Jeep Cherokee Front Drive Shaft Rebuild

How to Rebuild the Cherokee Front Drive Shaft / Dual Cardan Rebuild

I bought a used front driveshaft to replace the rear as part of a slip yoke eliminator (SYE) installation. If you want to save some cash you can purchase a Cherokee front driveshaft that has the dual cardan joint from a junk yard or on Ebay. It is probably a good idea to replace all the u-joints. There are 3 u-joints that you will need to replace to rebuild the drive shaft. Another part you will want to inspect is the guide ball that rests inside the dual cardan. This part can get rusty and need replacement as well.

TOOLS:
Pliers
Ball Joint Press (can rent for free at most chain auto part stores)
Hammer
1/2 Inch Socket Wrench or another Wrench for press

PARTS:
New U-joints
New Centering Ball
Dust cover seal
Grease

DISASSEMBLY
STEP 1: The first thing I would suggest doing is to either take pictures like I did or mark the individual pieces so you can put them back together the same way they were. I don't know if it really matters and probably doesn't but it is better to be on the safe side.








STEP 2: REMOVE THE CLIPS
Use a pair of pliers to remove the clips that hold the u-joints in. I found it made it easier to twist them as you squeezed them with the pliers.
If they still are hard to get out you can hit them with a hammer to loosen up the clips.

STEP 3: PRESS OUT THE U-JOINTS
Use your ball joint press to press out the U-joints. It shouldn't be too hard. Use a breaker bar on your socket wrench if it is not pressing out.
Push it as far through as it will go so you can pull the cap on the other side off.




Use a pair of pliers to pull the cap the rest of the way out

Put the press back on and push the u-joint the other direction to push the other cap out.








Remove the rest.




STEP 4:INSPECT THE DUST COVER and CENTERING BALL and SPRING
This one didn't have any cracks but if there were cracks you may want to replace it. I just use a hammer and a punch to remove it.
Check for rust and corrosion on the ball and the pin bearings in the ball. If it is bad you should replace it. There is a seal that holds it in and it is kind of a bugger to get out but you can do it with a screwdriver.
STEP 5: REMOVE THE OTHER U-JOINT










REASSEMBLY
STEP 1: CLEAN ALL THE PARTS AND REGREASE
I used the same U-joints to rebuild the dual cardan drive shaft. I cleaned them up pretty good and used new grease. This shaft is being used as a spare so I didn't care to replace with new ones.

NOTE: Keep the U-joint as far onto the U-joint cap as possible while putting the U-joints back in. Sometimes when they are being installed the pin bearings will fall out of place inside the cap and if that happens you can break them in the process of pressing the caps in.























Once you put it all back together you can reinstall it on your Jeep.