Rear drive shaft failing?

[Tim]

So I’ve noticed some vibration in the last week or so. I know it’s not the tires as they are new in the last 3,000 miles and were road force balanced. I crawled under to check the driveshaft and noticed grease sprayed under the truck in a line. even with the carrier between the 2 sections of the rear drive shaft. It also looks like a part on the end is bent. I am assuming this is no good and the driveshaft needs to be replaced. You can see where grease has sprayed out of the end of the shaft.

The transfer case end is also bent even though it’s a different section of the shaft than the one where grease is spraying out.

A few things to note:
I installed an AEV lift prior to the new tires, hence the spacers under the carriers. There was no grease spraying out then and I definitely did not cause the kink in the flange. I was super careful when I installed the spacers.

I did not do any wheeling recently.

The truck has 48,000 miles so the factory bumper to bumper warranty is long gone. Is this considered power train where I could possible get a dealer to replace it under warranty?

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[Renegade]

First of all, there’s no way those CV dust seals got bent that way unless each section of the driveshaft was dropped beyond its usual parameters. Has anyone but you worked on the driveline?

 

[Jaxmax]

Who did the lift, if you did you would know if something happened, like the differential falling off a support and perhaps bending the driveshaft flange at the end of the drop. Might be considered powertrain, would not hurt to ask. I really don't like the design of the driveshaft and someday might get a Adams driveshaft for rear or both....It looks like the shaft hit the collar somehow, but tough to figure it out. If you are out of warranty and have to replace perhaps an aftermarket straight shaft should be considered.
I'm no expert but it seems odd no replies yet, so heres a bump at least......Jack

 

[Mac]

In the last picture it almost looks like the driveshaft sustained a hit, looks like the flange is bent a little and the driveshaft looks scraped in the same spot.

 

[Tim]

First of all, there’s no way those CV dust seals got bent that way unless each section of the driveshaft was dropped beyond its usual parameters. Has anyone but you worked on the driveline?

The only other work that’s been done to the truck was a fuel pump replacement by a dealer. The fuel tank gets dropped for that so there’s a chance they had to drop/remove the shaft as well?

Who did the lift, if you did you would know if something happened, like the differential falling off a support and perhaps bending the driveshaft flange at the end of the drop. Might be considered powertrain, would not hurt to ask. I really don't like the design of the driveshaft and someday might get a Adams driveshaft for rear or both....It looks like the shaft hit the collar somehow, but tough to figure it out. If you are out of warranty and have to replace perhaps an aftermarket straight shaft should be considered.
I'm no expert but it seems odd no replies yet, so heres a bump at least......Jack

I did the lift. I was very carefull with the carrier. I am almost positive I didn’t let it droop far enough to kink the flanges. There is always a chance I damaged it despite being careull but I am fairly certain I didn’t. I went under the truck a few days after doing the lift to check the torque on the carrier bolts and didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary and there was no vibration at that time.

In the last picture it almost looks like the driveshaft sustained a hit, looks like the flange is bent a little and the driveshaft looks scraped in the same spot.

This is possible but I haven’t been wheeling since July and that was just beach driving. I can’t recall hitting anything at all recently. I guess there’s a chance some road debris got kicked up but I would think I would’ve noticed.

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In any case it certainly didn’t get bent and start leaking grease all on it’s own. I already have a drive shaft on order. In the mean time should I be worried about catastrophic failure with this? The Gladiator is my DD.

 

[Tim]

First of all, there’s no way those CV dust seals got bent that way unless each section of the driveshaft was dropped beyond its usual parameters. Has anyone but you worked on the driveline?

This is most certainly the cause. I was looking at the pictures again and the dust seal on the t-case end is bent exactly the opposite of the rear section of the shaft. The only way that could happen is if the carrier was drooped too far.

So there are 3 possibilities:

1. Dealer that sold me the truck did a shitty job with the driveshaft recall was completed prior to me purchasing the truck.

2. The dealer that replaced the fuel pump damaged the driveshaft during that repair.

3. I damaged the driveshaft installing spacers under the carrier.

 

[Renegade]

No worry about catastrophic failure with that unless there’s more unseen damage. Good luck.

 

[Blade1668]

Bingo... on the possibility of when they replaced the fuel pump.
Maintenance "technician's" at many places don't expect owners to actually look under their vehicle's so they don't report damaging other components always. Then when the part fails you the owner are liable for the replacement parts "do to misuse or abuse"
I'm jaded with most dealership maintenance work, I've had more than a few negative experiences with different dealerships over the years, on 3 different Jeeps. To the point I about take pictures of before and after work is done if not stand by watching work be done.

 

[Gren71]

You could always pull lift and take it back to the dealer and say “hey, this wasn’t like this before” and try to get it covered.

 

[Tim]

Bingo... on the possibility of when they replaced the fuel pump.
Maintenance "technician's" at many places don't expect owners to actually look under their vehicle's so they don't report damaging other components always. Then when the part fails you the owner are liable for the replacement parts "do to misuse or abuse"
I'm jaded with most dealership maintenance work, I've had more than a few negative experiences with different dealerships over the years, on 3 different Jeeps. To the point I about take pictures of before and after work is done if not stand by watching work be done.

This is my first Jeep but I agree with your sentiment on dealers. I've had too many bad experiences to put much faith in them anymore. I do all my own work unless it's simply out of my ability or warranty will save me a significant amount of money. When my fuel pump died I was 500 miles from home on vacation so I was at the mercy of the closest dealer on that one.

You could always pull lift and take it back to the dealer and say “hey, this wasn’t like this before” and try to get it covered.

I'm sure that was at least a little bit tongue in cheek, but I like the way you think. That said, there's no way that will happen. As mentioned above, the dealer that replaced the fuel pump is 500 miles from my home.

 

[Gren71]

I'm sure that was at least a little bit tongue in cheek, but I like the way you think. That said, there's no way that will happen. As mentioned above, the dealer that replaced the fuel pump is 500 miles from my home.

Just a little, but more serious than not. Thats a heck of a hike for a dealer!

 

[Tim]

Just a little, but more serious than not. Thats a heck of a hike for a dealer!

Yeah I was on vacation in the Outer Banks when the fuel pump died. I was just glad it didn't happen on the beach. That would've been a hella expensive tow...

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