209trucker

Hello guys,


For anyone that saw my overheating thread, just to get back after everything she was running great, did about 400 miles before.... my next problem


About 30 miles from home I started hearing a vibration noise, from maybe 20mph up to 35ish mph. It felt like my wheels needed to be balanced, so I just thought I'd check it when I got home. 15 or so miles from home, a really bad rumbling noise, for the same speeds, and a vibrating 4x4 lever.


Got home and checked the front driveshaft, the Ball kit, cardan joint, whatever it's called, is shot, and the u-joints are ready to go as well. So, I'm able to order everything, the first two u-joints coming off the transfer case and the ball kit from the dealership, but the u-joint to the front axle that's on the truck didn't have a number matching what the dealership told me, so I'll get to that later.


Annnnyways, I'm wondering if anyone has done this repair before? The part number on the ball kit is 4049697. I'm wondering what I'm getting myself into? Or if I should take it to a driveline shop to do?

sooty

best mod is getting a 1410 tcase yoke for front output, and mod the shaft to single ujoint, youll have more angle capacity, and one joint to service saving all of the future replacements with a easy to replace joint.

PapeCAT

If you don't have a big lift and want to keep it stock and not have your Ujoints out of phase with the single 1410 route, stray away from the dealer and just bring your shaft into the your local Driveline Service shop and have them rebuild it for your or simply sell you the parts you need, as they most likely have them on the shelf. For good prices too.

http://www.drive-lines.com/

But either way, they'd have the 1410 front output for you as well. But would be much more expensive building a D-line from scratch.

The old W200/W300 trucks from 72/73 had single ujoint front outputs. The pinion angle of the front axle was also matched for this. On our D60s, the pinion is pointed up straight to the T-case, designed for the CV type shaft.

If you really want to spend the big bucks and have no vibes in 4x4, you can upgrade to a 1350 double cardan CV style from High Angle Driveline.

http://www.highangledriveline.com/1350cv.html

209trucker

Is this a difficult mod? I scanned through the stickies and didn't see it, maybe I missed it. But I wouldn't know what I'd have to do to the driveline to make it work.

CAT; I have a 4 inch lift from skyjacker. I'm just running without my front driveline for now until I figure out a game plan, but keeping it stock would be the route I'm leaning towards.

Thanks for the input guys.

PapeCAT

Good day, 209 Trucker:

A Member on here, Meiser did a write up on the 1410 front shaft. You'll have to sift through the 80+ pages though. It should be in the first 20 pages, IIRC. I noticed I chimed in on his thread as well.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/foru...-Doitall-Dodge

bannerd

Now I'm curious! Is there a kit online anywhere? The 1410 just seems to make sense. Would you need to upgrade the dana 60 or just the NP205?

NJTman

FWIW,

I just had my front and rear driveshafts rebuilt with all new joints, including the CV center joint.

$213.65 including high speed balancing for the front shaft. IT had the original joints in the CV that were held in with the plastic goo from the factory. Now, if I ever want to do them myself, I can, as they pressed them out cold (no heating up the goo), and the new ones will pop right out if I ever want to give it a shot.

You can buy 3 new OEM Spicer joints and the center CV repair kit for about $120 on Amazon. but for another $100 I had it done for me, and all I had to do was drop off and pick up the shaft.

cougar

Your lift is whats killing your double cardan. And it doesn't take much. An inch and a half was all it took on my 91. Your front end has more downward travel than the drive shaft can accommodate.

209trucker

Thank you for the link! I'll give it a read when I get home to a computer.

NJT, did you have this done recently? Ill do a search on Amazon, or if you have the item number could you PM it to me please? I was quoted 130 for the ball kit and 61.67 each on the u joints so that sounds like a much better alternative.

cougar, I've had the lift on since November and roughly 12k miles on it. Do you think it could have worn out that fast? Sad to say I never inspected it prior to installing the lift. The kit came with wedges to correct the angle, how thick they are I do not remember, nor do I know how helpful they are.

sooty

a local driveline shop will know, also pirate 4x4 rock crawlers are heavy with econo options, they love the 205 and d60 combos, the 60 is fine, the output of the t-case aims uphill, adding more angle, the 1410 has wayyyyy more clearance than the 1350's tight caps, thay run good at speed too....

NJTman

Spicer parts list:

(1) 5-789x front u joint $21.00
(2) 5-795x rear u joints ($24 each)
(1) 211009x repair ball joint for center of CV ($28)

Personally, I've had nothing but failures of aftermarket U-joints, and that's why I wanted spicer parts. They're supposedly OEM parts, and not the china based crap you get in any parts store.

The rear driveshaft in my truck has new non greasable Spicers in there, and I couldn't be happier. The retards at the driveshaft rebuilders put Neapco joints in the front shaft because they felt that I should have "greasable" front shaft joints, as it's only used for 3 months out of the year. THey claim because the center of the CV has a grease nipple, that by installing greaseable U-joints, I would remember to lube the CV when necessary. IDK. They really irritated me by doing this, but if it fails prematurely, as I've found most aftermarket U-joints do, then I get to go back and stick it in their .....um.... faces....

They claim I won't have any issues, so I guess we have to see if it lives up to their claims. They are supposedly the "experts", so we'll have to wait and see. Reality is that I'll probably put 1000 miles on that shaft every year, and although they may be hard miles due to snow plowing, as long as they live up to the driveshaft shop's expectations, I guess I'll be fine.

patdaly

NJTman, funny you say that about aftermarket joints, because it exactly mirrors my experiences.

I don't play around anymore, unless I absolutely can't wait, I order genuine Spicer lifetime non-greasable joints.........

cougar

It wasn't long after I installed my overload front shocks that had only 1 1/2" more travel than I started blowing out cardans. Thought at first I just got a bad rebuild, but after the third one something else was wrong. As I was putting on the next one I figured I better check the travel. Lifted the front off the ground by the bumper and sure enough. You couldn't connect the drive shaft with the axle hanging from the shocks.

1972RedNeck

Why is your front driveline turning all the time?

NJTman

Every cheap ujoinr ive bought in the last 5 years failed, even though ive greased them more than recommended. The seals are designed to fail and destroys the bearings. Every autozone ujoint ive bought doesnt allow grease to enter all the caps through the cross, and only two caps get any grease. They fail within 2 years regardless of mileage
Spicer or oem is the only way to go as youve said