kay...I was under my jeep YJ the other day, and I grabbed the slip yoke, and I could wiggle it. so I pulled off the d-shaft, and the output shaft was good and tight in the tail <thought maybe a bearing was going> put the d-shaft back on, and it wiggled.............
SOOOOOO..............
basically, i was wondering, if someone else was under their jeep lately and if they noticed if their slip-yoke was a bit of a loose fit on the tail shaft......

thanks!

Ahh yes - I am familiar with this problem.

(not paying attention to it resulted in me having to rebuild my T-case in a motel parking lot in Espanola Ontario 2 summers ago - Thank god a chrysler dealership was right across the road from where I broke down - and they were awesome guys - KUDOS - they sent their parts guy 80 cliks away to get me used parts so I din't have to spend the rest of my trip waiting for new parts) This is what I learned....

The yoke has to be a somewhat loose feeling fit to prevent the yoke from binding on the output shaft during driveshaft compression - so this is not a big deal ( as long as your drive line stays balanced ) but one of my "get trail ready" jobs this winter is replacing the bearing and seal which is inside the output housing (a simple press in) - The thing you really have to watch is the output seal - what happened to me as I had just driven a few hundred cliks on that corduroy torn up road and the seal finally loosened up enough to lose the t-case oil out the rear seal. anyway you can figure out what happened from there...

The best thing to do is to install a SYE kit but you need some coin for that.

Make sure the splines are well lubed and check the seal often (you'll see the splatter all over the underside if its leaking)- it has a spiral spring in it that wears out and you should really check it almost every time you drive especially if you have a suspension lift - its really simple to change the seal but you need a press for the bearing - I've got one at work and I picked up a bearing a while ago so I am going to change mine but the chrysler techs didn't think it was really needed so concentrate on the seal

I've been wondering if it would make any sense to try a NP231D (Dodge version) output housing with a lifted jeep suspension - its longer than the jeeps but I havn't found any one who has tried it.

Also this seal won't last long if you have any pre-existing drive line vibration or if your t-case vent is blocked - other than that its normal to be a little loose

Cool, was just wonderin'....thanks!