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i did a frame off restro, while moving the jeep i heard a knock by the e- brake drum. with further inspection of the area i discovered my rear propeller shaft was at an angle that allowed the sleeve yoke to bind up alittle on the transfer flange yoke.

ive installed all new u-joints also, has anyone had this problem and what did you do to correct this problem? thxs for any advice!

Have you phased the joints correctly? If both U joints are not operating in the exact same plane that will happen. The only way to get them out of phase is to slide the slip joint together without aligning the two U joints to each other.

wesk, not for sure on the meaning of phased joints?.

thxs wesk, when i get home i'll take a look.

I have a side note or question related to this. On my shafts when I had them apart, there was no way to clock them incorrectly. Mine are keyed to only go in one way. One of the spline teeth is wider than all the others. Does this indicate they are not stock?

No,

I have seen many of both indexed & un-indexed splines. My suggestion was intended to help him make sure his were correct. If he has an indexed spline then they will be correctly phased. If he doesn't then he knows how to phase them now. Most un-indexed spline shafts have a pair of arrows in the two tube for indexing.




I check every make/model drive shaft I install to insure that the manufacturer's recommended phasing is correct. Many split shaft set-ups often do not phase the joints identical.

wesk, they seem to be phased correctly. any other ideas? thxs

Seems to be or have you checked them closely with a straight edge?

The only things that will cause the binding you describe is an out of phase joint, too much angularity due to suspension lift, mixing parts between the early short companion flange driveshaft and the late long companion flange driveshaft or trying her out with rear wheels hanging off the jack or lift.

This is probably too obvious but if you have it locked in 4wd and the front hubs are locked you will get a clunk while turning on concrete. Maybe that is the sound you heard.

nothing has been altered on my end when doing the restore, put it back with the parts that came with it.

i'll get a straight edge and take a look

53a1- i notice it when backing it out of the shop.

thanks guys

If the clunk was not there before you took it apart then you have to review your work.

If the clunk was there before you took it apart suspect a mismatch.

took the shaft out, the spline shaft is indexed like bretto, and as you stated so it's phased.

something is going on with it, all i did was have the trans and trans rebuilt and new u joints installed, but im wondering if the new trans/transfer mounts are raising it to high therefore putting to much of an angle on the shaft??. just a guess

wesk how can i tell if they are mismatch?

Do you have stock rear springs? Is the rear axle tight via the large U-bolts and aligned properly with the springs main leaf.

Or you may simply have an WO# 801675 flat fender rear drive shaft in your M38A1.


This is the correct M38A1 rear driveshaft and the approved substitute for the M38.


This is the correct rear shaft assy. for the M38. It cannot fit properly on the M38A1.

wesk, the m38 drawing show the spline shaft to be 1 1/4 inches, is this also true for the a1? thxs