front d/shaft too long?

anyone else noticed this??? and what did you do to fix it?? i just lifted my 87 XJ and it sits at 5.5" in the front now with RE 4.5" coils and a 3/4" spacer, with RE fixed UCAs and LCAs.. WITHOUT drop brackets.... when i let the axle hang WITHOUT the shocks it hangs too low and bottoms out the slip yoke in the d/shaft.. with the shocks it has less than 1/2" left to collapse.. but doesnt botom.. i se this as only causing a problem if i hit something witht he drivers wheel while it hangs in the air.. cant see that as a common problem but anything is possible.. has anyone gone to the trouble of actually shortening the shaft?

mike

Too LONG?

I'm having trouble visualizing what you're saying. When the front axle droops the drivesfat extends. Do you really mean "bottom out" the slip joint, or do you mean "top out" (extend to the limit)?

Either way, it it's excessive travel that's the source of the problem, you should consider limit straps. Most shock absorbers are not designed to act as limiting stops at either end of their travel, and using them as limiters can cause premature failure. Under CT motor vehicle regs it is illegal to modify a suspension in any way that causes the shocks to top out or bottom out. Since you're in a neighboring state that seems to think a lot like CT in many things, there may be a similar rule buried in your RMV code.

i believe some people have had their front shaft shortened. try a search, i know it's been brought up before

Im running 8.5 long arm and dont have to do a thing to the DS its the perfect lengh and its stock..

XTrmXJ said:

Im running 8.5 long arm and dont have to do a thing to the DS its the perfect lengh and its stock..

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you are running long arms thought, which solves that problem for you.

short arms without drop brackets swing back during droop (moreso than long arms) causing the driveshaft to compress and possibly bottom out

I ran into the same problem when my XJ went to 5.5" after the rollover rebuild... I was using fixed Pro-Comp LCA's from Stroker's old 3" lift and some modified stock uppers that I made adjustable to dial in the castor angle, 4" Tomken springs that came from Andy-in-PA via CHW's parts collection and some 1-3/4" spacers that I had, and Peterbilt's Skyjacker 6" shocks. It drooped until the front driveshaft collapse was the limiting factor. So, we extended the adjustment slot in the frame end LCA mounts and made some shims from 1/4" plate (sandwiched 2 per side) to fit between the internal adjustment carrier and the frame mount itself, effectively lengthening the wheelbase by 1/2" to the point that the shocks limited droop before the driveshaft fully collapsed. It worked just fine for me, as cobbled together as it was.

im running 8" long arm and its way too short. if your driveshaft is too long you run the risk of jamming it back and splitting your tcase...seen it done

Back when I had that problem, I had the front shaft shortened 1". It's a bad thing to jam a driveline into the t-case. Now, with the longer, repositioned arms, it's not a problem.

thanks for the input guys.. i was thinking of geting the adjustable LCAs but i like lawncher's idea of shimming it forward.. guess its gonna be a bit of trial and error before i work out all the bugs.. i got the new front axle installed today but ran out of day light before i got the front d/shaft in.. probably leave it out until i get the new tires mounted and work out the read driveline angles and vibes before i tackle the front..

mike