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Front driveshaft questions????

kmanxj5050

NAXJA Forum User
Ive Got 6.5" of lift in the front of my xj. With RE drop brackets, Rusty's 6.5" lift lower control arms and and stock uppper. Would this make my front ds not have enough engagement on the "slip" part of the shaft?

i had the slip go out on my old one bought a used one in way better shape and put that on there adn still have a little play.

Im thinking i need shorter LCA's?? is my thinking right or no?

thanks NAXJA
 
I have a 6" lift on my XJ with RE drop brackets and I still have the original length factory front driveshaft only with a HD spline/slip upgrade similar to a Tom Woods design (my original one was sloppy too). I also have got stock length RE superflex lowers and RE adjustable uppers to correct the pinion angle. If you get shorter lowers the tires will rub the back of the wheelwells.

If there's play in the slip then it's worn out. You can get a driveshaft shop to replace the splines and slip shaft for under a $100 usually. The factory driveshaft has a very short amount of spline length so there's no a lot of area to stabilize the slip part. Getting a long spline/slip welded on the end will greatly increase the service life of the shaft as well as it's strength. You can see an example of this in the chart on the bottom of the page. http://www.tomwoodscustomdriveshafts.com/aboutus.html

Are you getting any vibes or is it just too short? You can get it lengthened too at the same time pretty cheap.
 
Last edited:
Ive Got 6.5" of lift in the front of my xj. With RE drop brackets, Rusty's 6.5" lift lower control arms and and stock uppper. Would this make my front ds not have enough engagement on the "slip" part of the shaft?

i had the slip go out on my old one bought a used one in way better shape and put that on there adn still have a little play.

Im thinking i need shorter LCA's?? is my thinking right or no?

thanks NAXJA

Year would help "ALOT".
 
yes i have Rubicon Express DB's with 6.5" lift Rusty's control arms and stock upper. Do you think i could get away with getting some shorter LCA's?

control arms arnt going to effect the slip in the driveshaft, length of drive shaft will.

control arms will effect caster and pinion angle. use the lowers to center the wheels/axle in the wheel well, and use adjustable uppers to dial in the caster angle.

what are your alignment specs for caster?
 
I run a stock XJ front auto driveshafts front and rear on my 91' auto XJ with 241 rocktrac which comes factory with a SYE on it. I have 8" lift and RE drop brackets and short arms, even the super low pinion 9" in the back and it has worked for me.

XJ/ZJ/WJ Jeep front driveshafts from a 3 year old post I nabbed:
If you are a junkyard puller get a ZJ front driveshaft for the added length if you think you need it. Just watch out many ZJs used CV joints in their driveshafts.

XJ 89/01 4.0 Automatic 30.660 inches
XJ 89/01 4.0 Manual 29.250 inches

ZJ 1993 4.0 Automatic 30.530
ZJ 93/95 5.2 Automatic 32.870 w/o CV
ZJ 94/95 5.2 A500 30.625 w/o CV
ZJ 94/95 4.0 A500 w/o CV
ZJ 93/96 4.0 Manual
ZJ 93/96 4.0, 5.2 31.875 w/ 231, 242
ZJ 93/95 4.0 Manual 30.000 w/231
ZJ 93/96 5.2 33.000 w/ 231
ZJ 96/98 5.2, 5.9 31.250 w/ 249 & Model 30
ZJ 1996 5.2 Automatic 32.875 w/ 249 & Model 30
ZJ 96/98 4.0 33.000 w/ 242
ZJ 96/97 4.0 Automatic 31.250
ZJ 1996 5.2 Automatic 30.750 w/ 249 & Model 30
ZJ 96/98 4.0 33.500 w/ 249

WJ 99/00 4.0 34.625 52099497AD
WJ 99/00 4.7 33.250 52099498AD
WJ 01/04 4.0 34.625 52105884AA *
WJ 02/04 4.7 32.000 CV 52853500AB *
 
yeah but i think my caster is all jacked up because of super long lowers and stock uppers. If you think about it i have lowers for a 6.5" lif with no DB's and i have them on dbs which drop the mounts almost 2 inches. so i know my caster has to be screwed up.


Idk im gonna try and get a line on some adjustables.
 
One of the factors may be because you have the low pinion 30. I have 6" of lift with adjustable lowers, stock uppers and stock front shaft with an hp30 and all is well.
 
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