Front Driveshaft too long?

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12-14-2020, 02:21 AM

pilsbury88

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Model: Cherokee (XJ)

Front Driveshaft too long?

My brother bought a 99 grand cherokee over the summer.* It has the v8 and full time AWD quadra drive system, and dana 30 front axle according to the build sheet.** While riding with him recently i noticed a whining/howling sound whenever the accelerator is pushed.* It felt like it was coming from underneath our feet so i suspected the front driveshaft joints were worn.* This one has CV joints on both ends of the front driveshaft.*

I had a difficult time understanding why the front shaft was so hard to remove.* Even after removing all bolts it would not compress to drop out.* In order to get the front shaft off i had to jack up the transfer case a bit and pry the rearward joint up out of the yoke at an angle.* In doing this i learned the forward cv joint is supposed to act as the slip yoke by plunging in an out to account for length changes.* The problem was this joint is pretty much fully compressed at ride height.* I had the front wheels on ramps and the rear on the ground.* With the shaft off, the forward joint has like 3 inches of travel.* I've never worked on a jeep like this before but it doesn't seem to be the correct length shaft.

Further inspection revealed the cover cap of the diff side joint to be cracked and broken in the center, as if it the joint was fully compressed and breaking through the grease cap.* The front yoke was full of grease that had leaked through this hole, but due to the design of the yoke the leak was not visible on the outside.* The front joint seemed fine otherwise.* The rear joint seemed to have play.* But removing the joint from the shaft revealed the play was in the splines themselves.* The splines on both the rearward joint and it's mating splines on the shaft are all boogered up.* However, i don't think this was causing the noise.* I think the pressure being exerted on the front diff bearing through the driveshaft is causing the noise.* The noise goes away when Driving with the front shaft removed.

The seller told him here is a 2" lift on the jeep that was installed by the previous* owner.* Could this lift cause this front driveshaft issue?* Essentially shortening the distance between transfer case and front axle?* Or did someone install a shaft that is too long for this vehicle?* It needs a new shaft due to the damaged splines. But i am wondering if I can buy an aftermarket one or if I'll need a custom one made. Does anyone have this same front driveshaft out of a v8 WJ w/ quadra drive that they could measure the length for me to compare? Perhaps this one came from a 4.0 WJ? Thanks for any input!