Front Driveshaft Rattle

[the_overlander]

Hey all,

I had noticed a metallic rattle that occurred over 20mph and increased with speed in my front end. The rattle occurred even when the vehicle was in neutral. This had persisted for several months. This weekend, while wheeling in the high country, following a couple of river crossings, the rattle become very loud and occurred at any speed, including crawling at 1mph. I drove to the mechanic and had him disconnect the front driveshaft from my ox-locked Dana 30, and had him zip tie it to the chassis (costing $20). This completely fixed the rattling.

I know the rattle is south of the transmission and upstream of the front diff. Any thoughts what it might be? U-joint? Slip yoke? Something in the transfer case? Anyone had a similar experience?

 

[tworley]

If it goes away with the driveshaft disconnected then that narrows it down. I would replace the three u joints and centering ball. Use Spicer parts if you can get them over there. How are the splines on the front shaft? Are they pretty sloppy? If so, it might be easier/cheaper to get a whole new shaft.