Hi Guys,

So I have a 4.5" RE lift kit, and the driveline vibrations are starting to bother me. Suspension is all fairly new, steering is a bit loose but not very bad at all.
I am still finishing up my college though, and money is very tight. I cant really afford an SYE + driveshaft right now (looks to be about $500 or so after all is said and done).

Is a T-case drop kit going to really do anything for me with 4.5 of lift? I don't care about loosing clearance right now, I mostly just need it to be a solid DD rig and get rid of some vibrations at 70mph (I drive about 250 miles a week).

~$50 vs $500 is a significant difference to me at the moment, but I am still kind of a noob at Jeeps so I am going to defer to CF's judgement...

 

TC drop should definitely help, assuming all of the components are in good shape.

 

Yes the drop along with shims in the differential should help a lot, 6 deg. should be fine.

 

Thats a huge relief (for my wallet mostly).

So second question, what size drop do I want for my T-Case? Lots of different sizes, but it seems to be 1", 1.5" or 2" for the most common manufactures.

And are there any good guides to shimming the rear diff?? I can't really seem to find any (hopefully its not too hard, because from what I gather it looks like it might be...)

 

? $500? Ya if all new.... Why not get a hack n tap and a junk yard driveshaft? Be like $150-$200 at most.

 

I have just heard that the HD kit + a proper custom shaft is the way to go. I figure if I can do it on the extreme cheap, it will let me firstly put money into the steering, and secondly do it the right way when I can afford it.

 

Could you describe the vibes you are getting. Drive line vibes usually start at a lower speed about 45 and are more of a buzz, think like your phone on vibrate, and under acceleration. If your vehicle is shaking at 70 I would look more toward tires or your steering issue.

FWIW I am at 4.5 with the tcase dropped about an inch with 4* shims. This did not fix my driveline vibes and being tight on money decided I could live with it. Well 7 months later and my tcase is starting to make some unfriendly sounds. I am kicking myself for not just sucking it up and doing it properly. Live and learn. Do it right and pay the price or do it wrong and pay double.

Best of luck.

 

Well, its not crazy bumpy or anything but at 70mph I can see my shift handle and shift boot "swaying" from side-to-side. You can see rythmic vibrations in the passenger seat as well, if no one is on it.
On a smooth road, it seems as if I can feel the driveshaft or something turning (it could be the tires, they were balanced 2 years ago and its possible that they are not balanced any more).

45mph on a smooth road is as close to perfect as I could hope for a slightly beat up Jeep. Acceleration is perfect also, no crazy vibrations there. The main reason I want to get rid of the drive line vibrations is to make everything last longer (motor, transmission, t-case, diffs, motor mounts, etc).


How would you all do it the right way, while staying on an extreme budget?? And I cant seem to find a how to "shim" the rear diff, can anyone point me in the right direction?

I found a 231J with an SYE already installed for $300 on Craigslist. My T-case has 190K on it so it might be worth my while?

I can sell my T-case for about $120 or so, and I can try to find a clean front driveshaft at the pick-n-pull (though I really have no idea if that setup will work or is ideal).


EDIT:
Or just save my pennies and do it right the first time:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SYE-KIT-1310-GREASEABLE-CV-DRIVESHAFT-JEEP-XJ-CHEROKEE-231-SYE-KIT-DRIVELINE-/321321722863?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4ad04463ef&vxp=mtr

 

Well if you stated what year you had, we could tell you if that transfer case would work for you or not.


Also, there is no reason why you couldn't run a hack in tap. To phrase "do it right the first time" applies if you plan to do extreme rock crawling where the more spline count would matter. You should probably read a bit more before you make any decisions.