Front Driveshaft CV and Sliding yoke Repair

[Kavanji]

my front troubleshaft took a dump on me.
I noticed a severe smell of burnt oil/ grease and had a look
this is what I found:

I took the driveshaft out
the boot over the splines has gone south some time ago:

took the CV joint of to investigate:

found the problem:

lucky no contamination in the CV joint so I searched the internet and found a supplier. I ordered a new boot from the internet ,it arrived and does not work! the front sleeve is longer than the OEM unit and the opening is smaller.

I considered flaring it but was advised not to because it would damage the vulcanized rubber.

after crawling around under the Jeep I noticed that the rear shaft does not run nearly as steep an angle as the front.

so plan B was born. I replaced the bottom rear CV boot with the new boot.

the new boot was predrilled 6 holes and the OEM unit has 8 holes. so the holes had to be redrilled.

 

[Kavanji]

redrilling the holes:

installed on the rear:

longer and narrower:

rear driveshaft with the new CV boot:

 

[Berzerker]

You will be repeating this.

 

[Kavanji]

I made the grease retainer / dust boot .
as everyone knows, when the plastic boot gets riped dirt enters the splines and chows them up.
a new driveshaft is to expensive so I decided to make a plan.

the two splined halves:

so I needed to make some plan to prevent dirt from entering and grease from exiting the splines. I machined a sleeve that fits over the outer splines and has a lip under which I will trap a felt ring to act as grease scraper.

machining:

inside lip and seat done:

nearly there, just have to remove the ridge:

the finished product:

 

[Kavanji]

with the OEM CV boot in hand I went back to the front shaft and installed it there.

then I cut a felt strip and installed it with the nylon ring that I made earlier.



the nylon ring with the felt installed:

installed. note the felt closing up the splines to keep the grease in and dirt out:

ready for installation:

the reason why the new boot cant work:

installed:

 

[Kavanji]

You will be repeating this.

yea I know. but the current exchange rate makes a Reel driveshaft just to expensive!

 

[BBrown626]

Will be interesting to see if it works/how long it works. How is the angle of the joint at the transmission end?

My stocker was leaking past the band around the shaft. I replaced it with a Coast shaft.

 

[Kavanji]

I think I busted the CV boot when I installed the lift. I did not remove the driveshaft as described in the instructions and got nicked when I pushed the axle down to get the coil in :blush:

 

[HLKSMSH]

Look up Adams Driveshaft they are strong and at a lower cost baybey they are in your budget range.

 

[Kavanji]

Will be interesting to see if it works/how long it works. How is the angle of the joint at the transmission end?

My stocker was leaking past the band around the shaft. I replaced it with a Coast shaft.

the angle is very steep. I plan on a aftermarket shaft but the exchange rate of 9N$ to 1 USD is a bit steep right now.
I'm holding my breath on this one :thumb:

 

[Berzerker]

yea I know. but the current exchange rate makes a Reel driveshaft just to expensive!

I wasn't busting your chops. I'm in the same boat.

 

[Kavanji]

No offence taken hope the thing lasts until I can save up for a decent aftermarket shaft.
the fun of jeeping

Just
Empty
Every
Pocket

 

[daltexjeeper]

I am impressed with your attempts to fix the driveshaft and I definitely understand that sometimes you have to think outside of the box when living in a semi-remote location (Namibia). I hope it holds up for a decent amount of time! At least you will be able to drive it for now while you figure out where you will source your next drive shaft from. Nice job :thumb:

 

[Linebacker]

The proof is always in the long haul, but I think your "fix" is quite clever. Best of luck!:thumb:

 

[wayoflife]

Is there nobody in your neck of the woods that makes custom drive lines? Really, it's not rocket science and things like u-joints, double cardans and yokes are all made by companies like spicer, neapco and the like. Still, your attempts at repairing your factory shaft is very cool and I appreciate you posting this up. Unfortunately, like you said, the steep angles that the joints see will cause the boots to fail again.

 

[Kavanji]

so my makeshift drive shaft repair failed after all.

the sliding yoke seized up because dirt entered, my clever plan obviously did not work as planed :blush:
the shaft seized up and ripped out of the CV joint. i think i am lucky that the axle and transfer case did not get damaged!!
the lack of 4wd left me severely stuck but some buddys pulled me out

with the oem shaft completely destroyed i had to make a plan. importing from the USA was my first choice but at 15 Namibia Dollar to the USD
this was out of the question.
i found a local driveshaft shop that was willing to help me.

i would have preferred to change the yoke at the transfer case but nothing is available locally so we opted for the adapter.

happy to be mobile again:

 

[Kavanji]

Installed pics