Bad front axle U-joints? Help!

[TwistedCopper]

My front end is squealing when it's cold. Sounds like a U joint going bad.

I raised the front end, and turning the wheels there seems to be no play when the axle U joints move back and forth. When manualy steer the wheels left to right there seems to be a little play in the side to side motion in the joints. I'm assuming this means they are bad? I can't get anything to make noise when it's sitting.

It's hard to tell whether it is making a popping noise because my coil spring hits the trackbar mount very slightly (will be fixed when I install my new LCA's) and this makes enough of a rattle to drown out other noise.

My questions are:
A. Does it sound like my axle U joints are bad?
B. Can they be changed without pulling the whole works apart, or can I leave the shaft in, the rotors on, etc???

For the record, it's not the brakes. I checked them first.

[edit] I'm in a bind. We're expecting more bad weather and I'm leary to drive it...

	Track bar A track bar is a component of a car suspension system that provides lateral location of the axle. While the purpose of the rear suspension of an automobile is to allow the wheels to move vertically with respect to the body, it is undesirable to allow them to move forward and backwards, or from side to side. It is this latter movement that the track bar is designed to prevent. It is a simple device, consisting of a rigid bar running sideways in the same plane as the rear axle, connecting one end of the axle to the car body or chassis on the opposite side of the vehicle. The bar is attached on either end with pivots that permit it to swivel upwards and downwards only, so that the axle is, in turn, allowed to move in the vertical plane only.

[Saurian]

I need to know this... I can take the front driveshft on my buddy's Jeep and turn it by hand about an inch in either direction, maybe more... I hear, clack clack clack coming from the wheels, and can see motion, but the wheels are on the ground, don't think there should be this much play in them... I have no advice, so hopefully someone can teach us both... I have no idea how to chance them...

[TwistedCopper]

I should add that my U joints in both DS's are good

[jeepguy46176]

If your axle is the Dana 30 like in my TJ, it isnt that bad of a job . You just have to take off the brakes and take the 3 bolts that hold the hub in and the axle slides right out. You can have it done in a couple hours. I took my shafts to get the new u joints pressed in but other than that it is a very easy job.

[Bounty__Hunter]

The ujoints are bad if there is any play in them, and you described 'side to side' play. You have to pull the rotor and the hub in order to remove the axleshaft to replace the ujoints. Some autoparts stores like Napa will press in the new ujoints for ya.

Saurian, 1" rotation of the front driveshaft with the wheels on the ground sounds a little excessive. I'd check the axleshaft ujoints first, and then worry about the condition of the ring and pinion.

[Saurian]

That's what I thought... You can see the joints on the wheels clacking back and forth as you do it... Glad it's not my Jeep, but I'm gonna help my buddy fix it... Rotor=thing that brake pad stops against, what is hub?

[Bounty__Hunter]

The hub is the sealed bearing unit that the wheel bolts to. It's held to the steering knuckle by three 13mm 12pt. bolts from the backside of the knuckle.

[siminsez01]

changed one of my axle u-joints recently. not that bad of a job except the woman at auto zone gave me the wrong size u-joint. not counting the trip back out to auto zone it was a 1.5-2hr job. make sure you either have a breaker bar or pipe....or both.

[Snitty]

yeah its not the most fun... but i wouldn't call it hard

do NOT use a hub puller... to remove the hub, back the bolts out about 1/4 inch at a time and whack them inward, knocking the hub loose... you'll get frustrated, it doesn't always come right off

[TwistedCopper]

Well I took the XJ to the shop to get aligned today. I asked him to take a look at the axle U joints and he said they were fine. This guy has 2 XJ's (one of which has a RE 4.5 kit on it) and is pretty knowledgeable. He says he thinks it's my wheel bearings. I told him not to bother checking as I should probably change them anyhow and that I would do it myself.

[Junkpile]

You could go ahead and change them anyway, since you will be right there when doing the bearings. I'm paranoid about front axle joints. If you've never had one pop......it sucks.

[TwistedCopper]

True, half the work would already be done for the bearings anyhow.