I have the same lift and I lost the rear driveshaft as well after a few years of running. The angles probably weren't the 'correct' angles and I had no vibrations but a temporary fix for the lift as I later found. Get a sye and proper length driveshaft and that will fix that problem. The problem with the stock driveshaft after a lift is it is barely on the the tailshaft of the transfer case and still will wear out u joints. If you want to do it correct, you need to spend a little more $.

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Hmn... yea this lift has been on the Jeep for about 5 years and this is the first issue I've seen with it. A new yoke is $50, and I'd much rather pay that every 5 years rather than $500 for a SYE and driveshaft. This of course is all assuming nothing else is broken. The previous owner had also put in a 2" shackle lift, which I had swapped out for a 1/2" lift and if I dropped the springs down to 2.5" from the 4" (or whatever the RCs are sagging to now), that should fix the angles a bit. But is it normal for the yoke to break and not just the u-joint?

 

Too much lift, not enough corrections. Lifts require much more than just springs and shocks and hardware. You need to correct steering, drive, and wrap. Either put in a SYE and CV shaft, or put in a smaller lift and small transfer case drop.

 

Would the slip yoke breaking and inability to shift into gear be related at all? Or am I looking at two separate problems?

 

At present, it's two symptoms, not two problems. Fix the drive shaft, the part you know is a problem. If the other symptom persists, address that on it's own.

 

Thanks, so the simple fix for now would be a new slip yoke and two u joints? The yoke is standard with the yj's, right? Crown Automotive 83502855 - Rear Drive Shaft Slip Yoke for 87-95 Jeep® Wrangler YJ with Dana Style Shaft, 97-99 Grand Cherokee ZJ & WJ with 4.0L or 5.2L Engine & NP249 or NV247 Transfer Case - Quadratec

And I'll try to get to taking off the drive shaft later tonight to measure the u joints to verify I'm picking up the right ones... I'm always reading conflicting reports as to if I need the 1310 or 1330 joints.

 

93 is 1310. Discrepancies will be for 94/95 models.

 

A photo here of the drive shaft angles would REALLY help us advise you with the best solution. Just replacing what you had might not correct the main issue.

 

Hope these pictures help. Looks like the output shaft from the transfer case is pretty inline with the differential. Let me know if there are better angles I could be taking under there.

So I'm still a bit confused as to why it was the ear that broke off. I mean 3 points on the cross for that u joint are absolutely destroyed, but I'm guessing that's from after the yoke broke and the vibration tore them apart.

 

Those pictures didn't work.

 

hmn... It's showing up for me, except in my first post sometimes they're broken images. No idea what the dealio is, maybe something with imgur, but let me try again. Also, apparently I can't edit posts, but I meant to say previously that the yoke looks inline with the drive shaft, and the u joint at the rear diff has a bit of an angle.

 

Huh, that looks like a good angle. That is THE angle you want. The only problem I see is that the slip is pretty far out of the transfer case. That is a really nice Jeep, by the way.

The only other thing I have to suggest is axle wrap. But you are still spring under, and I doubt you'll punch it with that Jeep.

Actually, I just read the original post again, because that angle looks stock but your springs have some arch and the slip yoke is far out, and I will contribute that to your lift and transfer case drop. That's a lot of lift, and based on the angle, A LOT of drop.

 

I just ran out to measure, the t-case drop is 1.5". This jeep has seen it's share of offroading. Despite the possible sacrilege, those days are over (which is why I'm considering dropping the Jeep to a 2.5" lift). I just didn't want to deal with anything until the fall which by then I should have my garage cleared out to give her a good overhaul and tune up over the winter.

still puzzling why the ear broke on the yoke, but could it have been from the rotational force of the drive shaft and then something jamming up with the transmission or t-case? I popped it into 4wd quick after pulling off the drive shaft after taking those pictures and was able to rock it back from where it was parked. I'm a little worried to get it on the road because as of now it's on a slight hill and I wouldn't be able to push it back up without help, and they're doing road work right in front of my house.

 

I say throw in another slip yoke and u joint, it should hold until you can toss that ridiculous drop and lower the lift some. You could be right about something jamming in the transfer case or axle, but that's unknown until the slip yoke is replaced.

 

Yea I'm not sure now because that would have bogged or stalled the motor. When the tow guy was loading it up on the flatbed the rear wheels were spinning freely and the drive shaft was turning and flopping around ok. Maybe the previous owner hit the ear on a rock or something. I dunno, I'm really at a loss. Tomorrow or the next day I'll post a picture of the u joint. I'd like to see what your opinion is on if the wear would be from the moment that yoke broke or if the joint had gone bad miles before the yoke broke which would have lead to the yoke's death.

But yea, I think for now I'll order a new slip yoke, and two u joints once I figure out which ones I need, through it on, and see how it drives.

 

It may have had a crack in the yoke for a while and u joints were slowly wearing away until finally just went snap under torque?

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Well just an update, finally got everything back together. Seems to be running fine and the squeaking that I had for the past year+ is now gone. I'm guessing it was the ujoint that was going bad and eventually killed itself taking the yoke with it.

So I guess one final question. I've only driven it twice around the block to make sure there were no issues, and the shifting seemed fine now. Would pressure from a bad u joint binding up on the slip yoke cause shifting issues in the transmission?

 

I highly doubt it, separate issue.

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