stumped at the moment.
YJScrounge
Moderator
Drive shaft
RedJeepster1
Active member
So I actually had a similar issue to this where I thought I had a popping that was louder in the front end. Ended up replacing my front u joints and pulled my diff cover to check things out when the U joints didn't make a difference. It ended up being a snap ring in my transfer case that had broken and the yoke was sliding in and out. The popping was because it was skipping a tooth internally. We figured it out because it didn't make the noise in 4wd. It only skipped when turning for some reason, never going straight forward.
Horn
Active member
Thanks. Gives me some direction I needed. I was thinking about the track bar last week when I checked the torque and read about people snapping the bolts, and about having the frame end go soon after the axle end. I had considered replacing the bolt with a stronger one anyway and had already ordered it. I'll probably just replace the bar rather than mess around with just the one end and that should eliminate the joints at both ends as a possibility.
As far as the drive shaft goes, when I checked it before it seemed like there was a normal level of play from the diff (assuming I'm getting that right) but I didn't notice anything with the joints. That was close to a month ago. I didn't look at it this weekend because I wasn't thinking in that direction. I'll take a closer look at it again. Aside from grabbing and shaking and twisting it is there anything else I can do to check to see if it is drive shaft related?
This morning on the way to work I had a chance to drive around on some loose surfaces so I messed around for a minute in 4wd. For what it's worth it makes the same sounds in 4H and 4L as it does in 2H.
As far as the drive shaft goes, when I checked it before it seemed like there was a normal level of play from the diff (assuming I'm getting that right) but I didn't notice anything with the joints. That was close to a month ago. I didn't look at it this weekend because I wasn't thinking in that direction. I'll take a closer look at it again. Aside from grabbing and shaking and twisting it is there anything else I can do to check to see if it is drive shaft related?
This morning on the way to work I had a chance to drive around on some loose surfaces so I messed around for a minute in 4wd. For what it's worth it makes the same sounds in 4H and 4L as it does in 2H.
kakirubi
New member
Have someone with the Jeep running and parked, move the steering wheel lock to lock and look at every Tie Rod End and most importantly the track bar ends and look for excessive movement. If none is shown, then have them move the steering wheel back and forth in a jerking motion. That should show movement if any is present.
You say it happens when the Jeep is stationary? Just by turning the wheel? If yes, then it has to be steering. Maybe a tie rod end? Steering box?
If it makes the noise when stationary, that makes me think it's not the driveshaft, but you could remove the front drive shaft to eliminate it from the equation.
Another possibility is a sway bar link?
If it makes the noise when stationary, that makes me think it's not the driveshaft, but you could remove the front drive shaft to eliminate it from the equation.
Another possibility is a sway bar link?
