Service your driveshafts... and everything else for that matter!!!

jorgelrod said:
How often would that be? My front ds is greasable up front, but not on the double cardan...
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I had 25k on mine when it developed a chirp. Now u-joints can last a long time. I replaced the 1350's (spicer) on my old Titan with 100k+ on them. As I pulled the first one I realized they were still fine. I just changed them because my carrier bearing bushing went bad.

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RESURECTIONJK said:
100% absolutely worth it. This repair is approaching $4000 quickly and could have been much worse due to the fact that it caused a fire. So yeah, inspecting them regularly and having them rebuilt/balanced once a year is a small price to pay if it prevents a failure of this magnitude.
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Definitely added to my maintenance schedule now!


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I had the same issue about 2 months ago, I also have an Adams front drive shaft. Difference is, I knew I should be greasing it, I did not. I was traveling a lot cross country and I lived in Montana. I did not feel like getting on the ground in negative 30 degree weather to pull the rear part of my driveshaft to grease it. So, as I was moving to Tucson Arizona in January, we hit a lot of snow and salt. By time I got to Flagstaff, I could feel the vibration in my shaft (yes, I said my shaft.)
I also could hear it chirp like an angry bird. It was so annoying. So, I pulled my shaft out (insert joke here) and sent it to Steve at Adams Driveshaft, and he rebuilt it for me at a great price. Amazing Price. I sent it to him on Friday and had it back by Wednesday. Super quick.
 
Just picked mine up from the shop. Basically completely new. Only thing original is the double cardan. All new u joints, tube, yoke, etc. The fellow at the shop couldn’t believe I drove to Utah and back with 50 thousandths runout ...IMG_1789.jpgIMG_1790.jpgIMG_1791.jpg


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fiend said:
Just picked mine up from the shop. Basically completely new. Only thing original is the double cardan. All new u joints, tube, yoke, etc. The fellow at the shop couldn’t believe I drove to Utah and back with 50 thousandths runout ...View attachment 325571View attachment 325572View attachment 325573


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Have you reinstalled it yet? Is there a real noticeable difference from your perspective driving it? 50 thou does seem like a lot!
 
Slimebones said:
Have you reinstalled it yet? Is there a real noticeable difference from your perspective driving it? 50 thou does seem like a lot!
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I won’t have time to install it before Saturday.

I definitely noticed a difference when I took it out and drove a bit in front wheel drive only.


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fiend said:
I won’t have time to install it before Saturday.

I definitely noticed a difference when I took it out and drove a bit in front wheel drive only.


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Yeah, something to note here. Something like this gradually gets worse with time, and not a sudden change, therefore seems almost normal. Kinda like your kids growing up, and all of a sudden you notice they are as tall as you! We probably all need to keep an eye on maintenance more than we do before it gets out of hand. Glad you caught it before it failed.
 
After reading this thread, I'm thinking my shafts need to come out sooner than later for an inspection and lube.
 
jdofmemi said:
After reading this thread, I'm thinking my shafts need to come out sooner than later for an inspection and lube.
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FYI, I grease my double cardan zerks like three times a year. Been running them for about three years now. Adam's with solid nongreasable ujoints. 1310. They have held up very well considering I am not too kind to them. ie: some pretty good abuse on our recent trip to Moab. I plan to replace them soon with 1350's hoping my luck does not run out.
 
Slimebones said:
Yeah, something to note here. Something like this gradually gets worse with time, and not a sudden change, therefore seems almost normal. Kinda like your kids growing up, and all of a sudden you notice they are as tall as you! We probably all need to keep an eye on maintenance more than we do before it gets out of hand. Glad you caught it before it failed.
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My problem wasn’t related to dry U joints. All the joints flexed easily and had no excessive play. The problem was the run out on the main shaft tube. That was caused by a hard hit on something. I don’t think it was Moab, because I had the vibration on the way out. More probably it happened on one of my recent ventures to Big Bear.

Regularly greasing the joints is a good idea, but most people aren’t going to detect a run out problem just by looking at it. I could feel vibrations, which is why I brought it in. Sometimes you need to turn down the tunes and listen to what your Jeep is telling you. [emoji851]


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fiend said:
My problem wasn’t related to dry U joints. All the joints flexed easily and had no excessive play. The problem was the run out on the main shaft tube. That was caused by a hard hit on something. I don’t think it was Moab, because I had the vibration on the way out. More probably it happened on one of my recent ventures to Big Bear.

Regularly greasing the joints is a good idea, but most people aren’t going to detect a run out problem just by looking at it. I could feel vibrations, which is why I brought it in. Sometimes you need to turn down the tunes and listen to what your Jeep is telling you. [emoji851]


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:rock::rock:
 
Service Your Shaft!

Anybody still unsure about the grease fitting on an Adams front DS. Jack the driver's front wheel off the ground a bit. Rotate until you can see the fitting at 9:00 inside the rear portion of the cardan. Every oil change @ 3k.
 

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rmilobrown said:
Anybody still unsure about the grease fitting on an Adams front DS. Jack the driver's front wheel off the ground a bit. Rotate until you can see the fitting at 9:00 inside the rear portion of the cardan. Every oil change @ 3k.
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Super helpful. This is exactly why hers failed. Shop she’d been taking it to was missing this spot.
 
nmwranglerx said:
This may be a stupid question but, if the joints are non-greaseable, what type of service is a shop able to do? My Adams appears to be of the solid variety.


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Not a stupid question at all. A good shop will still inspect the u-joints and center ball joint for wear and advise if they need to be rebuilt. Making sure they are balanced and the slip shafts are in good shape is also worth having them do. The non-greaseable shafts have a “lifetime”grease. But that is kind of a miss understanding as all grease will break down. But the grease in them does last longer so in theory they can go longer intervals. But on the Jk or at least ones with factory style axles the front shaft is always turning which we all know, and the greater the drive line angle the more wear it’s going to see.

I’m no expert and I am basing all of this on what I’ve seen personally and a small sample size of what I’ve seen in the shops that I’ve worked in. There are expert out there that can explain it much better than I and, more accurately as well.
 
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RESURECTIONJK said:
Not a stupid question at all. A good shop will still inspect the u-joints and center ball joint for wear and advise if they need to be rebuilt. Making sure they are balanced and the slip shafts are in good shape is also worth having them do. The non-greaseable shafts have a “lifetime”grease. But that is kind of a miss understanding as all grease will break down. But the grease in them does last longer so in theory they can go longer intervals. But on the Jk or at least ones with factory style axles the front shaft is always turning which we all know, and the greater the drive line angle the more wear it’s going to see.

I’m no expert and I am basing all of this on what I’ve seen personally and a small sample size of what I’ve seen in the shops that I’ve worked in. There are expert out there that can explain it much better than I and, more accurately as well.
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A bad U joint usually is fairly evident to an ordinary person. If the flex is crunchy that suggests the grease is gone. If the joint is excessively floppy and loose, that suggests wear. In either case, you just replace it before it fails.

Potential problems that would be less evident to an ordinary person include determining how much play in the splines is too much, and whether the shaft has too much runout. Those are things a drive shaft shop can help with.


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fiend said:
A bad U joint usually is fairly evident to an ordinary person. If the flex is crunchy that suggests the grease is gone. If the joint is excessively floppy and loose, that suggests wear. In either case, you just replace it before it fails.

Potential problems that would be less evident to an ordinary person include determining how much play in the splines is too much, and whether the shaft has too much runout. Those are things a drive shaft shop can help with.


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Can you explain runout? I do feel I have an understanding, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who could use a lesson. Thanks.

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