97 mountaineer BREAKING FRONT DRIVESHAFT!!

[mountaineerbeast]

I was climbing a mountain for 10 miles yesterday in my mountaineer and when i got to the top i noticed that fluid was getting flung off my front driveshaft. I think that either means that the front driveshaft is about to die or worse, the awd trasfercase.

Somebody please help me with this.
What front drive shaft can i use? Can i use one off a 97 4.6L expedition because that's what it used in a manual t-case swap.

 

[Dan Whitaker]

No you can not use an Expedidtion drive shaft if you have the AWD case. You will need a drive shaft for a 5.0 AWD Explorer or Mountaineer.

There are were two different lengths used so you will need to measure it.

 

[mountaineerbeast]

Isn't there some other front drive shaft i could use? One that doesn't have a stupid cv joint will fail again.

 

[mountaineerbeast]

It hasn't completely gone out yet. Is there a way i could save it?

 

[drdoom]

Get under there and do a proper diagnosis. Last time I checked, the driveshaft does not contain fluid, but the differential and transfer case do. Try to see where the fluid is coming from.

 

[Dan Whitaker]

If the boot is torn and it is throwing grease it's done.

 

[mountaineerbeast]

There's some kind of lubricant that is flung in a line around where the cv joint is. I don't think i would have been able to drive 22 miles back home if the transfer case was leaking.

 

[Turdle]

You could get an adapter plate, then graft a toyota flange to the drive shaft.

But then it needs to be balanced so this gets$$$$$$

The cv joint itself is not the issue in as much as the tiny rubber boot up in the cv cup. The direction of the cup easily catches a rock , then due to the angle of the shaft-cv, this rock gets smashed into the boot area, and causes a rip in the boot. Then the joint gets contaminated. Since the front diff is stationary, you do not need much of a joint at the t case, so the adapter might be a good option

better yet is to swap in a 4406 transfer case, and use a hybrid shaft for the front which is easily done and is covered in the 4406 swap thread.

Backing up a bit though, is fluid coming from the front diff--or t case? The cv joint is filled with grease --so if fluid is leaking from the t case the 4406 swap is the cheapest option for repair IMO

 

[Dan Whitaker]

There's some kind of lubricant that is flung in a line around where the cv joint is. I don't think i would have been able to drive 22 miles back home if the transfer case was leaking.

I was talking about the drive shaft being done if the CV boot was torn.

 

[mountaineerbeast]

Are you people sure i can't use a front driveshaft from a 97 expedition 4.6 because the front outputs on the stock awd transfer case and the 4406 look the same. I already know about the joint conversion to connect it to the front differential.

The transfercase difference is as simple as:
Stock awd BW 4404
Conversion to BW 4406

 

[IZwack]

Are you people sure i can't use a front driveshaft from a 97 expedition 4.6 because the front outputs on the stock awd transfer case and the 4406 look the same. I already know about the joint conversion to connect it to the front differential.

Its more about the length.. and the U-joint at the axle-end might be different, seeing as the Expedition is a half-ton and the Explorer is a 1/4 ton.

But really, just replace the driveshaft with a stock one and be done with it. The new one will probably out last the vehicle .

 

[mountaineerbeast]

Is there a way i could add more oil or whatever to the front drive shaft?

 

[IZwack]

The grease is used the lubricate the CV joint (looks like this). If you get a new replacement driveshaft, then it should already be greased. But if you do want to put more grease in it, the transfer case end of the driveshaft will be spherical and will have a tiny hole at the center. You can inject grease into that hole and the grease should propagate towards the moving parts of the joint.

 

[mountaineerbeast]

I already know that the u-joint is different at the axle end. There is a conversion that you do when you are installing a BW 4406.

Here, look at mountaineergreen's conversion of a 4.6 front drive shaft in this link:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166726

 

[mountaineerbeast]

It's mostly from this thread that i got the idea.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166605&page=7

 

[mountaineerbeast]

You could get an adapter plate, then graft a toyota flange to the drive shaft.

But then it needs to be balanced so this gets$$$$$$

The cv joint itself is not the issue in as much as the tiny rubber boot up in the cv cup. The direction of the cup easily catches a rock , then due to the angle of the shaft-cv, this rock gets smashed into the boot area, and causes a rip in the boot. Then the joint gets contaminated. Since the front diff is stationary, you do not need much of a joint at the t case, so the adapter might be a good option

better yet is to swap in a 4406 transfer case, and use a hybrid shaft for the front which is easily done and is covered in the 4406 swap thread.

Backing up a bit though, is fluid coming from the front diff--or t case? The cv joint is filled with grease --so if fluid is leaking from the t case the 4406 swap is the cheapest option for repair IMO

I'm seriously thinking about the 4406 swap cause i can get the case with linkage and both drive shafts for less that the price of a new stock drive shaft.

 

[patrick112390]

i actually have a custom double cardan driveshaft with the conversion flange from NEAPCO back from before i went 4406..........

 

[mountaineerbeast]

About how long do i have before the front drive shaft dies? It's been leaking for almost 200 miles now?

 

[mountaineerbeast]

OK i would like to know what's truly up with my front driveshaft because I have been off roading several times since the time that i was sure it flung its lubricant out of the cv joint. So shouldn't the going on several trails have killed the front driveshaft?

 

[rollinstone]

The front drive shaft goes from the transfer case to the front differential, and it's a straight drive from the front of the transfer case to the U-joint in the rear of the front differential, right?

And the CV joints are components of the left and right short shafts that turn the front wheels, right?

The front drive shaft coming out of the transfer case has a boot covering the lubricated connection. If the boot gets torn it slings grease and must be replaced. But, it will go on for ages before it finally fails...but fail it will. Once that rear boot is torn and enough time goes by the drive shaft must be either replaced, or it can be rebuilt (cheaper). There's no way to fill it with lube because it's just gonna get slung away. How you gonna fill it anyway...it's pretty much a sealed unit.

I had my drive shaft rebuilt about 3 years ago and it's going strong...I think it was about $180. You can drive around without it just fine while it's being rebuilt...you just won't have AWD, of course.