Need help U-Joint & Transmission

[CanaMark]

Last night my 4th drive shaft broke off the U-Joint, luckily I was close enough to home that I rolled it home. I can fix the U-Joint no problem, I just hope I didnt bust the rear-yoke (Part that comes out of rear axle) That was $100 from dealer, but I found some used ones.

As for the transmission, it might be related to my U-Joint problem. But I am thinking its not. Before I could drive the Jeep in 4x4 mode without having the rear drive shaft in. For a very short time.... of course. Now I can't even do that. My 5 speed manual transmission stick can go into every gear without pressing the clutch pedal down. I thought this was a clutch fluid problem, but its topped up. I pray to god my transmission is not broken, that will be costly.

I must admit I drive hard, and I do some crazy things. Like I seem to be doing this alot, where I am doing like 40mph in 3rd Gear and I shift into first and let the clutch out, making the tires squeel as they slow down. I think thats how I broke it this time. Doing this is hard on the equipment.

The U-joints were loose before anyway. And a few days ago I needed to put DOT 3 fluid in my clutch resevior. If my transmission if broke how hard is it to swap in a TH400 automatic? There is alot of used ones around here. And it will be better suited for offroading as I do not have 3 legs for clutch gas and brake all at the same time.

[addihs214]

Swapping from manual to transmission is really a pain in the ass and can be costly unless you have a donor Jeep to work with. It can be done but there is a lot of swapping of parts. But driving the way you do, nothing will stand up to that abuse for long. So it wouldn't be worth the swap. My suggestion would be to use the brakes more instead of downshifting from 3rd to 1st. If you want an automatic, sell you Jeep and buy an automatic. Thats probably the easiest and cheapest way to go from a manual to automatic.

[CanaMark]

There is a place online called JEEPSTUFF its a junkyard full of Jeeps and trucks. They seem abit on the expensive side. Its not a self serve junkyard but more like a storage/warehousing store. They sell everything, I might buy an auto trans. from them off another YJ for $500. The manual trans repair kit costs $400. But I am 50% something is wrong with it.

It is not normal for the trans to get into gear without clutch. However I did pop it in 4x4 mode to drive it off the street into garage. Was rough. Then when I parked it, and wanting to move it up another foot, it would not move. Just might be a U- Joint problem, messing up the transfer case sensor and/or slippage.

I will fix the drive shaft and U-joints tonight. Hopefully it will run noramally. Of course I will drive it REAL EASY for a month until the memory of the Jeep being busted is gone from my mind, and my regular driving habits come back.

Its those damn wimpy clamps with those tiny bolts that is the weak point. I might do the modification to that.

This is off topic, but I am pondering fixing my Mazda B Series 4x4 has a 4cyl manual transmission. How small is a Chevrolet V8 small block? compared to my Jeeps Inline 6? I have seen Ford 5L swapped in with major mount and grille modifications. How much smaller is a small block compared to a Ford 5L? My thought was to to throw in a V8 small block, with a bullet proof TH-700R4 auto trans, NP205 and a doubler with Dana 60 Rear / D44 Front. 4 Link suspension if at all possible.

[fredjacksonsan]

Originally Posted by CanaMark

I must admit I drive hard, and I do some crazy things. Like I seem to be doing this alot, where I am doing like 40mph in 3rd Gear and I shift into first and let the clutch out, making the tires squeel as they slow down. I think thats how I broke it this time. Doing this is hard on the equipment.

At 40. No wonder your u-joint broke. Soon, you'll be looking for a synchronizer for 1st gear and wondering why that's broken, too.

[CanaMark]

Thats probably what I need now. WHY IS THAT?

[fredjacksonsan]

Well, when shifting to any synchronized gear, the synchronizer matches the speeds for the different gears as they engage. Over time, they wear. Doing what you are doing, shifting to 1st at 40 (without double clutching, I'm assuming) is putting one hell of a lot of wear on the synchronizer for first gear.