Loose Slip Joint Opinions

I have some play/slop in the slip joint on my front driveshaft. I estimate 1/32 of a inch or so when I grab the joint and move it up and down or side to side. How much is too much?
Thanks for your thoughts

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That is a lot of spline showing. If thats a factory driveshaft I think your close to it coming apart at full droop. Possibly what's causing your play. Any changes to transmission/transfercase position?

 

Ditto

 

X3

And if it came out at any speed, the results might be very ugly. I wouldn't even drive it until I pulled it to see.

A drive-train shop could easily extend the shaft

 

Thanks for your input.

It’s a custom made Tom Wood driveshaft that’s been in the vehicle for about 20 years. With the limited use of 4WD I wouldn’t think the slip joint would ever wear out.

I’ll likely pull it and send it back to Tom Wood. I’ll even re-measure to make sure it’s the correct length.

 

True if you have locking hubs and they are rarely engaged.

OTOH, in my own limited and subjective experience, front slip joints seem to wear out sooner than rear ones.

 

Every front driveshaft on every jeep i have ever been in possession of has been worn out. Some of them move around 1/2 to1 inch. None of them have shown that much spline.. Maybe yours has extra long splines, but like the guys said, pull it and check it.

The problem is that when these drive shafts get all worn out, they will fail when you need that 4wd. The splines will spin and that's it.

I made my own front shaft. Needed all new, so I bought all the parts, cut the DOM to length, trued everything up on my lathe and welded it.
Dana Spicer 2-3-4441KX 1310 series Jeep slip yoke for front driveshaft
Dana Spicer 2-40-1771 Driveshaft Spline fits 1.25 inch tubing
Here is the DOM
Buy Cold Roll Steel Round Tube / Tubing Online
And if you just want to make the whole thing new, here is the weld yoke
Dana Spicer 2-26-347 Driveshaft Weld Yoke 1310 Series for 1.25 inch tubing

Those are the part numbers and I didn't want to spend 51 bucks on the weld yoke, so I sourced a NOS NIB one off eBay for some savings

If you don't have a lathe, but still have a welder, it's ok. The front driveshaft can be out of true by a couple thousandths and still be fine unless you do a lot of his speed driving in 4 HI like in snow or you leave your locking hubs locked.

 

I called Tom Wood Driveshafts and was told that 1/32” of play/slop in the slip joint was excessive. I was going to send them my old shaft and have a new slip joint installed but there is not much price difference between a complete new shaft and repairing my old one when you factor in shipping. My welding skills are limited so making a shaft myself was not considered. So, a new shaft is on order.

Here is my old driveshaft fully extended.
There was 3.5 inches of exposed splines and 2.5 inches of splines in the slip.

 

Do you have locking hubs? If so I wouldn't worry about 1/32 of play in the shafts. Just don't drive at high speed with the hubs locked.

 

I recently got both Drive shafts from Tom Woods $238 each (I upgraded to long splines and Rubber Boots) And I couldn't be happier.

 

I would think a good shot of grease would take care of 1/32” of play.

 

I do have locking hubs.

 

I have a few farm equipment dealers and shops around and they all carry pto shafts of different lengths and sizes.....

 

Given that I'd grease it up and stick it back in.

 

Yeah, me too.

 

Something odd when I pulled the driveshaft out and placed it on the bench. I noticed the yokes were not in complete phase with each other. One yoke rested flat on the bench with the other yoke off the bench about 15%?
I wonder if this could promote slip joint wear?

 

Sure. It has the effect of accelerating and decelerating each component in every revolution, working against one another.

Sounds like the slip joint might have been clocked off by one spline?

 

How often do you drive with your hubs locked?