Help with mystery front driveshaft

Shankster · Jun 14, 2023

My front driveshaft started squeaking on each rotation. I just pulled it out for inspection and it seems that it's not your normal Liberty front driveshaft. It has u joints instead of a CV joint as you'd expect:

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It's a 02 Limited, auto, gas 3.7L (4x4 obviously), purchased in 2020 and no history prior to that other than it was a mall-crawler. Could this be a factory driveshaft or did some shop fabricate something custom for the previous owner?

The u-joints are greasable so I greased them and will reinstall and hope that solves the squeaking problem. There is a big single ball bearing (like an inch in diameter) between the 2 u-joint housings that is exposed to the elements. I dripped some oil in there just in case that's where the squeaking was coming from but it doesn't seem like a great design since it's so exposed. I also measured the u-joints and I found plenty of candidates on Rock Auto if I need to replace them. The rear flange on the driveshaft is 4-bolt but the flange on the transfer case has 6 threaded holes.

So I'm just curious what I've got here? Any ideas?

Luke · Jun 15, 2023

Looks like a unicorn is what ya got

KJowner · Jun 15, 2023

It's a double carden shaft, someone had big lift plans!

Shankster · Jun 15, 2023

KJowner said:
It's a double carden shaft, someone had big lift plans!

Good info, thanks! However, I can guarantee that the little old lady I bought it off had no plans to lift it. Pretty sure it never even saw gravel, let alone a 4wheelin trail, given its condition - not even a rock chip. I'm guessing she took it to a drivetrain shop to get the CV joint fixed and needed it back asap so rather than wait on a new driveshaft they hacked off the CV joint and welded on whatever they had laying around.

JeepJeepster · Jun 15, 2023

Ive never seen that on a liberty. Does it look like the drive shaft has been welded?

The CV joint end is obviously normal.

Shankster · Jun 16, 2023

JeepJeepster said:
Ive never seen that on a liberty. Does it look like the drive shaft has been welded?

Definitely welded at some point in its life - looks good enough to be a factory job but who knows, could have been done by a competent local shop welder too.

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I emailed the Neapco rep for western US and he was no help identifying the appropriate "DC Seat Repair Kit" - told me to find a shop on their website - nearest was Cheyenne, WY, 400 miles away

If the thing keeps squeaking I probably need to squirt oil in there on a regular basis or sadly revert to a (inferior??) factory style driveshaft.

sleazy rider · Jun 16, 2023

Either change the u-joints or find a shop to do it. Make sure the new ones have zerk fittings to be greased. Probably why the current ones are screaming - no lube.

KJowner · Jun 17, 2023

To be honest the factory one isn't inferior, it has plenty of articulation, a second hand one is cheap and parts are available to replace the joints. Unless you want to lift it massively and go rock crawling you don't need it or a SFA conversion!

adamkrz · Jun 17, 2023

These were around years ago as aftermarket driveshafts but the one I bought on my 04 vibrated and I sent it back - Now I just rebuild the stock one when needed.

Shankster · Jun 19, 2023

****** rider said:
Either change the u-joints or find a shop to do it. Make sure the new ones have zerk fittings to be greased. Probably why the current ones are screaming - no lube.

The u-joints actually seem fine. They have zerk fittings and I pumped grease in there till the old stuff had oozed out and the new grease was oozing out behind it. The old stuff seemed clean and the consistency was still good. What I suspect is squeaking is the "ball seat" between the 2 u-joint housings. Since I oiled it the squeak has basically gone (for now, till the oil dries out). It didn't look terrible but it was bone dry and I think there should be a seal protecting it from the elements which would come in the "DC Seat Repair Kit". I think I narrowed down the seat repair kits to 2 possible part numbers - if I need to I'll pull it all apart and can hopefully identify exactly what I need and order the kit and a couple of new u-joints.

Shankster · Jun 19, 2023

KJowner said:
To be honest the factory one isn't inferior, it has plenty of articulation, a second hand one is cheap and parts are available to replace the joints. Unless you want to lift it massively and go rock crawling you don't need it or a SFA conversion!

