Front Drive Shaft Swap?

[Frank]

Hey all -
There's a front drive shaft on eBay from a '74 Cherokee. Since CV joint's crapped the bed, I was wondering...
Will this shaft fit my '88 Wag? My thought was to buy it, get it squared away and swap my existing shaft. My mechanic said the front universal would be fine, the length would work but the cardan joint flanges/bolts/connections may be different - any thoughts? Thanks!

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Frank
'88 Grand Wagoneer, "Sluggo"
Box Stock, 2" Bodylift

[scotty]

both should use the same cardigan joint,the bolts go thru the yoke and thread into the other piece.in a worse case scenario,youl may have to pull you front yoke to swap bolts if the threads were different,but i think they should be the same.

however,are you sure the lengths are same?what engine/tranny are in the donor rig? i think the th400/QT front shaft is the same length as the 727/229 front shaft if they both are attached to a 360. if one of the rigs is a 6,its front shaft will be longer.also,am not sure if a manual trans/dana 20 shaft is different length,compared toan auto,given the same engine.

the other thing to consider is that the 74 shaft is prolly the skinny little stickboy,with a 1" or so diameter. your front shaft is at least twice this. if its mostly an "inclimate weather" rig,that prolly woint matter,but for abuse youll want to stick with your stock one.

my advice would be that your money would be better spent pulling your old one and having it rebuilt.



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scott
85 grand wagoneer
258 with motorcraft 2bbl/904/twin stick dana 300/dana 44/welded amc 20
38x15.5 gumbo mudders
snorkel/dual batteries/onboard air/"custom" convertable
3 inch body lift/mostly stock suspension/"modified" fender openings
custom front/rear bumpers and brushgaurd

T18/dana-spicer 18 with drum E brake and PTO swap very soon
searching for offset QT rear and PTO winch

[Veepster]

speaking fo driveshaft rebuilds..........I just picked both my shafts up yesterday.....COMPLETE reuild on both of them, balancing etc....$375!!! ouch.......and to make it a double ouch...I came home and installed them and then I can't find the keys.......so I can't go try out my new pieces!!.........aaaaahhhhhhhh, I am frustrated!!!....I want my keys!!

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Peace.............BartG

the Green Flash!
360 2v, TH400 QT with low
4" skyjacker Rancho 9000's
33x12.50 BFG KO's 8" American Racing Baja Rims
Thorley headers, 3" exhaust, Dyno Max
Infiniti power leather seats
50%Luxury Car, 50%Tractor
http://www.teamgodspeed.com

[Frank]

Veepster -
After rereading my post and yours, seeing it in black and white, makes me think you're on the right track. The auction has no real particulars on the donor vehicle and even if I were to win this auction for $20 (the current price is $12 or so) not knowing the real ability to swap the two seems haphazard to me. I guess I needed to see it for myself... There are a couple local shops that'll rebuild my current shaft so I'm thinking the money would be more wisely spent following that lead.

I spent the other evening changing the water pump on my wife's Caravan (15 degrees/15 mph windchill.. no grarage!) so the least amount of time out on the street for me, the better! That's why I figured to do it once and be done with it. Good thing is, I'm off next week with nothing to do but build Legos and play Nintendo with the kids so maybe I can find time to get the shaft off as well...

Thanks go out to you guys (and all FSJer's on this wonderful forum) for the help and have a great Holiday Season. Merry Christmas!

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Frank
'88 Grand Wagoneer, "Sluggo"
Box Stock, 2" Bodylift

[Frank]

Ooops! Scotty, I didn't mean to not list you in my latest post. I just typed faster than I could think! Sorry for the slight...

Merry Christmas!

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Frank
'88 Grand Wagoneer, "Sluggo"
Box Stock, 2" Bodylift

[Veepster]

I always prefer to fix my own problem pieces......I know what i started with....I support this idea for all parts....I would much rather have my carb rebuilt instead of getting a rebuilt one....the same goes for engines and trannies and such...

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Peace.............BartG

the Green Flash!
360 2v, TH400 QT with low
4" skyjacker Rancho 9000's
33x12.50 BFG KO's 8" American Racing Baja Rims
Thorley headers, 3" exhaust, Dyno Max
Infiniti power leather seats
50%Luxury Car, 50%Tractor
http://www.teamgodspeed.com

[porkchop]

Hey, Bart did you find your keys? http://www.ifsja.org/ubb/biggrin.gif

Are you up for the run in Febuary also?

