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 | First, make sure that the driveshaft in your Jeep is in sound working order. This is for your own safety and comfort, as well as for the safety of the guy following you (at a nice safe distance of 15 feet) down the freeway at 70 MPH. It certainly is no fun to have your weekend outing or the trip to the corner market interrupted with a driveshaft failure that can be an inconvenience at best or deadly at worst!
Driveshaft and U joint failures can be attributed to one, or a combination of a few limited factors. Those factors are maintenance, driver abuse, external damage, improper installation, poor driveline geometry, or quality and strength of components. | |
| On stock applications, poor maintenance is the number one killer of driveshafts. Unfortunately for us, the consumers, most domestic stock driveshafts have little or no provision for lubrication. The vehicle manufacturers are saving a couple of bucks per vehicle by not putting grease fittings on the wearing components. Because of this, there is not much that can be done to prevent a stock driveshaft from wearing out. We can give the driveshaft a quick visual checkup to ensure our safety, though. It doesn't take much time and will never hurt to check things out any time you're under the vehicle.
Inspection of the driveshaft will require the vehicle's transmission or transfer case to be placed into neutral. Be sure to set the parking brake. This is important because if there is any pressure on the driveshaft, you will not be able to detect the minimal clearances that will be the first indicators of an impending problem.
Try twisting each of the yokes that attach to the U joint in opposite directions and attempt to move them side to side, checking for movement independent of the U joints. If you have any detectable play, in any direction, you have too much. Many times you can have a U joint that is beginning to seize up and you'll not be able to observe any play in the joint. When this happens, you may be able to see a rusty oxidization on the U joint around the bearing cap seals. You might also be able to hear a squeaking noise while driving the vehicle that will start out slow and cycle faster as the vehicle moves faster. The squeaking may also disappear at a high speed. | 
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