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Vibrations at all times except in neutral

X

xj_ebr

NAXJA Forum User
Location
USA
Hello,
I installed an iron rock off road 3” premium short arm kit last week on my 2000 Cherokee. After I got it off the jack stands and fired it up, I instantly had vibrations. The xj ran so smooth prior to the lift and 1” transfer case drop. It now vibrates at all times except when in neutral. It’s like a low frequency hum that you can hear and feel. The mirrors vibrate.

I initially chalked it up to the normal vibrations some people have after a lift, but I shouldn’t get vibrations in park, right? Typical lift induced vibrations should only happen when driving, correct?

After doing some searching, I’ll be checking the motor mounts, what else would you guys recommend?
 
I'd also check the transmission mount, and make sure the exhaust isn't touching the body anywhere it's not supposed to be.

How many miles on this thing? If it was at stock height before the lift, maybe the wear patterns in the driveshaft ujoints is different enough to cause the vibes? Since you have a 2000, you can easily pull one at a time and take a quick spin to see if that helps.
 
1" transfer case drop is the likely suspect for vibrations. Check the motor mounts and the transmission mount.

A Slip Yoke Eliminator is the preferred solution to excessive drive line angles from a lift kit install.
 
Rob Mayercik said:
I'd also check the transmission mount, and make sure the exhaust isn't touching the body anywhere it's not supposed to be.

How many miles on this thing? If it was at stock height before the lift, maybe the wear patterns in the driveshaft ujoints is different enough to cause the vibes? Since you have a 2000, you can easily pull one at a time and take a quick spin to see if that helps.
Click to expand...

228k miles. It was not stock height before. Previous owner had a budget lift of some sort on it but I don’t know exactly what it was. It had a 3 or 4” spring isolator up front with what I assume was stock coils and an add a leaf in the rear. It was old and sagging as the 3” lift I installed still netted me over 2” up front and over 3” in the rear.

Drive shaft vibes shouldn’t happen in park though, right? It vibrates at all times expect when in neutral.

I’ll look into the trans mount too thanks!
 
Tim_MN said:
1" transfer case drop is the likely suspect for vibrations. Check the motor mounts and the transmission mount.

A Slip Yoke Eliminator is the preferred solution to excessive drive line angles from a lift kit install.
Click to expand...

Are you saying that the tcase drop might not be necessary and is what is causing the vibrations?

The vibrations in park is what is leading me away from drive line issues. Unless I’m missing something.
 
Tim_MN said:
1" transfer case drop is the likely suspect for vibrations. Check the motor mounts and the transmission mount.

A Slip Yoke Eliminator is the preferred solution to excessive drive line angles from a lift kit install.
Click to expand...

This is most likely the issue, something is binding or like said the change made to old mounts to new angles can be a problem. Also be careful as the 2000 trans mount has about a 1/4" offset in it so you may have installed it backwards.
 
RCP Phx said:
This is most likely the issue, something is binding or like said the change made to old mounts to new angles can be a problem. Also be careful as the 2000 trans mount has about a 1/4" offset in it so you may have installed it backwards.
Click to expand...

When I installed the tcase drop I did it one side at a time per the directions so it couldn’t be installed backwards. I read in another forum that a bad trans mount can cause vibrations even when in park. I’m hoping it’s a bad transmission mount that finally gave out after installing the drop. I’ll check after work.
 
If that's the case I would focus heavily on the exhaust. You dropped the middle hanger by an inch, the rear hanger stayed the same, and who knows how far the exhaust manifold dropped/tilted.
 
RCP Phx said:
If that's the case I would focus heavily on the exhaust. You dropped the middle hanger by an inch, the rear hanger stayed the same, and who knows how far the exhaust manifold dropped/tilted.
Click to expand...

That makes sense. I’ll check that too.
 
A transfer case drop is temporary band-aid while you save for an SYE.

Needing an SYE and needing fresh motor/trans mounts are separate issues.
 
Tim_MN said:
Needing an SYE and needing fresh motor/trans mounts are separate issues.
Click to expand...

That’s why I’m leaning towards mounts/exhaust. The vibrations are at all times while the Jeep is running, not just while driving. The only time it’s smooth is when it’s in neutral. I may need an sye, but I won’t know that until I can figure out and fix this problem.
 
I just spent a few minutes looking everything over.

The exhaust isn’t touching anything at any point.

The engine mounts look visually fine, no cracking. I didn’t take a jack out and lift it to verify though.

The trans mount looks dry rotted. when I grabbed and shook the rear drive shaft back and forth it moved the whole drive line including the mount, so I assume that its not connected to the crossmember.

I think I need a trans mount.
 
Yeah, that doesn't sound good. Be interesting to see how the situation changes once you have a good mount installed.
 
I got the new trans mount in just now. Took about 30 mins. FWIW the mount is angled and the larger side of the mount faces forward. There was zero rubber actually connecting the two metal pieces of my old mount. Jeep runs as smooth as it did before, no vibrations.
 
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