Universal joint on TJ

[Manuel]

Guys

Jeep is currently at the mechanincs, since it had a really annoying noise.

They just called me and told me that it was the universal joint. Luckily, they also said that it was covered under warranty.

Can someone give me an idea as to what this is, and how much it would have costed me.

Also are there any under body protection parts that are worth fitting.

[Wooders]

Which "universal joint"?

If if is one on the rear propeller shaft or the front of the front propeller (drive) shaft then it's a simple 1310 Joint. Probably cost upto $80 for the joint and shouldn't be more than say $50 to fit...

If it's the rear of the front propeller shaft - it's the cardin Joint (or CV) - a dealer will simply replace the entire shaft. But you can rebuild it (see SubMick/Mark). Cost NFI to rebuild - but a replacement shaft is like $1200!!! Infact this is why I have unis at each end of my front propeller shaft tongue.gif .

Lastly they could be referring to the unis in you front axle. Now this gets tricky (read possibly expensive). The x-297 joint itself isn't expensive, but it takes more work to access. Then sometimes the axle yoke-ears are damaged.

If I had to gues I'd say they are referring to the uni just infront of the rear diff pinion - ie I'd guess you're looking at $130-150.... Hint buy some, learn how to check & replace 'em yourself ;)

[Dale]

If it is a horrible squeak that is hard to pin point it could well be the front cardan joint needs lubricating.

I suffered from that, took me all of 2 hours and a $6 tub of grease to strip, clean and lubricate.

Hardly worth replacing an entire shaft for

[Manuel]

Picked up the Jeep yesterday. When I first dropped it off they told me that it was the body flexing, and since it wasn't mechanical not covered under warranty and were going to charge me $80 and hour to look for the cause of the noise.

I was pretty sure it wasn't the body as it was pretty loud. 3 hours later they called me, they told me it was the rear universal joint and that it was covered by warranty. Picked it up and its all good.

Too bad I only have 3 months of warrant left. :(

[Wooders]

Manuel,

It's not a biggie infact you can get uni's for as little as $35. Then once you know how - It only takes about 15minutes to change....
It's one of those things I recommend people learn how to do.

[Manuel]

I guess its time I got the tools out of the back of the garage smile.gif

I used to do a lot of the work on my old car, but when I got the Jeep, I thought I'll leave it to someone who knows what they are doing.

I guess now that I'm going offroad more often, and hence more things are bound to get damaged..nothing to do with the accelerator happy foot I have smile.gif , I should learn to do a lot of things myself.

Is there a book for the Jeeps, that tells you how to replace things and do things yourself. I know I was always able to get them for my other cars.

[Wooders]

By far the best "book" is the Factory Service Manual (FSM). This can be obtained on CD - the physical books were published but are extremely rare. The soft copies are good becuase you can just print the section you want - get it all greasy and throw it out...
I know of a website that will have the full 98TJ FSM shortly. So you'll be able to either access it directly from there or download it to your PC.

[Manuel]

Mine a 96 build but I don't think it will matter much.

Can you give me the link so I can download it. I have a nice big internet pipe at work, begging to be used.

The I can burn it onto cd depending on how big it is.

[Wooders]

TW,

Seriously,I was getting the angry sparrows from the front big time about '98.... Went to the dealer and they said can't be serviced you need to buy new shaft.
I was playing with my lift at the time and SYE's - So I told 'em to shove it and got both front & rear shafts made at the same time both with uni's & no CV/cardin joint. Cost $500.
Although unconventional for a TJ - I've actually found it a blessing because I've been able to maintain my pinion angle (ie not sky pointed) relative to the t/case much easier AND I found I can run the factory caster (becuase I don't need to turn the pinion up).
Plus a uni is fast, cheap & easy to replace... :D ..
BUT if I EVER hear that someone paid for a new driveshaft I'd want to 8itchslap both the dealer & the customer.....

