Dinged Drive Shaft

PeterP did pass the time by typing:

That depends what you do. If your planning on highway driving your shaft will be unbalanced and start to put wear on U joints and bushings. If your just off-roading a spare shaft would be a good idea because you will eventually twist it up.

Retubed

replace it with something stronger.

If that was mine I would just drive it. It is a front shaft so it does not even get that high speed freeway use so balance will not be an issue at all. Nothing in those pictures looks like structural damage.

It's a TJ, stock front axle and DS, always turns.

/Peter

Not if he has manual locking hubs and has them unlocked, right?

... unless it's on a workbench in the garage, of course!

/Peter

A combination of both, unfortunately.

As in, retubed with thicker tube? Or another drive shaft entirely?

/Peter

Either. It depends on where you are going with the Jeep. If your planning on a lift kit you might look into a stronger drive shaft or one that can more easily resist off-road abuse.

Then now's the time to upgrade! :-)

I've already the u-bolt yoke, but I think I'll put in on the high-pinion Dana 30 that's also in the garage while changing the gear ratio, and swap that in. I'll stick with straps on the stock D30 until then.

/Peter

I guess, but it hasn't broken yet. I'm only running 33" tires and no lockers. I'm trying not to go much beyond that until the payments are done. Seems to me I shouldn't be upgrading until I'm regularly breaking things or frequently getting stuck, neither of which is the case yet. I just don't want to be asking for trouble by ignoring things that shouldn't be ignored, hence the question about the driveshaft "ding".

/Peter

I've had a 3" lift on it for a couple of years, and offroad about a dozen times a year. I'm not sure when the "ding" happened, it's just as rusty as the rest of the shaft. I suppose it could have been there for a long time, perhaps from before the lift and I just haven't been observant enough to notice. I think I'll stick with the shaft as is until I replace the front axle and have to address its length anyway. Maybe I'll try and get a spare shaft in the meantime.

I wonder how much damage can be done to the axle and transfer case when a drive shaft pretzels?

/Peter

PeterP did pass the time by typing:

That depends on how it goes. I've seen everyting from zero damage to broken castings. Although the broken castings have only been on the rear shaft.

Sorry, I meant upgrade to manual locking hubs. That would save on drivetrain wear for highway use and maybe give you a tiny bit better gas mileage even.