Another "How much lift" and SYE kit question.

I did a search but was unsuccessful at finding out what I was looking for.

My question is how much can I lift a stock XJ without doing the driveline and SYE kit?

The XJ currently rides on some worn 30" tires. I want to eventually get 31's under it.

I currently have some boomerang shackles on order, and am looking at the ACOS spacers for the front springs. The jeep is sitting a little low in the front. I'm also going to put a heavy bumper (Ridgidco?) and winch there, so the ACOS hopefully will let me even out the posture of the rig.

I will be doing a SYE and driveline on her in the future, but want to put it off until I gain full mobility. (T-boned by car while riding my motorcycle)

Also, are all SYE kits created equal? Many years ago, while I was building my old YJ, it seemed that AA was the only option. Now there are many players in the SYE world. Are the all the same, or is one better than the rest?

3.5-4.5" generally. some people have better luck with pinion angle and some get bad vibrations. typically I wouldn't bother with it if I was at 3.5" lift. any higher than that and it's time to start thinking SYE kit. I love my JB conversions SYE I read the description and immediately was sold on their kit
http://www.jbconversions.com/products/sye/np231j_std_sye.php

My 01 lasted around 15,000 kilometers with a true 3.5" lift and corrected driveline angles, No SYE, just set up to run parallel, the U joints held together but now my slip yoke is getting worn out and makes a nasty growl when i lift off the throttle, i re pack it with grease and it goes away for a drive to work, then it comes back again.I do not run a T case drop.


SO even if you do get your driveline setup and running vibe free, the lack of spline engagment at your slip yoke can cause trouble later on, maybe a t case drop will help with that end of things but thats kinda robbing peter to pay paul IMO

My SYE should be here some time this week.

Boost_Retard said:

My 01 lasted around 15,000 kilometers with a true 3.5" lift and corrected driveline angles, No SYE, just set up to run parallel, the U joints held together but now my slip yoke is getting worn out and makes a nasty growl when i lift off the throttle, i re pack it with grease and it goes away for a drive to work, then it comes back again.I do not run a T case drop.


SO even if you do get your driveline setup and running vibe free, the lack of spline engagment at your slip yoke can cause trouble later on, maybe a t case drop will help with that end of things but thats kinda robbing peter to pay paul IMO

My SYE should be here some time this week.

Click to expand...

May I ask which kit you got and where you got it from?

SYE Kit? because my growl is getting worse and worse every day, i decided to go with whatever i could get the fastest, wich happens to be a rough country SYE from a local vendor, lowriders.ca for 199.99 CDN, not mail order, but they have been sold out for a week and should have more in stock mid week.

i have been told the rough country is a re packaged AA unit, i have not bought anything from rough country before, if i had the time to wait for the mail man i would prob buy a JB unit, but i need to get my drive shaft fixed pronto before it pukes on my drive to work.

cant complain about the price though.

JB conversions 1310 CV sye is the same price

that it is, it just seems that most of the local canadian parts are never very competitive price wise compared to mail order from the USA, wich is why i buy 99% of my stuff from the USA, i was surprised when i found out that i could walk into the store and get the same pricing i would ordering online and waiting on shipping. thats all i was getting at..

I was fine wihout sye for over a year at 4".

did a iron rock offroad hack n tap with front driveshaft to prolong joint life w better angles. I did have the bolt that holds the yoke on back out on me once .
I caught it in time but that couldve been bad.

just got a good deal on a jb conversions built T.case and it has full hd sye. I'll be happier with this setup I'm sure

OutkastBoss said:

I was fine wihout sye for over a year at 4".

did a iron rock offroad hack n tap with front driveshaft to prolong joint life w better angles. I did have the bolt that holds the yoke on back out on me once .
I caught it in time but that couldve been bad.

just got a good deal on a jb conversions built T.case and it has full hd sye. I'll be happier with this setup I'm sure

Click to expand...

I was looking at this kit the other day and decided this is what I will get when I do an SYE. I already have a front shaft from a 2001 XJ sitting in the garage so this kit seemed to fit the bill when I came across it.

Other than the yoke bolt almost backing out have you had any other problems? Would you recommend it?

We should all mention what year XJ we are running lifts on.
Later models (96+ I've heard) are not as tolerant of lifts w/o SYEs while some earlier models, in particular the Renix era XJs seem to be fine with 5 inches and change without an SYE. Not an infinite fact but a common observation.

Personally, I'm running 3"+ without an SYE on my 96 and there's a growl at some speeds. I could use an SYE but the Ujoints will survive my temprary "brokeness" for now:explosion

If you are just doing shackles, that's gonna change your angles more on the axle end than a more arched leaf pack. You will likely need to shim if you don't end up getting an SYE.

JeepN4kc said:

I was looking at this kit the other day and decided this is what I will get when I do an SYE. I already have a front shaft from a 2001 XJ sitting in the garage so this kit seemed to fit the bill when I came across it.

Other than the yoke bolt almost backing out have you had any other problems? Would you recommend it?

Click to expand...

that was the only issue i had with it and it was obvious when it happened because i got vibes immediately from it .

Luckily the d-shaft when completely compressed wasnt small enough to fall off of the output shaft.

I would recommend one again but make sure to use plenty of lock tite on it .. and maybe check it once in a while which would involve removing the rear shaft every now and then.

A full hd would be less maintenance once its there its there and is stronger by nature.
i Shimmed my pinion angle to like 2 degrees under

Also i have a 2001 XJ Auto with 8.25 axle

OutkastBoss said:

that was the only issue i had with it and it was obvious when it happened because i got vibes immediately from it .

Luckily the d-shaft when completely compressed wasnt small enough to fall off of the output shaft.

I would recommend one again but make sure to use plenty of lock tite on it .. and maybe check it once in a while which would involve removing the rear shaft every now and then.

A full hd would be less maintenance once its there its there and is stronger by nature.
i Shimmed my pinion angle to like 2 degrees under

Also i have a 2001 XJ Auto with 8.25 axle

Click to expand...

Good deal - thanks for the info. Mine is a 2001 auto 8.25 as well. I liked the IRO hnt kit because it is already set-up for a stock front ds and I don't have to get "another" part to make the connection at the tcase.