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Took my '04 down to the farm with a friend over the weekend and was able to do a little trail riding on the logging/fire roads.
On the drive home started to hear a chirp consistent with road speed. We stopped at a gas station and I checked all the wheels for debris/ice/gravel. Nothing.
Drove on another 20 miles to the next small town, at which point the the chirp sounded like metal on metal when I was at highway speeds. I had just had the both drive shafts removed and greased, so I wasn't convinced that was where the sound was coming from. We pulled over into a Menard's parking lot, found a flat spot and I got out the socket wrenches. Figured I'd pull the front shaft and hope that was the issue because I really didn't want to deal with a bad wheel hub 70 miles from home.
Laying on the asphalt in 30* F weather is no fun but the front driveshaft came off fairly easily. Stowed it in the back of the Rover, started it, got it rolling, locked the CDL and there was no squeak. I thanked Jesus, cursed my mechanics, and drove home.
From what I can tell the shaft failed at the end that bolts to the Transfer Case. I'll take a closer look today to see if it is greased. This is the third front driveshaft that I've put on this thing. I'm only running a 2" lift with 33" tires, but it must be enough to eat these driveshafts. I'm thinking this time I'll go with a GBR heavy duty unless anyone else has a better idea.
I bought the Rover in 2016 and I think it had 102,000 miles at the time. I'm at 212,000 miles now.
A lot of around town(it's my work truck), a lot of highway miles(from the Midwest to the Colorado Rockies and Folly Beach, SC twice) and some off-roading.
The second and third driveshafts were from Lucky8 and both failed at the same spot, the front u-joint. Had a shop tell me they are not rebuildable.
The one that just failed was fully greaseable and, i think, failed at the transfer case side. I dropped it at a Driveshaft shop this morning to see if it can be rebuilt. They'll let me know where it failed.
center ball failed if it's at the t-case side, easy spot to miss when greasing if you aren't familiar with these. I'd look into gwynn lewis for driveshafts after tom woods seem to be hit or miss and GBR is kind of right there too in my book.
The one that just failed was fully greaseable and, i think, failed at the transfer case side. I dropped it at a Driveshaft shop this morning to see if it can be rebuilt. They'll let me know where it failed.
Being greaseable (and you kept up with it) It should last indefinitely. They are also fully rebuildable. And it may not have completely failed, just dry. If you greased it before you took it off, it may have been fine. I keep a mini grease gun in the truck for this reason. The hardest part is getting to the centering ball with a needle fitting. Maybe that's the squeeky part, but a shop may not tell you the culprit, they'll probably just gut it, and reassemble with new parts. If you're depending on a shop to keep it greased, this could be why you're going through them..
Redrover doesn't get out much any more, and less often gets out of town, but last weekend I took Redrover for a Scouting Camporee about 90 miles from home. I lead the organizing group, so there were a lot of things I needed to take that would not have fit in the Accord.
I know a 180 mile roundtrip is no big deal, but when I stopped on the side of the road out in the quiet country with no radio on I was struck by just how quiet and smooth the engine was. And no, I hadn't shut it off! No Amigos and no SRS light, plus a consistent 188.6°. What a pleasure it is to drive this truck. Just shy of 180,000 miles and running strong. I've owned it since May 2002 when I bought it with ~21,500 miles, and I've done all maintenance and repairs since the fall of 2009.
The title of this thread is "What did you do with your DII today?" Most often it is more of a what did you do TO your truck. I just wanted to share a pleasant experience with my DII.
Being greaseable (and you kept up with it) It should last indefinitely. They are also fully rebuildable. And it may not have completely failed, just dry. If you greased it before you took it off, it may have been fine. I keep a mini grease gun in the truck for this reason. The hardest part is getting to the centering ball with a needle fitting. Maybe that's the squeeky part, but a shop may not tell you the culprit, they'll probably just gut it, and reassemble with new parts. If you're depending on a shop to keep it greased, this could be why you're going through them..
This really is the truth. I remove the DS every oil change and grease it on the bench. Make sure I hit the centering ball. 237k on the truck, I rebuilt the ds myself shorting after we acquired it with 180k on it. When I took it off last week it was in fine shape.
Headlights were getting a little foggy again so I did a quick polish on the car. Need to take them off and do them proper followed with a sealant so they don't fog up again. Also need to install my synthetic line and new fairlead and fix that bent one LOL. A never ending list of tasks for this one.
03-21-2023, 07:40 AM
