For those of you with 97s that have 4 u-joints, what is the production date of your truck? My truck was built March of 97 and has the u-joint at the rear diff instead of rotoflex. I'm wondering if they changed mid model year 97 from rotoflex to u-joint.

 

WELL.....my '98 DI had 129,000 miles on it when i got her a year ago..........and by all accounts the po's DID NOTHING.......and it has ujoints with no rotoflex....so I'll assume it came that way. I've been wondering if the roto flex was made to reduce some vibrations, i have one @ 50mph(goes away @ 60) that i just cant track down.

 

Have the balance on your tires checked. Driveline vibrations generally don't go away with speed, they get worse.

 

Mine was made 12/96 no records of a conversion. 1st owner was all dealer and then his son did nothing but tear it up.

 

Dodge and Chrysler also have a rotoflex on the rear drive shaft. Not sure about the pick-up trucks but all the cars using the 300/charger platform have one. I'll also check at work later today if Jeeps do.

 

see, yours was just after mine, but the LSE designation, I thought didn't start until 98. The base was LS and the upgrade was LSE. before it was SD for the base and SE for the upper. I think someone added a sticker to yours...

 

I thought that same thing but I have seen others with 97 LSE and saw it listed as an option somewhere. I think it was late 97 model year that they started the LSE designator as a transition into 98. From what I can tell there's no major difference between my LSE and an SE.

 

Your drive shafts have "slip" joints, it allows your driveshaft to get longer and shorter as the axles move up and down.
Most trucks, Jeeps, Chevys, etc. have this at the end where the driveshaft mates with the transmission, it just slides onto the output shaft with no bolts holding it on.
Just a couple of weeks ago I saw a guy with a Rubicon and the driveshaft was laying on the side of the road and he was standing outside the Jeep on the phone.
He lifted his Jeep and when he hit a bump the driveshaft came out of the transmission and fell onto the road.
Rover bolts everything with Loc-Tite, and I mean everything.

 

Learn something new every day. Took me a month to figure out what SD-7 meant. I have thought about putting HSD-7 just for kicks. I need to slap some paint on her before I get to ordering decals.

 

my 97 was made in 9/96 and it has a rotoflex. im surprised how well it has been with 4", but ill probably get it converted to u joints sometime this month.