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Driveshaft Exploded and My EVAP Canister Caught on Fire

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Old 11-23-2010, 08:24 AM
  #11  
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wow glad your ok!!!
so u have a 4" lift in sig, and 5" in profile.. either way i think the joint dried up and thats why the shaft failed.. it had to have been vibrating a bit.
i have ome hd coils and had a vibe with stock shafts..
im suprized they didnt blame it on the lift..
u should consider aftermarket shafts with new yokes so this never happens again.
hope u fix her!!
Old 11-23-2010, 09:18 AM
  #12  
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Wow, that is crazy that Chrysler wont stand behind it.
Old 11-23-2010, 09:22 AM
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Am I missing something? How is this not the lifts fault?
Old 11-23-2010, 10:12 AM
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Ditto.

Anyone on 4" of lift and running stock drivetrains is on borrowed time.
Old 11-23-2010, 10:16 AM
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Originally Posted by Jeff from Omaha
Ditto.

Anyone on 4" of lift and running stock drivetrains is on borrowed time.
especially on a 2dr if i read the details correctly, that is a STEEP angle for a stock shaft.

I am sorry it happened, but I really dont see why it would be a warranty issue.
Old 11-23-2010, 07:10 PM
  #16  
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I can't believe they just didn't say......nope, your lift caused it. I also can't believe you didn't feel that thing long before it let loose....
Old 11-23-2010, 08:01 PM
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Wait, how the hell is an exploding driveshaft NOT covered under warranty? Was it aftermarket?

EDIT: Even with a 4 inch lift, I'v never heard of this before.
Old 11-23-2010, 08:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Dronac
Wait, how the hell is an exploding driveshaft NOT covered under warranty? Was it aftermarket?

EDIT: Even with a 4 inch lift, I'v never heard of this before.
The lift causes steep angles. Steep angles cause the boots on the ends of the driveshafts to bind/pinch. Binding/pinching causes the boots to wear through, which causes the loss of grease, which causes it to dry out, which causes the joint to seize, which causes... carnage. Especially at freeway speeds.

Haven't seen one catching anything on fire, but he's lucky it didn't take out the tcase also. Plenty of posts with nice pics of that happening...

And an automatic 2door with 5 inches of lift? Guessing that front shaft is losing a lot of grease also!!!

Last edited by nthinuf; 11-23-2010 at 08:11 PM.
Old 11-24-2010, 02:39 AM
  #19  
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Originally Posted by Dronac
Wait, how the hell is an exploding driveshaft NOT covered under warranty? Was it aftermarket?

EDIT: Even with a 4 inch lift, I'v never heard of this before.
Because at somewhere around 4 or 5 inches of lift, it is highly likely to just about an absolute degree of certainty that the modifications to the suspension directly caused the shaft to fail. Which is NOT Jeep's fault. It would be nice if they covered it for him, but I really doubt he has a leg to stand on at all. I doubt they will make a presedence of accepting responsibility for damage to a vehicle caused by a modification.

This is a WELL KNOWN issue with the stock driveshafts, and preventing exactly this type of failure is why most people replace the shafts with ones DESIGNED to operate at those angles. The stock ones simply are NOT designed to do so. Pretty much any lift 3" and up puts the stock shafts beyond the angle they are made to function at. The history of posts on the forum regarding this has shown it isnt a matter of "if" they will fail, it is simply when it is going to happen. My stock shafts started to spit grease almost immediately after installing my 3" lift on my 2dr. I replaced them at less than 100 road miles and there was already the telltale grease stripe across the bottom of the Jeep.

I really am sorry he had a failure, but I honestly dont see why Jeep should cover a toasted shaft that was in all likelyhood a direct result of the owners modifications.

As for the OP, I would suggest you try checking the Freebies/for sale sections, maybe someone has a stocker you can get for free, or close to it, to hold you over until you get a suitable replacement.
Old 11-24-2010, 03:07 AM
  #20  
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Originally Posted by HappyCurmudgeon
Because at somewhere around 4 or 5 inches of lift, it is highly likely to just about an absolute degree of certainty that the modifications to the suspension directly caused the shaft to fail. Which is NOT Jeep's fault. It would be nice if they covered it for him, but I really doubt he has a leg to stand on at all. I doubt they will make a presedence of accepting responsibility for damage to a vehicle caused by a modification.

This is a WELL KNOWN issue with the stock driveshafts, and preventing exactly this type of failure is why most people replace the shafts with ones DESIGNED to operate at those angles. The stock ones simply are NOT designed to do so. Pretty much any lift 3" and up puts the stock shafts beyond the angle they are made to function at. The history of posts on the forum regarding this has shown it isnt a matter of "if" they will fail, it is simply when it is going to happen. My stock shafts started to spit grease almost immediately after installing my 3" lift on my 2dr. I replaced them at less than 100 road miles and there was already the telltale grease stripe across the bottom of the Jeep.

I really am sorry he had a failure, but I honestly dont see why Jeep should cover a toasted shaft that was in all likelyhood a direct result of the owners modifications.

As for the OP, I would suggest you try checking the Freebies/for sale sections, maybe someone has a stocker you can get for free, or close to it, to hold you over until you get a suitable replacement.
Yeah, I was waiting for someone to spell this out. It's exactly like someone blowing a motor after installing a supercharger without performing any other strenghtening mods (rods, pistons, bearings, heads, etc) & then complaining dramatically about it here & expecting Chrysler to come to the rescue.

Sure the installer will say their supercharger (or in this case their lift kit) will work fine with stock driveline components, but they certainly won't offer warranty on components other than their own if something breaks in lieu of Chrysler's, which (as is spelled very clearly in the warranty documents) is null and void if these modifications are shown to have caused the component failure.


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