I went to another service station for my oil change. It's a local shop that let's you watch him work. He checked all the fluids and lubed all the zerks. While inspecting the propeller shafts and and u-joints, he notices a 1 inch rusted split at the rear of the front propeller shaft slip joint. Does anyone know how much engagement there is in this slip joint? Everything worked normally during this moose season when I climbed a pretty steep hill that included some sizeable rocks to climb over. Then I turned around and creeped back down. It was the only time I used 4X4 recently except for the monthly engaging and driving where I activate the rear locker a few times to keep things free.
I have to admit it was a shock to me when he pointed out the crack. The crack is very rusty with the outside having almost an eighth of an inch wide going down to nothing at the bottom of the crack and as I said about an inch long. So it obviously isn't anything new. This is what has me disappointed again with my dealer. They've been doing all the maintenance up to this time and they never noticed this crack? I was under the impression they had lubricated this shaft and tightened the bolt several times (about every second oil change) and they never saw this? It isn't a new thing when you consider the amount of corrosion. It also looked pretty dry for something that was greased so often and is used so infrequently.
I don't know how much engagement there is in the splines of the slip joint. Since it's the front shaft, there can't be much movement in the slip joint but then again, I don't know if the crack extends below the surface.
I will not engage 4Hi at high speed before this problem is fixed as a safety precaution, but I will try and bluff my way to a new shaft if I can convince the dealership it was so rusted that it had to have started when it was almost new (and under warranty.) I know it a very long shot, but I will also stress that this is a safety hazard and should be reported to the appropriate authorities for immediate recall of all FJ's for inspection.
I gather by your question about how much it engages, that there may be a hint of considering letting it ride. I think I would just start looking for a replacement.
You have been around enough to have heard the mantra...
Pictures, or it didn't happen!
Well the way I see it, there is a wide range of possibilities here. If there's very little engagement and or the crack goes the full length of the splines, I shouldn't drive it.
If the crack isn't long enough to reach the splines, then it should be safe to drive at low speed even with 4 wheel drive engaged. After all, this is for front wheel propulsion and the front diff and transfer case don't move that much in relation to each other. Hi speed 4 wheel drive is certainly out of the question but like I said, I did use it briefly just a couple of weeks ago at low speed climbing a fairly steep trail with substantial articulation.
No I don't intend to letting it ride but I would like to be able to get it to the dealer and have it looked at, evaluated etc. BTW, it's an hour drive from here.
Yes I've heard the mantra. Didn't have a camera when it was on the hoist. I'll wait for nicer weather before I crawl underneath for a photo. It's been raining a lot today.
Dealer likely isn't going to do anything but overcharge you to fix it.
Can your new mechanic fix it? I don't know how much is involved with this, but I think I'd rather deal with the guy who actually noticed the issue than the dealership who sees the truck alot and never noticed it.
Its an '07 so no I'm not expecting anything from the dealer. However I think this is a safety issue specially with the manual transmission. If that shaft drops off at high speed, there are no VSC, ABS or anything else that can save you. What disappoints me is that they never noticed it at the dealer. If they lubed the schaft like they say they did and tightened the bolts, they couldn't miss it. You would turn the shaft to position the zerks for lubing and you would turn the shaft to torque the bolts more easily. For the amount of metal that has corroded away, its a very old crack. I'll try to get good pictures once this storm blows over. For all I know that crack was there when it was new. OK I'm pushing a little. If nobody here has seen anything like this its another indication that it was a defective part. What's odd is that it is still very tight. There is no play whatsoever so I doubt it's a stress fracture or the shaft would have all kinds of play if the hole had enlarged. There is none at all. Its like it rusted from the outside towards the inside.
I don't want to burst your bubble too much, but a manual FJ is is full time 4WD so you've been sending power through that front drive shaft since day 1. Basically you are in 4Hi (H on the transfer case) except with a 40/60 front/rear power distribution. It becomes 50/50 when you move the transfer case knob to HL. I just looked at the front prop shaft on my 08 manual FJ and if this slip joint does fail on you, worst case scenario is that it will whack your floor board, exhaust, and transmission. Best case, you notice it right away and stop your truck to minimize damage. The transmission support bar that runs directly under the slip joint might help reduce damage too. But you aren't gonna vault end over end :nerd If it were me, I would get this fixed ASAP before it becomes costly to repair.
No bubbles here, its an auto. That's why every month I engage 4hi, 4lo then engage and disengage the rear locker. It has about 100k miles. What I meant to say is that if it was a manual it would be more dangerous because of the full time system. Its also why I mentioned no high speed 4Hi before I have it looked at. I was thinking maybe someone knew how long the splines were and how deep inside the slip joint they were. Right now everything is rock solid even when I turn it by hand. No binding and no movement at the slip joint so it should be OK to drive to the dealership an hour away.
Still wet outside but I decided to take some pictures. This is a pretty good one. The transfer case u-joint is at the top and not in view. When I looked looked at the crack a few days ago it was kind of muddy and I didn't see everything I can now see in the picture. Driving in the rain storm kind of cleaned it up. It's even worse than I first thought. Zooming in gives me the impression this is more of a cover than the actual slip joint though. Kind of a cap. It is disturbing. I need an opinion from someone who knows more about these shafts. Like I said, everything is tight. No wobble at all. I've never noticed any vibration at any time in the past but I haven't done any high speed 4Hi in a while. Now you see what I meant that it appears it would be dangerous in a manual transmission with full time 4 wheel drive. Mine is auto so it doesn't turn in 2Hi.
That needs replaced. You can get a new one for about $340 (Part number 37140-60470) plus the U joints or a used one for $180. This is a pretty easy do it yourself job. Good luck.
I wish...I just looked at a Canadian supplier and I think I'm looking at $900 plus shipping for the complete shaft assembly. I wasn't sure if it was with one or 2 u-joints so maybe an extra $86. I see replacement is 8 bolts with nuts (4 on each end.) I'd prefer a complete shaft that way you don't have to worry about balancing and indexing. There's no way I'd tackle installing the u-joints with the special tools and different thickness clips they talk about. I'm waiting for a response from my dealer. Another possibility is salvage yards, but the chances of finding one around here are slim to none but it might be worth a few calls.
Its 10 years old so may not be a concern for most of you, but it's something you should check on yours specially if you have a manual one. With the full-time 4X4, a shaft failure could mean loss of control by possibly locking the rear drive not counting damage to vehicle or possibly loss of control. I've never abused mine in fact the only thing I've changed in the driveline is a rear diff (early build weak ring and pinion) and a rear transfer case seal at the drive shaft. Its seen a lot of off-road mostly hunting but was never stuck and well maintained.
This shaft includes the u joints, is completely assembled, and may even come with new nuts/bolts
Edit: definitely needs replaced, although it's definitely been split for a while, which tells me the shaft was either overgreased and it hydrolocked, or it was defective. Either way, it hasn't been greased/tightened in a while because you couldn't miss that if you actually greased it.
Thanks for the information. Much appreciated. I did think of hydrolocking possibly water intrusion then freezing but for that to happen there couldn't be any grease. If it was over greased it was by the service department. The only problem with that idea is I'm not convinced the slip yoke on the front shaft works that much. Do you think there's that much movement between the front diff and the transfer case? Rear shaft yes but front one?
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