Looks like I'm experiencing a cascading failure on my rear driveshaft. On the trip home from Sedona, right around Casa Grande I started to feel a vibration when ever the driveshaft was under torque (accelerating, maintaing speed and engine braking). If i shifted into neutral or got going slow enough while braking then the vibration would go away.
Turns out the u-joint on the differential side has developed a good 1/8 inch or so play.
I believe this is a cascade from when the rear trackbar bracket snapped and my axle swung around freely causing driveshaft contact with the river raider skids.
All so fun!
if you look closely at the u-joint, you can see the shiny newly exposed metal where the play happens:
i hadn't noticed this after the track bar was fixed, but the metal surrounding the bolt holes for the driveshaft are now ground down causing awkward shapes:
which seem likely to have caused uneven/abnormal spin forces and combined with the prolonged stretch of driving at 80mph that eventually the u-joint began to fail.
moral of the story, inspect, inspect, inspect when you get back from wheeling where you rubbed on rocks or broke parts.
tom woods is taking the driveshaft back to get it rebalanced and in working order again. until then, i'm jeepless.
that sucks,,, although I'm glad you made it though Sedona and back home... maybe an upgrade coming??
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