Just bought my first jeep(stock '88 Wrangler) after test driving it EVERYWHERE, come back to the lot from the bank, sign the as is form and 2 miles off the lot just cruzin' at 55 or so on the highway there's a nice *crack-bang-clunk* and a foot and a half of steel flying towards the car behind me(he faired all right, it ended up in the median).  It snapped right at the transfer case and then worked it's way out of the U joint at the diff.  Dispite the as is form, the dealer is willing to do the bare minimum free of charge.

My question is what other damage should i be looking for?  I did see it dripping a little fluid when he was loading it up the ramp on to the truck.  Also, i plan on no more than a 3" lift some time in the future, probably after a tour in the sand box.  Should i be looking at investing in an upgraded drive shaft now, or is it not worth it if i'm keeping everything else stock for the time being?

Thanks,

Roger

I would take a close look at the rest of your u joints, frame crossmembers, and suspension for loose, bent, or broken parts.  Did you (or a compentent mechanic) take a look at it before you signed on the dotted line?

Wow, did the shaft actually break, or did you just sling a U joint? It's pretty common for a poorly maintained (as in never greased) or one of those "lubricated for life" (yeah it's lubricated until it runs dry and blows up) U joints to seize up and sling a bearing cap.  It's odd if the shaft actually snapped in a stock Jeep.  Either way you usually will have some warning before a driveshaft goes south on you, either a squeek, or a vibration, or a clunk when you put it in gear or accelelerate or decelerate.

The fluid you saw dripping was ATF out of the transfer case.  Almost all of the transfer cases made since the early 80's use the slip joint from the driveshaft to seal the rear output of the xfer case.  J&B Conversions (and many others) make a fixed yoke kit that allows for a longer rear driveshaft that can help with rear driveshaft angles on lifed Jeeps, and in the event that the rear driveshaft is out of commission you can drive home with the front axle engaged and won't loose all your AFT out of the xfer case.

Hope all is well with the "new" Jeep.  Even if you did break something serious, don't worry a 16 year old vehicle will need some work, and there are tons of parts and aftermarket products for the Jeep.  Welcome to the wonderful world of 4 wheelin' If you aren't a gearhead, yet, you will be soon.

Thanks for the quick reply.  I spent about 2 hour's looking over everything(i thought) and then test drove it around town for about an hour.  It looked and felt good, but in short i blew off the take it to a mechanic rule.

Yes, it actually snapped the shaft, between the transfer case and the first u joint.  I'll try to get a picture up if i can find a scanner.

The dealer overnighted a new drive shaft, so hopefuly i'll be running around in it tonight...to a non-bias mechanic to have the "should have done this before" inspection done, and look for further damage my untrained eye wouldn't see.

Thanks again,

Roger