If any of you have been following my adventures since installing the D60 up front, you'll know that I've been losing a lot of front driveshafts. It's always the front U joint that goes. It's only a 1310 U joint, so initially the thought was that it was a weak link in the set up. Of course a driveshaft u joint is a helluva lot easier to replace than a axle shaft joint, so I kinda like that this is my weakest link, but I drop them so often that something has to be done.
After some thought, I realized that I'm not actually losing the U joint, it's the U bolts holding it in that are failing. Many times the U joint itself is just fine after the U bolt lets go (other than usually it spits a cap down the trail and I loose some needle bearings). I don't think it's a lack of strength in the joint, but rather the U bolts are too small. Also, I noticed markings on the pinion nut, so I think what is happening is that when I'm climbing under power, I get enough axle wrap that the U joint is contacting the pinion nut and basically prying itself out of the U bolts.
I decided the best way to resolve this problem was to get a longer yoke from WFO:
The WFO yoke is an upgrade in a few ways. First, it's a 1350 yoke, so a bit more beef. Second, it's .25 inches taller, so it moves the U joint further away from the pinion nut so it shouldn't be able to contact and pry itself out anymore. Third, being a 1350 U joint, it has bigger U bolts.
That should help keep things in place a bit better as well. Also, while examining the old yoke, I realized it was pretty beat up around the U bolt holes, and I'm wondering if that was somehow contributing to them coming loose.
My driveshaft is still set up for 1310, so I'll have to use a combo joint for now, but given that I wasn't breaking the actual joints, I think the upgraded yoke will resolve my problem.
Oh, and I'm also going to shorten my limit straps a bit to see if I can control the axle wrap some. Hopefully that helps as well.
While I had the truck up on the lift, I decided to check out the rear driveshaft as well. I've had some significant vibration coming from the rear, but I had assumed it was my crappy old tires. Well, I just got new tires:
Milestar Patagonia 37's.
I wanted nitto trail grapplers, but the price on these was too good to pass up.
Anyway, with the new tires, the vibration was still there, so I pulled the rear driveshaft and found that the axle side U joint was pretty bad, so I replaced that as well. Unfortunately, I damaged the driveshaft yoke getting it replaced.
Would you run it?
Oh, and one last thing. It looks like my rear axle is contacting my tank skid plate:
Just barely, but it's hitting.
In this shot you can see that my vent line is frayed a bit, probably from being caught between the skid and axle, and my brake line braket has been bent down. No harm, no foul so far, but I should probably try to move my brake lines to the front side of the truss to be better protected.
After some thought, I realized that I'm not actually losing the U joint, it's the U bolts holding it in that are failing. Many times the U joint itself is just fine after the U bolt lets go (other than usually it spits a cap down the trail and I loose some needle bearings). I don't think it's a lack of strength in the joint, but rather the U bolts are too small. Also, I noticed markings on the pinion nut, so I think what is happening is that when I'm climbing under power, I get enough axle wrap that the U joint is contacting the pinion nut and basically prying itself out of the U bolts.
I decided the best way to resolve this problem was to get a longer yoke from WFO:
1350 Tall, U-Bolt Style, 29 Spline Yoke with U-Bolts | WFOConcepts.com
Find 1350 Tall, U-Bolt Style, 29 Spline Yoke with U-Bolts at WFOConcepts.com
www.wfoconcepts.com
The WFO yoke is an upgrade in a few ways. First, it's a 1350 yoke, so a bit more beef. Second, it's .25 inches taller, so it moves the U joint further away from the pinion nut so it shouldn't be able to contact and pry itself out anymore. Third, being a 1350 U joint, it has bigger U bolts.
That should help keep things in place a bit better as well. Also, while examining the old yoke, I realized it was pretty beat up around the U bolt holes, and I'm wondering if that was somehow contributing to them coming loose.
My driveshaft is still set up for 1310, so I'll have to use a combo joint for now, but given that I wasn't breaking the actual joints, I think the upgraded yoke will resolve my problem.
Oh, and I'm also going to shorten my limit straps a bit to see if I can control the axle wrap some. Hopefully that helps as well.
While I had the truck up on the lift, I decided to check out the rear driveshaft as well. I've had some significant vibration coming from the rear, but I had assumed it was my crappy old tires. Well, I just got new tires:
Milestar Patagonia 37's.
I wanted nitto trail grapplers, but the price on these was too good to pass up.
Anyway, with the new tires, the vibration was still there, so I pulled the rear driveshaft and found that the axle side U joint was pretty bad, so I replaced that as well. Unfortunately, I damaged the driveshaft yoke getting it replaced.
Would you run it?
Oh, and one last thing. It looks like my rear axle is contacting my tank skid plate:
Just barely, but it's hitting.
In this shot you can see that my vent line is frayed a bit, probably from being caught between the skid and axle, and my brake line braket has been bent down. No harm, no foul so far, but I should probably try to move my brake lines to the front side of the truss to be better protected.
). I tried replacing the MAF itself, but still no change. Tomorrow I'm going to try tracing out the wiring to see if that's all good, but nothing has changed so I suspect that isn't the issue.
Oh yeah! the fuse!
I got towed the rest of the way out in 0WD.