Good to know but based on the searching I've done in the last couple of weeks there are plenty of failures, and pretty sure the original on my vehicle failed or else little old lady wouldn't have replaced it. I'll use that as a possible plan B (new or used factory style driveshaft) but for now plan A will be to maintain what I've got.

Shankster · Jun 19, 2023

adamkrz said:
These were around years ago as aftermarket driveshafts but the one I bought on my 04 vibrated and I sent it back - Now I just rebuild the stock one when needed.

Interesting, any idea who sold them or under what brand name? I'd like to verify what ball seat repair kit I need if possible. Mine doesn't vibrate - it has balance weight tacked on. The welds are tiny though and I can see how a rust belt car would loose that weight pretty quickly. Mine should be fine though.

uss2defiant · Jun 19, 2023

the very very early 02 might had have that stock. I think it was a mixed bag in the early 2002.
tommudd might know if that's true.

adamkrz · Jun 20, 2023

Shankster said:
Interesting, any idea who sold them or under what brand name? I'd like to verify what ball seat repair kit I need if possible. Mine doesn't vibrate - it has balance weight tacked on. The welds are tiny though and I can see how a rust belt car would loose that weight pretty quickly. Mine should be fine though.

No idea anymore - yours looks like a much higher quality than the one I had.

CheddarGau · Oct 28, 2023

Shankster said:
My front driveshaft started squeaking on each rotation. I just pulled it out for inspection and it seems that it's not your normal Liberty front driveshaft. It has u joints instead of a CV joint as you'd expect:

You must be registered for see images attach

It's a 02 Limited, auto, gas 3.7L (4x4 obviously), purchased in 2020 and no history prior to that other than it was a mall-crawler. Could this be a factory driveshaft or did some shop fabricate something custom for the previous owner?

The u-joints are greasable so I greased them and will reinstall and hope that solves the squeaking problem. There is a big single ball bearing (like an inch in diameter) between the 2 u-joint housings that is exposed to the elements. I dripped some oil in there just in case that's where the squeaking was coming from but it doesn't seem like a great design since it's so exposed. I also measured the u-joints and I found plenty of candidates on Rock Auto if I need to replace them. The rear flange on the driveshaft is 4-bolt but the flange on the transfer case has 6 threaded holes.

So I'm just curious what I've got here? Any ideas?

PM you vin, i"ll check and see if any info is in the configuration list of your lib. I'm looking in service data and it almost looks like they used part of a Durango front drive shaft. it's quite possible the early production models didn't have enough parts and made something work from factory.

Shankster · Oct 24, 2024

Figured I should put this thread to bed. I finally got sick of the squeaking and reached out to Mako Driveshafts (Oakland Park, FL) for help. Steve was amazing and helped me figure out what parts I needed. The ball seat repair kit is Spicer 10018465 (or equivalent) and the U-joints are Spicer 5-153X (or equivalent). The rebuild was a bit more challenging than I anticipated but I finally got it done and no more squeaking.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone else finds one of these under their Liberty. Still don't know if mine was factory or not.

u2slow · Oct 24, 2024

Unless 02 was built differently, the tcase flange must have been changed to fit that double-cardan. Not surprising as XJ's used the same tcases and that joint.

The shop was probably plenty familiar with these other jeeps - built a hybrid shaft and changed the flange.

u2slow · Oct 24, 2024

Shankster · Oct 24, 2024

u2slow said:
Unless 02 was built differently, the tcase flange must have been changed to fit that double-cardan. Not surprising as XJ's used the same tcases and that joint.

The shop was probably plenty familiar with these other jeeps - built a hybrid shaft and changed the flange.

Hmm, what makes you think the flange on the t-case got changed? Looks like the standard driveshaft flange is 6-bolt and mine, while only 4 bolts, is a also 6-bolt pattern. I wish I had measured that flange and bolt pattern while I had the driveshaft off now - if something breaks on the trail miles from nowhere I want to know what parts I need to get from town to make repairs.

u2slow · Oct 25, 2024

Because mine is cup-shaped (not flat) for the stock Liberty driveshaft. I also have a spare XJ tcase with a 4bolt flat flange.

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Help with mystery front driveshaft

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