Front driveshaft clunk

[HEG77k10]

Howdy! My k10 has a 6” rc all spring lift with a transmission crossmember drop kit. When in 4hi or 4lo and under power, the constant velocity double u joint binds up and jerks the whole truck with each turn of the driveshaft. It happens going straight and with the wheels turned. On the highway in 4 wheel drive it’s perfect but off road with the tires spinning or going up hill it starts to bind. The rough country instructions say to trim the metal in the cv ujoint housing so it will clear, I’ve done all that and taken more metal off than the instructions say and it still binds. Has anybody had the same problem and what did u do to fix it? It has Dana 44 front with a part time np203.

 

[nvrenuf]

Is the CV assembly good - are both joints good? Is the center pivot ball good? If either is bad the CV wont operate correctly.

That said, you may have simply exceeded the angle abilities of the stock CV.

Btw, tcase drops are a bad idea. Follow me here... The tcase is connected to the motor so when you space the tcase down it does not drop straight down, it drops on an angle. Since the motor mounts are unchanged the drop causes the rear of the motor/trans/tcase assembly to tilt downward. This tilted drop improves the rear driveshaft angle but it worsens the front angle (which could be exaggerating your CV issue).

 

[HEG77k10]

All the joints are good in the cv, I didn’t even think abt the drop kit making the front angle worse. I will try taking out the spacers and seeing what it does, thanks! Do you know if there are aftermarket front drivelines that are made to go the steeper angle? I haven’t seen any that outright say they have a higher clearance cv joint. Thanks again

 

[PrairieDrifter]

I would try pinion angle shims. Try and get the least amount of degree shim possible. You should also get and angle finder and measure the angle on each yoke from the pinion yoke and transfer case flange. Max spec is 3 degrees difference from each other.

 

[nvrenuf]

There are CV’s made for greater angles but they get REALLY expensive.

Check High Angle Driveline.

 

[HEG77k10]

Well I took out the spacers and went to jack up the crossmember so it was tight to the frame and my dumb self didn’t think abt hitting the exhaust. I just had a new exhaust put in and they did it around the transmission and transfer case WITH the drop kit installed. Transfer case doesn’t fit between exhaust. I’ll try pinion shims next.

 

[Grit dog]

Damn that stinks…

 

[Rumbledawg]

as mentioned, i would check the cv ball first.
when you say you removed metal in the cv, did you mean the angle stops?
i had to grind mine out, first time out it sounded horrible and kept binding and grabbing. their the little bumps inside the cv limiting how far they can go (angle-wise)

 

[TJ1978]

I have this issue. I want to get my 203 back to stock placement. But my exhaust runs right were I need the crossmember to get flush with the frame. I guess I could dent the exhaust pipe but. This sucks because I've done the exhaust twice and explicitly told them to get the pipe inside the frame rail, and they failed. Anyway, a third time is coming.

I have a 205 going in to replace the 203 eventually, so I'm just running it as is for now.

Also if you keep the Tcase dropped you may think about spreading the weight better and getting a better clamping area.

I did this, as suggested by some people elsewhere. Yes I should have the bolts going the other way, but I don't wheel often enough to flip them.

 

[squaredeal91]

I've personally never had much luck with a double cardons but I'm sure that They have there place. They are rebuildable in the center part, there's these cups that wear out. Sounds to me like maybe yours maybe worn out too. Had a short short driveshaft on a jeep once and kept blowing out the cups or whatever they are. Went to single u-joint and haven't looked back. On my scout I had to shim my front axle to try to maintain decent pinion angle.