I had an excellent customer service experience with Tom Woods custom drive shafts. they will want you to measure your old shaft, center of the u joint to center of the u joint. The stock joints i believe are 1310's. Im pretty sure they will be cheaper and alot faster than Rock auto.

Changing it is easy. 4 bolts, reinstall, done. You will have to leave your Tcase in Neutral and lift up one front wheel to allow the driveline to turn.

 

Installing the DS is a 10 minute job. Reaching into the skid plate is the hardest part. And you will need to spin the shaft 2-3 half turns to get all the bolts at the t case.

But why buy a new shaft when you can learn how to replace u joints? Several years ago this was my first big educational project on the Jeep. I've since graduated to using a BFH. Much faster and easier. Search YouTube.

 

If your u-joints are shot replace them first. No since in buying a new driveshaft if you know the joints are bad. They're inexpensive & fairly easy to install. Tons of youtube vids on replacing. If you're uncomfortable doing the joints then have a local shop install them, then install the driveshaft which is very easy. If you still get the vibes then drop the cash on a new driveshaft.

 

The one thing to check before diving in is to find out if your DS uses the injected nylon retainers in the caps. You need a blow torch to heat and melt the nylon. And you'll definitely need a press. It isn't difficult. It just makes the first time more interesting.

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Dont Buy the Rock Auto one for that much money! If you actually need it replaced as I did(my splined joint had tons of play causing vibes) go with an Adams driveshaft. Not only is it much stronger, if I recall mine was only 300 or so.

As said before, its about a 10 minute job. I was able to do it in the parking lot of my apartment without jacking up the jeep or anyone noticing. Just need a socket set, some swivels and an extension or a few

 

Agree with the others. No reason for a new drive shaft. Even if you you don't want to do the work, a shop could replace your existing u-joints and double cardan joint for much less than the cost of a new drive shaft.

 

Agree with Water Dog. Look for a drive line shop and let them change the U-Joints.

 

I am lucky and work at a jeep store where I pay &60/hr labor. I have done routine maintenance on my vehicles over the years but not familiar with drive shafts. Mine was removed and all vibration went away. I took mine to a drive shaft rebuilder and was well worth it. My spline was shot as well as some bad joints. Well worth the money and a hell of a lot cheaper than getting a new one

 

Something else that can cause front driveshaft vibrations... a loose pinion nut. A friend & I worked on his Jeep one Saturday to find its front vibration and focussed too much on the driveshaft. He called me a few days later saying it turned out to be nothing more than a loose pinion nut. He had gears installed & the shop neglected to use blue Locktite on the pinion nut threads.

 

Thank you everyone! Excellent information and all very helpful. It looked like an easy job, glad to know it is. I will look into changing out the U-joints (check YouTube first) and if not, may go the way of getting a local shop to do it. If not, and if I have to buy a full one, I'll look at the few you guys suggested that are better than Rock Auto.

Again, thanks everyone! Everyone one this board is such a huge help.

I'll update post with how it all works out.

Best regards,
Elvis.

 

If the joints don't have retaining clips, then they have the nylon injection. I recall seeing little white plastic nubs on the ears on either side of the caps. Just be aware of that going in. My 03 had this, but others don't.

The new u joints get installed using the retaining clips.

 

Finally got around to changing the U-joint on the front drive shaft. I just did the one by itself ... I think that's the yoke? It was not hard at all. Took me maybe an hour ... and that was b/c I didn't have a solid work bench so had to do it on the cement steps when cranking down the vice.

The other end seems fine so I didn't change them. It also looks like a bit of a bigger project. If anyone is interested, this link has a lot of good info.

I think I spent $35 at Advance (including the grease gun for $15 and the grease for $6, neither of which I had). I borrowed this tool free from Advance Auto. It worked great.

Thanks again. And, thanks to jjvw for the encouragement.

 

Wonderful! The other two joints aren't that much more difficult. I like to do all three along with the centering ball, just because I assume if one is worn than the others aren't too far away. Keep an eye on it for now and listen for squeaks and feel for vibes.

If you can replace ujoints then you can tackle 90% of what's wrong with your Jeep.