[BenzSL600]

Wooders would you know where I could get the FSM to the 2001 TJ's, as I know there have been mods in 2001 which mine belongs to.

[TW.]

unis are $33 here for the rears and the front front, the carden joint unis are dearer ($60) and have a different grease nipple, a tear down is a 2 -3 hr job or so on the front shaft depending on how knackered it is, we also stock the carden joint ball & socket kit for $161.

if i ever hear of anyone buying a $1200 front shaft i'll fall off my chair!

a good trick to do cos jeep didnt is to run the kind old carden joint kit we stock cos its got a grease nipple!!! unlike the orig unit, and drill an access hole in the carden housing so you can actually grease the bastard onboard the jeep!

i just rebuilt my front shaft after 140,000 k's with the greasable unit, greaseable unis and a carden joint housing from an 82 chero with the access hole in it already. over half those k's i had a free wheel hub kit instaled so i wouldnt expect a stock jeeps front shaft to last over 100k's, just like the jeep warranty does!

[TW.]

wooders, how do the shafts run? vibe free? & do you have a rolling front or f.w.hubs? i often thought that would be ok onthe rear end but never the front. interesting.

[Wooders]

TW,
Yup vib free As far as I can tell. I don't tend to run over 120km/r so if there's anything it would be out there...
Running stock axles etc - only lower gears & that lockrite differ fron stock......oh ok & the carrier was replaced - but it's basically stock....
I'll give ya a drive one day.

[ 18 July 2002, 05:48 PM: Message edited by: Wooders ]

[JP Mark]

Wooders, I'll be keen to take your Jeep for a spin as well to check out the CV free driveshafts as it would certainly make carrying a spare more viable.
The body-flex line the dealer fed you Manuel should make you a bit sus' of them. If they sold you a vehicle with that much play in the body mounts I'd be mighty annoyed if it wasn't fixed under warranty!

[Manuel]

Picked up the car on tuesday after they claimed to have had it fix. On the way to work this morning the noise came back. and it was pretty loud.

I drove it straight to Tynan, and took one of the mechanics for a drive to show them the noise. It was quiet noticible.

I called at about 2:30pm today, and they told me that after putting it up on the hoist, they took it for another drive and it didn't make the noise anymore...hence since they can't replicate the noise, they can't pin point it, so they don't know what to fix. I asked them to take it for another drive and they claim is no longer making the noise.

One of my mates is picking it up for me, I'm at work and I'm unsure what I'll do since I have the driving course tomorrow.

Hopefully while it was up on the hoist, and they were tightening stuff, they fixed the problem (wishful thinking)

[Wooders]

Manuel,

I doubt VERY much that the dealer has done anything about it.
The best thing to do is to INSIST they they ride in the vehicle with you so that you can both here the noise.
I suspect the noise might be your front cardin joint - these get noisy when they get dry or contaiminated. It's often refered to as the Angry Sparrows it's soo common.

[BenzSL600]

Wooders, I was with Manuel on Saturday, and had a listen to the noise when it started to happen, he informed me that the noise started appeared after he had the brake pads replaced with a non genuine set, and as it appeared on the weekend it was only with the jeep moving slowly. When he pushed the brakes slightly the noise disappeared. IMO it may be the new pads on the front, but then again I could only hear the squeak in the front RHS of the truck.

[Wooders]

LOL - the problem withy trying to diagnose via the net huh ;) ....

[Wooders]

Manuel,

This second noise - did it vary in pitch relative to ground speed or engine speed etc?

[Manuel]

yeah, the faster I went the louder it got. and more constant.

Although on saturday I drove to Mittagong for the course and back and no noise. smile.gif

[billsta]

bit of dirt fixed it eh

[Manuel]

Well as Paul mentioned earlier the only noise I heard on saturday was with the car moving slowwly, which we think might be the brake pads.

Totally different to the noise I had on friday which was at any speed, bloody loud, and made no difference wether you pressed the brakes or not.

I guess they did tighten something on friday or fix the problem and just not realised.