4x4 Newbie question

[Nick G]

I've been wrenching since the teenage years, but this is first venture into the world of 4 wheel drive....

After removing a busted locking hub on my 86 CJ7 with a Dana 30 , the axle shaft has a lot of play in it. Both in and out and side/side, up/down. Common sense tells me that it isn't right, the question is, how bad is it and should there minimal play there, or none at all?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Torxhead]

Your concern should be in the axle u-joints which should be pretty tight. If there is a lot of slop in there this might be a good time to change them, or you can wait and do it on the trail. If you do go out on the trail, you should be equipped to change them anyway. When an axle u-joint lets loose sometimes it will take out the mounting ears on the axle and stub axle with it if not at least bend them up in the process.

 

[Nick G]

Thanks I will look there tonight. It will be a little while before this one is trail ready.....

 

[Old Dog]

It's a free floating axle so there is some play but not a lot.
Might be a good time to check the spindle bearing too.

 

[Nick G]

I planned on checking all the bearings and at least repacking with clean grease. From the looks of most things the PO wasn't much of preventative maintenance kinda guy.

 

[Techlight]

From the looks of most things the PO wasn't much of preventative maintenance kinda guy.

I'm not sure why, but they never really are.

 

[Nick G]

Thanks everyone. I pulled the axle out and the U-joint is pretty sloppy...Any hints/suggestions on the best way to get it out? Considering it has the Spicer stamps on the endcaps, I am assuming it is original. It definitely looks almost 30 years old.

 

[Torxhead]

You have to remove those end retaining clips to tap out the caps. Usually when I replace a front axle u-joint its already busted and I have to straighten out the ears if I can, if not, a rag gets stuffed into the hole.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

A large vise and a couple of sockets works for me.
Don't forget to lube the joints before install.
Spicer was OEM and ALL, I'll ever use.
5-260X is the PN.
LG

 

[Nick G]

So the more I dig into this drivetrain the more questions I have. Should there be a seal behind the axle U-joint? (at the end of the tube). There wasn't and I'm thinking there should be, however I had no differential grease leaking from there.....

 

[Lumpy Grits]

No outboard seal.
Seal for the axle oil is close to the diff. carrier. Be careful with the axle re-install.
AGAIN-The factory service manual(MR252)would ans these questions!
LG

 

[Hedgehog]

Make sure you pull the spindle, which you must have done and check/service the spindle bearing, this is probably the most forgotten bearing in a Jeep. Also, it seems freaky to find that thete actually is nothing holding the axle in, it will slide right on out.

I just did the u-joints on my relative to me new front axle. I'm terrible at replacing U-joints and I've done a ton of them. Lately I've started cutting them out with an a gle grinder. Just cut the cross and remove. The caps an ears aren't expoxed to a lot of tramma. Then I heat the ears/cap. Before removing the cap drop in a few ice chips and after removing the inner C-clips the caps come more or less right out. After cleaning things up a little grease on the new caps and they slide in with little resistense. I know some of the guyys will feel a need to chime inon how to change U-joints and they are right and their methods work, but guys I'm 55 years old an have changed a pile of U-joints I got sick of pounding on them with a hammer, occasionally losing a bearing inside the cap .... for me, golly what a mess. since I started cutting the joints out the bearing s go in smoothly and I haven't lost a single pin bearing.

When you put the hub back on you will still find that the axle is loose. The hub bearing holds the outer part of the short axle in line. You will also find that the axle will move in/out quite a bit. When installing the snap ring get a bolt that will thread in the threaded hole at the end of the axle. Pull the axle out as far as you can using the bolt as a handle, then snap the ring on the axle shaft ... remove the bolt.