The Official "What The Heck Is This?" Thread

not stock . does it
pull - off road lights
turn - fan switch

 

My initial guess if it wasnt factory was manual override for the electric fan. I was sorta right, as it turns out the PO wired it as a on/off for the "automatic" electric fan.

Found a connection that had come apart, fixed it and traced the wires back. Mystery solved and no more overheating.

 

Possibly rust proofing plugs

 

Welcome to the forum from up the road. Did you purchase that jeep up in the Tahoe area? I think I remember seeing it on Craigslist.

 

Good memory, Truckee.

 

I know Its a needle bearing from my front driveshaft U-joint. I found it on the floor after I had it all back together.

Question is - How bad is it to be missing one needle?

 

I didn’t see anything. Did you?

 

Its bad in my opinion.
They are all in there for a reason and when one is missing the load is not dispersed as it should be. It would be bad enough to be stranded by a failure but consider what could happen in a catastrophic failure where the driveshaft comes apart and flails around violently or drops to the ground and pole vaults you uncontrollably.
You will likely not be able to drive your Jeep without thinking about this...takes the fun out of enjoying your ride.

 

This will not diminish the strength of the joint in any noticeable way. The only thing it will affect is the longevity of the joint. With it being the front, keep it lubed and forget about it. It will outlast you.

My $.02

 

Pull it out, check the yoke cups, if it’s not missing there whack the yoke with a hammer to dislodge the other cups after you take out the retaining clips and find out where it’s missing or just drive it. It’s a front driveshaft not th rear.

 

So, your only missing one...that you know of.
I followed your build, you put a lot of time and effort into it. Do you really want to start compromising things now?
It should only take an hour + - to check them and do it right.
To each their own, just my opinion.

 

I left one out many years ago, and didn't bother (yes, on the front driveshaft). Years later, I was in there working on something else, so went and pulled it apart. One stub end of the cross joint was heavilly grooved, and all the rest were like new. Did it fail? No, but it would have failed at some point. It was noticably chewed up.
The old adage" you can pay me now, or pay me later" seems to hold true in this case. Maybe you left that roller out of one of the u-bolt ones that are easy to check.
-Donny

 

I'm with Donny on this one. I'd almost bet the wear grooves were at a bit of an angle too. All of the needles in there keep each other "honest" as they are tight to one another and can only roll true and straight. With one missing, the space between allows the needles to twist slightly back and forth depending on the load. When they can twist, it also causes them to bind between the race surfaces and will create angled wear grooves.

It will work, just won't last as long as the ones with all the needles in them.

 

This.

 

You guys worry too much.
I must be really lucky to still be alive!

 

I feel the same