• NAXJA is having its 18th annual March Membership Drive!!!
    Everyone who joins or renews during March will be entered into a drawing!
    More Information - Join/Renew
  • Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

Driveshaft, RC, SYE Questions.

Throws

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Portland, OR
So I finished up my marathon RC 4.5" LA install... pretty much tripled the install time. So now that I'm done, I have a few follow on questions...

1: Does the RC belly pan really have a 1" TC drop? Rough Country says no. My stock driveline says yes.

2: Can I swap the front driveshaft into the back for the time being while I wait for a new shaft?

3: Do I really need to provide measurements for the shaft? I'm assuming at this point they should be like "Oh, 4.5" lift? Here's the shaft you need".

Thanks!

-P
 
You can install the front shaft in the back just make sure its not overextended at the splines.

As far as measuring, its reasonable for a shop to ask. They cannot possibly know every combination of lift, axle type, vehicle type, etc. Some that do a lot of XJ's may have developed a chart that they can point to, but that doesn't mean you should buy your shaft there.
 
4.5'" of lift varies from company to company. 4.5'' of lift, even with the same springs, can be different depending on the amount of time it has been installed.

I measured and found that it was just about the same for the rear as the front would be. So I bought a front shaft from the junkyard, pressed it apart and repacked everything. Significantly cheaper than a custom shaft.
 
1: Does the RC belly pan really have a 1" TC drop? Rough Country says no. My stock driveline says yes.
-P

Who at Rough country did you actually speak to? I chatted online and the guy had to go talk to their tech folks and the confirmed it actually does drop the transfer case. I forget if it was 1.25 or 1.75 inches but it certainly does and it jacks up your angles for the front. Makes it impossible in my case to get the front vibe free so I ended up getting a posi lock for my cad axle so I could run without the front ds moving.
 
Who at Rough country did you actually speak to? I chatted online and the guy had to go talk to their tech folks and the confirmed it actually does drop the transfer case. I forget if it was 1.25 or 1.75 inches but it certainly does and it jacks up your angles for the front. Makes it impossible in my case to get the front vibe free so I ended up getting a posi lock for my cad axle so I could run without the front ds moving.

I think it was Johnathan or something. Kinda frustrating that basic knowledge isn't communicated to the front line guys.

So how would you correct the front DS angle?

-P
 
I didn't. That's why I put the posi lock in so that the ds wasn't rotating when not in 4wd. I plan on doing one of two things (or both) when other more important things get resolved. I either will shim the crossmember between the mount and it to raise the transfer case back up to where it should be so the output shafts are horizontal or build/buy a crossmember like the clayton three piece so you don't have to worry about the control arms if all you want to do is gain access to the transfer case.
 
I had a transfer case drop on my 2000. It had (at the time) 4'' of front lift. Absolutely could not get rid of the vibratons with the transfer case drop and low pinion axle. I could go up with the crossmember and not have front vibes, but had rear vibes. I ended up saying the heck with it and drove on it anyway. Until it ate the pinion bearing.

Definitely a fan of having a SYE and not a transfer case drop. Front and rear driveline angles are fine now.
 
Back
Top