What's the shaft out of?

 

XJ. The tag doesn't say what year, but I asked the guy for a 92-96 shaft and he said the computer told him 87-01 was all the same.

 

dude looking good! haven't been on in a while to see the progress.

 

Thanks, progress has been slow because the wife and I were pretty low trying to buy a house.

Well we got the house, and it comes with a 30'x70' 3 car shop. Which I'm super excited about.

The plan is to get the 4 link going in the spring, which will probably include sliders and a new trans crossmember.

After that, I'm planning a full teardown restoration for the winter. That all leads into the motor swap and interior rebuild.

 

Nice man I'd love to have a shop that big. Are you going with a 4 link rear for off-road purpose or ride quality? Or both?

 

It's both, I really thought I'd like the Expo spring swap, but it really didn't help at all.

Once I get a newer full size the Ranger won't be used for utility purposes anymore so I won't need to worry about towing anything.

The 4 link is also an excuse to redo the back half of my frame section, which will include an integrated hitch in the frame rails (for recovery) and a relocated fuel cell.

 

New shoes for the 15's. This will be my winter / trail setup.

 

Looks good man!

 

I love that color! Is that vista?

 

I think it's bright island blue or something like that

 

Correct, Bright Island Blue metallic

 

Sweet color. It's far too under-rated. Nice job too. The black corners and chrome J hooks really work well.

 

I think it looks great with the 15's, much better actually.

 

Yea, I know there will be people that prefer one setup over the other, but I'm glad I kept my 15's.

Having 2 sets of wheels and tires will help save money in the long run.

 

I think both set ups look pretty cool but if I had to pick one it'd be the 15s.

 

My new yoke came with the wrong bolts (and 2 short of what was needed) so I had to grab 8mm x 1.25 caps head bolts from the store, but we got it in. (After breaking a tap)

 

I finally got my custom front driveshaft finished and installed and I have a noise that I can't quite pinpoint.

*Background info*
-Truck has not had a driveshaft for over a year
-Transfer case has never been locked in so the transfer case has been idle the entire time

I have been driving the truck for some time with no noise whatsoever, then after installing the front shaft I hear a knocking / grinding sound, and I can almost feel a little mechanical resistance in the drivetrain. This happens in 2WD and 4WD.

Since I have a D30 without lockouts, the axle shafts and pinion are always turning. The only thing different is a slip-yoke driveshaft (from an XJ) with brand new 1310 u-joints and now the transfer case is spinning.

My suspicion is that since the transfer case hasn't moved in over a year, the chain and sprocket have gotten dry, I haven't checked the fluid level, but there is a possibility that it's on the low, which would contribute to lack of lubrication.

Right now I just plan to drive it every few days to see if it gets better or worse.

What do you guys think?

 

Do you know the pinion angle?

 

I was thinking about that tonight when I was talking to a friend, I don't have a dial at the house, but he does. I'll try and stop by and take a measurement.

 

I like the look of the Mastercrafts. How do you like them? I know you just got them, but any initial thoughts? How much they run you if you don't mind me asking?

 

I like them, they are quieter than my Toyo's and have pretty road behaviors. I haven't had a chance to get them in the dirt too much while I'm hunting down this drivetrain noise.

 

Drivetrain noise update: Went for another drive last night with the shaft in and the noise is the same so today I took the driveshaft out and locked it in 4x4 and there wasn't a bit of noise.

A few things come to mind:
-Is my driveshaft balanced properly?
-Is there something going on in the differential?

Now that the transfer case has slightly redeemed itself, I have to wonder if the driveshaft is truly balanced.

The other thing that came to mind, have the gears in the front differential "wore-in" differently due to not having the mechanical resistance of the driveshaft?

My buddy wants to look at it all tomorrow before we jump to conclusions. I'll keep you guys posted.

 

I would guess a balancing issue from the driveshaft. Or maybe a pinion angle problem?

 

Those are my first thoughts as well.

 

Found the source of the noise. The driveshaft is hitting the yoke of the transfer case. Which blows my mind given that this isn't much lift, it's barely nicking it at ride height. I'm lucky I found this because another inch of droop would completely bind it up.

Anyway, we're going to clearance the yoke enough so that at full droop it doesn't bind up.