Originally Posted by chipmaker

^x2
Happened to stumble upon your youtube vid, haha. Kudos on the no shop install.

Originally Posted by SDJeepgirl

Hi garider, which transfer case drop kit did you end up using? I also have a 2WD Cherokee and I need a transfer case drop kit but all the ones I find are for 4WD XJ (not compatible with 2WD)

Originally Posted by Tsaani97xj

Glad to see you got it done. One of my pet peeves is that these kits are marketed with smoke and mirrors and dont tell the whole story.

The studs are definitely removable. As for the degree of shim you also need there is a few places around and vids on youtube describing how to measure it. When you do figure it out keep in mind on a non cv shaft the thick part of the shim faces the front of the jeep.

For reference I am around 4.5 non cv with about. 1" crossmember drop, currently using washers, and a 4 degree shim. It isnt perfect but close because when I get low on fuel and the back raises a bit my vibes diminish significantly. You might want to get a couple sets of different degrees in case it doesnt work right the first time.

Originally Posted by garider

UPDATE:
Finished the Transmission drop this evening. The 2 cross member studs were removable. One backed out with 2 nuts, the other I had to use the Vise-grips and heat. After that, I installed 1.75" spacers to drop the transmission cross member. Took it for a test drive and the grinding noise is gone.

By the way, with the 32" tires - via GPS, the speedometer starts deterring at about 40 mph. From 40 mph it starts to increase and stabilizes about 5 mph slower than the speedo shows, from 50-65 mph.

Note: As we pull back into the drive to park, I stabbed the throttle with the brakes applied to test the new angle of the engine and transmission. In Drive - nothing changed, but in Reverse, I hear a "rattle" of sort under the hood. I knew immediately that the fan was hitting something. We raise the hood and sure enough, under stress the engine moves to the passenger side just a tad (as most engines do) and the fan was barely touching the AC condenser line. Luckily, it wasn't enough to pop a hole in it (I like AC). No big deal as we were able to carefully bend the line toward the battery to solve the clearance.

I am relieved to say the least. Now on to aligning the front end, modifying & welding the exhaust mount (which was part of the transmission mount and no longer lines up since the cross member has been lowered), refurbishing the faded plastic parts, and doing something with the sagging headliner.