Lifts & Angles

I posted this in the OEM forum but I need some feedback on the angle question if anyone has a minute.

Thanks.

OK
About 2 years ago I put on a BB lift 2.5" with spacers in the front and 2 rubber isolators. In the rear I used my stock springs and added 2" longer shackles with a 1/2 lift block to even things out. I was never really happy with the way the springs looked although the rear of the jeep did rise up maybe a couple inches.

So I bought "new" stock springs to use with the shackles cause it just seemed like the springs were flat. After installing the "new" stock springs it was even worse. They were flat and ready to invert. So I decided to just blow the cash and buy some 3.5" lift leaf springs and go back to the stock shackles.

The pics:




Here are the stock springs with the longer shackles (Note: FLAT)




Here are the "new" OME or stock springs (Note: Less than flat)

So then, remove the "lift" shackles and install 3.5" lift springs on old stock shackles with new greasable bushings.



Here's the finished product. The arch is back in the spring without the shackle. I do't know if the shackle screwed up the geometry of the spring but I just paid $300 and a half day just to have ARCH and true lift height.

The lift from center of hub is a true 3.5"

So, the point of this is a.) shackles suck b.) stock springs SUCK c.) spring for the better stuff because you'll just have to fix it later.

Now, for my question. The 2.5" lift didn't come with any angle shims because it didn't really lift the jeep enough to worry about. The new springs cames with a 3% angle shim. The drive shaft angle from the rear end is now just about dead on flat, that's good I think. The front isn't changed, it's still at a true 2.5". So, I have 3.5" in the back and 2.5" in the front. Will this affect my transfer case negatively with the variation in the angle?

It looks great and I will drive it up and down the street to settle the bushing/shackles befroe I torque it up in the morning. I also detached the rear sway bar and wired it up just to see how it affects the road ride. If it gets squirrely I can just hook 'em back up.

2 causes

XJ springs are flat, but when you add shackles it transfers more weight towards the rear and results in the inverted spring. Your lift shackles give your axle a different pinion angle where it points more towards the Transfer case. Short AAL will cause that also. If you go to the beefer aftermarket packs don't expect much articulation form those packs. They are quite a bit stiffer and won't flex much. I sit at almost 6" all the way around and I have 2.5" shackles an aal and 1" block/6 degree shim and my leafs look a lot like your, but I perfer the extra flex over the bowed look.
Bump stops will help keep your pack from inverting as much. Your new set up looks good though. You do want the pinions as flat as possible so you should be OK. Unless of course you go SYE, then you want it pointing just under the Tranfer case tailshaft.