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In the rock crawling world, and heck, even when people put big lifts on their old jeeps, this is a common thing. But mostly it's shade-tree mechanics and low speed operation.
Two double cardan joints effectively shorten the drive shaft considerably which makes the angles even worse. So not surprising that vibration was the result. Has there been confirmed use of a custom shaft with a Rezeppa at the pinion and a 1310 double cardan at the transfer case (I don't recall having seen one, only that it has been discussed)? The angle will be pushing the limits for the double cardan and the use of this one DC will shorten the shaft too, but it stands a greater chance of operating without vibration than the twin double cardan setup. The centering ball would need to be lubricated regularly and likely need to be replaced on a consistent schedule, but it might last longer than the OEM Rezeppa at the transfer case. The high operating angle will limit the life of the u-joints too, but at this point it is a question of finding the best compromise out of all the imperfect options. I would be completely fine with rebuilding the double cardan every 20K miles if that was the expected service life without it causing trouble. This is a materially longer interval than many are getting out of the Rezeppa joint.
This has not been done.....yet
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I do like the DC at the t-case. Not a fan of replacing the centering ball, PITA factor. If it has the same replacement interval of the CV, I’ll just keep spare CV shaft on hand and casually swap them.
DC center ball will last vastly longer than the Rzeppa rubber boot. But, the angles are still too high for a DC joint if the truck is lifted too much. So the center ball life span may be a bit shorter than normal. But you should still expect 100k miles between rebuilds.
Most owners would likely be happy with a 50K rebuild interval, 100K would be outstanding. I have a local drive line shop that rebuilds the double cardans on the drive shafts from my Jeep. They make short work of it and the price is very reasonable at ~$350 for new u-joints, new centering ball and a rebalance. The Grenadier would just get added to the rotation. This same shop also builds custom shafts. I should inquire as to whether they could balance a Rzeppa/Double Cardan combo.
Post in thread 'Sven Made Driveshafts'
Yep, that's it. It appears to be a Frankenstein. And I can't tell but I think that might be 1350 joint not 1310.
I kinda recall reading somewhere that it was 1310’s but they do look larger. I wonder what the outcome was? You would think that if it worked than we would have heard more about it.
I though he posted a while ago here or on Facebook that it did not work due to vibration?
He said that about the first Double Double he made. I am not aware of any discussion about the DC with Rzeppa.
That appears to be another Double Double. It will inevitably vibrate, if not on day one but certainly after a few hundred miles or so. Double Doubles are not ideal, the centering balls are left to fully support the shaft and they wear quickly and allow misalignment and vibration.
As in 2 Rzeppas?
