Broke my right front axle u joint the other night. Usually it seems like these fail while wheeling and the wheel/tire gets torqued pretty hard to the outside. I was just driving down the highway, had exited, and then made a right turn. The scary thing is that this happened about 20 yards after I turned off the highway. I was pulling a trailer, and had just driven about 120 miles on the interstate. If this had happened at any time prior to when it broke, I don't know if I would've been able to control the Jeep because the axle binds and the wheel turns the way it wants to.

I had had the C clips tack welded to keep them in place 3 years ago bc they were loose. Also checked the U joints last summer and there was no play in them at all. Not going to worry about this weak link in the JK ever again.

Going to replace the front U joints with RCV axles.

I would recommend you really look hard at your U Joints and fix this before it gets broken. It could be a devastating breakage if you're driving anywhere except on a slow trail, and a pain in the ass even if you aren't really endangered by where/when you break. And it will break.

 

Glad you and your Jeep are pretty much safe.

The RCV is an awesome axle. PM me if you want a quote.

 

I had the same joint on the same side go on me wheeling a couple of months ago. I seriously considered the RCV but couldn't get past the cost. Ended up with Ten Factory chromoly shafts. So far so good.

Glad you're ok and enjoy those RCV's. I'm sure they are worth every penny. (And will be my next shaft as well)

 

This past summer I got RCV's installed and although they are expensive there worth every penny.

 

If you consider what non RCV chromoly shafts cost + a super strong u-joint like CTM, then the price difference isn't that large anymore.