Is it possible to replace the front driveshaft without a lift? I am leery about jacking up the truck on stands and working under it. I am small enough to wiggle under for inspection or oil changes.

Thanks.

 

I think it's just as easy. In fact easier on mine, as my front suspension can drop low enough to not allow spinning of the driveshaft for removal.

 

Not sure how big you are but I change my oil and can loosen the bolts on the driveshaft by just climbing under the car with no jack and I do not have a lift. I am an average size guy and have no issues. I usually loosen two bolts (four total) on each side of the driveshaft, the roll the car a few feet (so driveshaft rotates) then loosen the other four and remove it. I know my driveshaft sticks on one side and I still have room to get some leverage to muscle it out.

That being said I always recommend stands when raising a vehicle if you do have to go that route. As long as they easily meet the weight specs I have never worried to much . I usually lower my car onto the stands and then put slight pressure back onto the jack so they are both holding a vehicle up in case one of the other were to fail. Then of course use chocks behind the wheels as needed

I actually ordered a serviceable driveshaft for mine the day I bought the car without checking the existing driveshaft. Sure enough previous owner had already replaced it so I have two newer serviceable driveshafts. I find it easier to service them out of the car and in my case I just switch them out every 5k miles or so.

 

JDWilks: When you say, "roll it a few feet", do you start the truck and drive it, or, literally, roll it? What is the proper position on the truck's body for using the floor jack, and I guess the stands go under the axles? Is it likely that I will have to use a penetrating oil to facilitate removing the shaft's bolts? Truck has 128,000 mi and shaft does not appear to be rusted. Thanks.

 

Just literally push it, the wheels need to spin to rotate the driveshaft.

 

You should be able to slide right under the Disco without jacks or jack stands. I did mine just yesterday. I did not move the truck to rotate the shaft, that is an awesome tidbit of info that would've saved me time and frustration yesterday trying to remove the top bolts!!!

One piece of advice...Make sure your wheels are chocked during removal. I forgot to chalk mine, when I took out the third of four bolts the drive shaft slipped down causing the truck to slight shift back and jammed the old drive shaft in, causing me to think of how to remove it after it was stuck. I got it out, chocked the wheels and was able to put in the new serviceable shaft. Took me about 2 hours total (with maneuvering the bolts...re-install was pretty easy).

Good luck and enjoy the new shaft!

 

5'10" 190lbs and have done in a parking garage. No jack stand. loaned a guy one to hit the trails and he did it in the parking lot......speaking of which, that bastard still has my driveshaft.

 

Yeah as mentioned above I just put it in neutral and push it in my garage. That being said moving it a few feet with motor running isnt going to hurt anything at idle speed if still being held tight by two bolts on each side

 

I had some solid jack stands I used to use.
You can just go under there without any jacking up.

If you have running boards that make it a lot more difficult.

 

Hell, I did our old D2 in the driveway, which was sloped toward the street without jackstands or a jack. Come to think of it, I probably didn't have the wheels chocked either... dumbass. I'm about 6'3", 225lbs. It was tight under there for me, but it was doable.

Anyway, it's not all that bad to do. I think it took longer to remove it, than it did putting it back in. Reminds me, I need to order a replacement from Lucky8 for my '99. At 200k miles, I'm sure it's due to be replaced.