05 Dakota Laramie 4x4 4.7 automatic....front driveline getting noisy. Squirted some lube in a hole in the boot and it quieted down. Any tips on where to get an affordable replacement? Factory ONE one is $800 & a salvage one (with unknown mileage) is 450 in this area....can't afford that. Anybody sell refurbs?

 

Based on the assumption that you're referring to CV axles, yes, these are available. You can get them through NAPA for sure.

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Ca...404_0333082781

Looks like they're the same part number for left and right sides.

If you're talking about the main front driveshaft...

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Ca...040_0297914209

This one is for the Automatic transmission, the manual trucks take a different part.

 

It is the main Front D/L going from the transfer case to the front diff. (Thnak you for your timely reply, BTW....) Now - is there a DIY video?

 

DIY video for replacing a front driveshaft? It should just unbolt from the transfer case yolk and slide out of the fron diff.

 

I frikin wish. I did this about two year ago.

First it does bolt to the front differential and is set into and bolted into the T-case yoke. You have to unbolt the exhaust Y-pipe to drop the exhaust crossover to get enough room to get the damn thing to slide out. The bolts are a two person job to reach and are probably rusted together. I tried in denial for over an hour before I gave in...

Anyways if it's the CV you can get a rebuild kit from your local parts store for around $100. Not sure about the U-joint as mine was fine. If you have the money JMR sells a double U-joint shaft for $400. A new shaft from other manufactures should cost around $300 but I didn't go that route so I can't say for sure.

Do some searching on here because I know we're not the only ones that have had this problem and everyone that has had the T-case shift motor go bad has had to pull the front drive shaft.

Good luck.

 

It's your front drive shaft cv joint or ''prop shaft" cv joint as it's called. It's the ball bearing joint that attaches to your transfercase. The boot tends to come loose and rip and lets water and dirt get in and rusts the bearings out. You hear the noise because even in 2wd that shaft is constantly turning and if you put it in 4lock or 4low it will be way more pronounced because there is actual power and tourqe being forced upon that joint. You can find the part on Amazon for around 70 bucks.

I literally just replaced mine last week. It's a usual problem with the 3rd gen Dakotas. You won't need to take any exhuast out there is a way to wiggle it to the left of the Transfercase and pull it out from behind (and put it back in the same way) then it's just a matter of taking the old cv off and putting the new one on and bolting the shaft back on.

With the right tools: Battery or pnuematic impact (I used a craftsman battery one thats rated at 300ftlbs of tourqe) to get the bolts out, trust me hand tools will not work unless you heat it with a torch. You'll also need some lock ring pliers if you want to save yourself 30 mins of cussing and screaming. Also a can of BP blaster and a hammer to lightly tap the transfercase housing where the shaft is instered to bust it loose. It's not that bad and you should have it done in about 2-3 hours. Though it could easily take up to 8 if you don't have the tools you need.

 

I'm on my work computer but when I get home I can post some pictures I took durning the repair to help guide you more.

 

Now THAT sounds real encouraging! Thanks for the input.....

 

Thanks, Redman1812 - would really like to see those.photos.....

 

I hope this goes as easy for you as Redman. I wonder what was wrong with mine. It wouldn't come out easily either time I pulled it...