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3" Rough Country Lift Kit

woenge21

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Ft. Rucker, AL
I recently put a 3" rough country lift on my '98 XJ. I immediately noticed that at highway speeds I now have a pretty substantial vibration that I never had before. Its similar to a vibration that you would get from out of balance wheels, but that is not the cause here. I took it to an alignment shop and had a front end alignment done. The guy at the shop said that the lift kits screw up the camber adjustment. Unfortunately, the alignment did not fix the problem. Any suggestions on how to eliminate this vibration. Thanks in advance.
 
Well when you lift it the drive shaft angles are diferent know. I have a 3" RC lift in mine and i also get the vibration. The only solution I could think of is to lower the transfer case.
 
SYE, shims, tcase drop.
 
I thought that might be the problem, but I wasn't sure if the 3" lift was enough to create a problem with the drive shaft angle. Is it a big project to shim the Transfer case?
 
If it makes you feel any better, I have a 3.5" lift and I dropped my Tcase and still have vibes so I'm going to put 4-degree axle shims on to try and fix the problem...if that doesn't help, I'll be looking at a SYE.
 
If I can't get rid of the vibration I am going to go insane. This is the only vehicle I have that I can take on trips because I have a dog and my other cars do not have the room.
 
A 1" transfer case drop may relieve your vibes. SYE is a slip yoke eliminator
 
woenge21 said:
I recently put a 3" rough country lift on my '98 XJ. I immediately noticed that at highway speeds I now have a pretty substantial vibration that I never had before. Its similar to a vibration that you would get from out of balance wheels, but that is not the cause here. I took it to an alignment shop and had a front end alignment done. The guy at the shop said that the lift kits screw up the camber adjustment. Unfortunately, the alignment did not fix the problem. Any suggestions on how to eliminate this vibration. Thanks in advance.

No, it screws with the Caster, not Camber. Caster in the in/out of the tire, Camber is the tilt of the knuckle.

Besides, you have a driveline vibration.

Take your rear driveline off and check for bad u-joints. While you are at it, grease your slip yoke.

Now check your driveshaft angles. They are likely not equal and opposite.
They are likely not too far off, but 2deg will make your problem.
You can shim the t-case cross member as long as you have bolt length to spare.
Or, you can shim the rear end with degree shims,
Or, you can install a T-Case cross member drop kit,
Or, you can install a Rustys 1" drop cross member.

I shimmed my crossmember for a while, then I finally beat it up so bad I couldn't recognise it. So I replaced it with a 1" drop Rustys piece. Stonger and the vibes were gone.

Ron
 
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My 89 XJ has a 4" lift stock suspesion arms, stock drive shafts, no SYE, and an 8.8 wich throws the driveshaft to the side a little besides the drop. I have a 3/4" homemade transfer case drop, and no vibes. Check all the u-joints for wear, make sure the cross member isn't bent up like mine was. You might need 3 degree or so shims. The x case output and the pinion should idealy be parallel so the angle on each u-joint is about the same. Good luck.
 
Ok for all you with the rough country lift. Does it flex well or is just for hieght? I am cuious because it seems pretty reasonable, But I would rather be lower and lock up than be taller and lose flex.
 
Mattitude said:
Ok for all you with the rough country lift. Does it flex well or is just for hieght? I am cuious because it seems pretty reasonable, But I would rather be lower and lock up than be taller and lose flex.


rough country
061207_13221.jpg


061207_13242.jpg
 
If you're going to do a T-case drop on a '98, use the skyjacker... my '98 and a friend's '99 both had 2 studs welded into the "frame", the Skyjacker allows for this problem, others don't!
 
My 3" RC flexes like CRAZY with the swaybar disconnected. Really crams my 31s into the wheel wells. Hate to say it, but it flexes better than some Rubicon Express 3.5s that I've seen.

Flex2.jpg


Flex1.jpg


And to stay on topic, I ended up doing an SYE and double-cardon driveshaft on mine due to vibes. I know I could have used a T-case drop or shims, but since I plan to go higher anyway, I figured I would cut to the chase and just do a SYE.

Good luck with your vibes.
 
xray said:
Scorpio, What side of town do you live on?

Cudahy off of packard almost at the lake.


oh yeah. I also ran the 3" lift and had some minor vibs. i ended up going to a SYE and driveshaft because i didn't want to loose any ground clearance with the t-case drop.
 
scorpio_vette said:
rough country
061207_13221.jpg


061207_13242.jpg
Hmm ok I am convinced haha. ONE more Question, might be dumb, I have a 95 with a HP non-disco, if i did a t case drop wouldnt that make the front driveline angle worse? It only concerns be because it is always spinning.
 
I just had a 3" procomp suspension lift done and had a pretty significant drive line vibration. After doing some research, this is what I learned:

1) The '96 and up XJ's can have problems with lifts as low as 2.5" while '96 and older can go as high as 5" w/o any problems

2) Tried to do a t case drop and one bolt on each side was actually spot welded into the frame. There are some ways out there to remove it, but the juice wasn't worth the squeeze. It isn't gauranteed to fix your vibe, maybe just reduce it.

3) SYE is the best way to go. I did that and it runs smooth as glass now. Got a new rear driveshaft out of the deal. It also removes one of the weakest points in your drivetrain which is the slip yoke (hence the name).
 
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