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'67/'79 Wagoneer mix
“Old Timer”
Check it out! (http://members.fortunecity.com/porkchopsfsj)

"I have a dream that one day FSJ's will be equal at every parts store."

[Veepster]

NO I DID NOT FIND MY KEYS!!!>>>>>>>AAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Feb....it depends.....there is a big Jeep Jamboree at Dumont Dunes in February....and they run the sand drags...I was there last year and I ran HORRIBLE...so I have to go this year for some redemption....

------------------
Peace.............BartG

the Green Flash!
360 2v, TH400 QT with low
4" skyjacker Rancho 9000's
33x12.50 BFG KO's 8" American Racing Baja Rims
Thorley headers, 3" exhaust, Dyno Max
Infiniti power leather seats
50%Luxury Car, 50%Tractor
http://www.teamgodspeed.com

[River Beast]

Frank,

I'm glad you decided not to try the "swap"... I had a parts rig for a while with the same setup I have now... TH400/QT. The Parts rig was a 79 W/T and mine is a 78... the shaft DID swap and to my advantage... the W/T shaft was slightly longer and beefer.

Back to the point...I had another shaft laying around from another mid 70's FSJ and the yokes for the QT to bolt to the double-cardin wouldn't line up. The spacing on the shaft end was too wide even though the end caps fit perfect. I guess there are different output shaft yokes ... at least two that I know of now...

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Todd
78 Wagoneer, "River Beast"
360/TH400/QT
Dana 44's locked w/ 4.89's
39.50x15x15 Super Swamper TSL's
7" SOA in front-7" Rear Shackle Inversion Mods
4" Skyjacker Softride
3" Trailmaster Bodylift
My FSJ site: http://www.geocities.com/spazz4life (http://www.geocities.com/spazz4life)
My E-mail: monster_fsj@hotmail.com
"If you can't stop...SMILE as you go under!"

'93 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban...a.k.a. "FSJ Hauler"

[River Beast]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Veepster:
NO I DID NOT FIND MY KEYS!!!&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;AAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Feb....it depends.....there is a big Jeep Jamboree at Dumont Dunes in February....and they run the sand drags...I was there last year and I ran HORRIBLE...so I have to go this year for some redemption....

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Merry Christmas Bart... hope all is well.. except the key thing...

You could always sit behind the wheel and go "VROOOMMMM!!!" and say she's "smooth as silk" http://www.ifsja.org/ubb/biggrin.gif

Hope you find 'em buddy....just a little humor...



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Todd
78 Wagoneer, "River Beast"
360/TH400/QT
Dana 44's locked w/ 4.89's
39.50x15x15 Super Swamper TSL's
7" SOA in front-7" Rear Shackle Inversion Mods
4" Skyjacker Softride
3" Trailmaster Bodylift
My FSJ site: http://www.geocities.com/spazz4life (http://www.geocities.com/spazz4life)
My E-mail: monster_fsj@hotmail.com
"If you can't stop...SMILE as you go under!"

'93 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban...a.k.a. "FSJ Hauler"

[Veepster]

I need some humor.......cry cry....

and Todd.....Merry Christmas to you and your family!!!

your Brother in Christ.......BartG

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Peace.............BartG

the Green Flash!
360 2v, TH400 QT with low
4" skyjacker Rancho 9000's
33x12.50 BFG KO's 8" American Racing Baja Rims
Thorley headers, 3" exhaust, Dyno Max
Infiniti power leather seats
50%Luxury Car, 50%Tractor
http://www.teamgodspeed.com

[andy d]

Veep, you have a rare jeep indeed. it has the rare still needsa key option!! hope you findem. you remind me of me. Happy Holidays

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'88 gwag,pure stock

[miked]

veep, a mind is a terrible thing to waste http://www.ifsja.org/ubb/smile.gif

checked out your pictures, nice wagone.. ERRRR, 4 door cherokee. the pictures of the gutted interior look all too familiar right now. have any pictures of how the inside turned out?

happy holidays!

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Mike D'Ambrogia - San Ramon, CA
69 Custom Wagoneer - The Firetruck

Built 350 w/ Buick 4 barrel manifold, 600 cfm quadra-jet, RV cam, 10:1, Pertronix ignition,8mm plug wires
MSD coil
rebuilt TH400 w/ B&M shift kit
Powr-Lok rear end
Factory A/C
Herculiner over new floorboards
Complete rewire with American Autowire Power Plus kit
LPG/Propane install coming soon!