AX5 + NP231 = short front driveshaft ??

Well, having 2.1 TD (renault) engine, and AX5 + NP231 behind it, I ended up with really long rear ds, and really short front ds. Long rear is the one that I like. But the sort front is the one that makes me worry about.

Last time when I had to take it off (for rebuild), I tried to see how much would it allow axle to flex, but was (unpleasantly) surprised with what I discovered.. It would in fact limit axle drop on driver side.

And now when I'm considering going up an inch or two, what would I need to do, to fix this damn thing ?? I can't find any posts with reference to similar problems..

Btw.. I have ZJ front coil, and BB spacer, but with my heavy-@ss bumper, it nets to like 2" of total front lift.

I don't know what to do.. I just found local coil spring manufacturer, that will make me whatever coil I need... and now I have this problem with DS ..

Anyone with similar problem ?? How did you solve it ?

How does it limit your travel? With mine I have noticed that the arc that the front axle travels has changed with the lift and I had to shorten the front driveshaft to achieve better travel: as the axle droops it gets closer to the transfer case.

Sorry, I forgot to tell that length doesn't seem to be a problem, but it is the angle which is limiting it. Because when I disconnected driveshaft on axle side, it would just hang a little bit below where it was sitting while still attached to axle. I expected that it will be able to reach a little bit more from there ?

I had to grind(clearance) the CV yokes after 4.5",the "short arms" really rolled the axle back when drooped.I kept hearing this clicking/binding noise till I discovered the problem.

mr_W said:

Sorry, I forgot to tell that length doesn't seem to be a problem, but it is the angle which is limiting it. Because when I disconnected driveshaft on axle side, it would just hang a little bit below where it was sitting while still attached to axle. I expected that it will be able to reach a little bit more from there ?

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Make sure that your ujoint and centering ball are not seized as they would also contribute to the problem. And as RCP said, you might have to grind a bit to gain some room beween the "ears"
When it was hanging like that, did you see that it was stuck on something? what happened when you applied a bit of leverage by hand?

Just to make it a closed case,
front driveshaft out of 2.1L diesel engine, with AX5 and np231 is more a bad joke, then driveshaft.

It is two times smaller in diameter than regular XJ (4L) unit. Uses weaker ujoints, and is overall poor unit. No way anyone could use that one as replacement for rear. It is much shorter also, and limits flex indeed.