CAUTION! AWD Front Drive Shaft Removal --Drifts in park.

[bill06447]

It took me under an hour to replace the CV joint in the front driveshaft of my truck-first time-another 15 for the cross joint-I don't understand this "need a new shaft" thing-if you're capable of removing a driveshaft I'd venture to guess you're more than capable to follow the picture instructions and remove a simple snap ring and replace the joint

Bill

 

[rigbyrigz]

thank you sonic/others.

please just correct me if i am wrong.

so i can drive my crippled 2wd with bad gas mileage gingerly without any
undue over-worry about safety or untoward disaster staring me in the face.

Cool. TY.

 

[jremington59]

It took me under an hour to replace the CV joint in the front driveshaft of my truck-first time-another 15 for the cross joint-I don't understand this "need a new shaft" thing-if you're capable of removing a driveshaft I'd venture to guess you're more than capable to follow the picture instructions and remove a simple snap ring and replace the joint

Bill

Bill, where did you get the CV joint?

 

[bill06447]

Bill, where did you get the CV joint?

Got mine from Rock Auto, Dorman 932-201 $82.79 less 5% discount code. Cost me $10 for priority mail shipping (looked like that weekend was going to be my only chance to get it done). The clamp for the boot can be secured with a pair of pliers and a large screwdriver; no special tool needed

Bill

 

[jremington59]

Got mine from Rock Auto, Dorman 932-201 $82.79 less 5% discount code. Cost me $10 for priority mail shipping (looked like that weekend was going to be my only chance to get it done). The clamp for the boot can be secured with a pair of pliers and a large screwdriver; no special tool needed

Bill

Thx Bill. I got one in the garage with a bad CV end. Think I'll get it done so I have a spare. It will fit either my 97 or 2000.

 

[General Bojangle]

Alright guys so its been about 12 months ~ 14,000mi since my FDS removal. Truck is still running great, and I'm still applying the parking break whenever I park (force of habit now). The only thing I'm concerned about is that I noticed as soon as I removed the shaft, that when under hard breaking I can hear the front differential (sounds like its grinding almost). Has anyone else noticed this, or have heard anything about it? When changing the oil the other day, I did notice that the front diff is leaking a little bit of fluid, maybe need to rebuild front diff?

I don't tend on trying to put a new FDS on until I get a manual TC with double cardan U-joints instead of these cheap CV Joints. Done way too many burnouts that I feel like I've already fried the VC in the T Case and a new FDS would just get destroyed 5mi down the road.

 

[pappawolfie]

i know this is an older thread long talked about i have a 97 explorer 5.0 awd Constant front driveshaft issues 3 front shafts in under 2k miles before anyone asks yes all brand new matching tires not even close to a 1/64th difference in any of them. and still no diff in them after driving. thing is i use my explorer for work so im not looking to put much more money into it i already use my parking brake so not too worried about the drifting simply question i have is once i disconnect the yoke and the 6 bolts on the joint at the other end is there anything else i need to do like cover that other side up with something (joint side) or am i just good to disconnect pull out and go? planning on doing this next nice day i have so wanna be prepared. thanks in advance for any info!

 

[bill06447]

Do you have the correct driveshaft? The V8 shaft should be about an inch shorter than the six

Bill

 

[pappawolfie]

according to my mechanic yes who is actually my uncle but unfortunately only slack he cuts me is slight discount on labor and payment plan lol i asked him the same things and doing research verified with other part numbers and vin matching its the correct driveshaft its hard to explain but basically what keeps happening is after about 30-50 miles which i travel 100 miles per night for work i will get a hesitation from a dead stop then a pull/clunk feeling and it keeps pulling the end of the driveshaft where the joint is located not at the knuckle out of there by about 1/4 inch basically disconnecting it like right now with how it is its noisy but i dont have the popping/pulling from the front end when making tight turns around like culdesacs and aside from the sound it runs better overall for what i do which is deliver newspapers basically i have a 100 mile per night stop and go driving route and i only use this vehicle for work since its big enough to hold all my papers and perfect height etc for reaching paper boxes and 3 days a week when i load it down with close to 5k papers probably an extra 1k lbs of weight i dont lose gas mileage like i did in my minivan ntm im taller and bigger guy so its more comfortable. but instead of having to pay my uncle to take it out i know i can do it myself i just need to know if all i have to do is remove it or if there is something else i have to do after removing it so that i dont lose fluids or get any debris in there while i drive etc. and thank you bill for the fast reply we arent sure whats causing it in general everything is aligned ive replaced the suspension all the swaybars and front end handling setup etc after alot of reading im thinking it may have something to do with the transfer case but i dont wanna have to go that route if taking the front driveshaft out will keep me going.

Do you have the correct driveshaft? The V8 shaft should be about an inch shorter than the six

Bill

 

[SoNic67]

There are no fluids to leak.
See my thread:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=400387

 

[C420sailor]

BUMP

Almost killed myself this morning.

V8 AWD. CV joint was blown out. Put the truck up on ramps to pull the shaft and replace the joint. Learned three important lessons:

1) If you remove the front driveshaft, the truck will roll in park. Thank GOD I chocked the wheels.

2) I didn't go with the Dorman CV, because I heard of people running through multiple units after joint after joint tore the boot. Instead, I ordered the Dana/Spicer unit. OEM is the way to go, right? Didn't realize I have to cut the old one out of the drive shaft to install the Spicer unit---then weld it in place and have it balanced. Great.

3) I decided to back the truck off the ramps and put it outside. The second I put it in gear, what I assume was the transfer case made a god awful whirr and loud grind. Threw it back in park immediately. Hope I didn't damage anything. I guess you need to have both shafts in the AWD trucks.