wolfmanii

nthinuf:

Thanks for your explanation. So I guess due to this spline slide, it allows the drive
shaft to automatically adjust its length to fit in, therefore, no need to worry about
its impact on ring/pionion gear set in differential. right?

runit3

I bought my Jeep w/15k mi on it. The previous owner had installed JE Reel shafts w/cv's instead of yoke style...I drove it 10k mi w/out gearing and then made it 800 mi with gears before they finally croaked. I may have bent the rear one off-roading coming down on a boulder but the front really had no excuse to go. Either way when/if you get new drive shafts get yoke style, NOT CVs.

nthinuf

Correct, those splines on the right side slide in and out of the larger section on the left side to lengthen/shorten the driveshaft as needed. As long as you order the correct length driveshaft, it is not an issue.

When you get a chance, go out to Tom Woods drivetrain and look around. Lots of great info on driveshafts, and be sure to look through the Tech Info area up top.

rcdude3

...that has nothing to do with the pinion going into the ring gear...those splines just slip in and out as the suspension travels. If you have a fixed length DS you will have little to no suspension travel. As your suspension drops down, DS lengthens; suspension goes up, DS shortens. You pinion will not move in and out, it is set with a specific pre-load. If your pinion moved in and out you will FUBAR a R&P in no time!

wolfmanii

rcdude:

Thanks for your post.

According to what you said, the pinion does not move at all, no matter the drive shaft
is fixed and adjustable in length. If this is true and if my drive shaft is fixed in length, when
the suspension travels up and down, will it cause a lot of stress on pinion?

rcdude3

Yes, the pinion just rotates clockwise or counter-clockwise in the differential. Yes, if your drive shaft is fixed in length it will cause stress on the pinion AND the transfer case. Some vehicles come from the factory with a fixed shaft, but they have a slip yoke at the transfer case allowing the drive shaft to slip in and out of the transfer case. Any aftermarket drive shaft you buy, let it be Rubicon Express, J.E. Reel, Coast, TeraFlex, Tom Woods, whomever, as long as it is FOR the JK you will not need to have any worries with the drive shaft hurting/ stressing the pinion at all. They will all collapse/ extend, they are made to do that. You will never have a fixed length drive shaft for the JK, they just dont make it.