I have a 97 cherokee with 3" lift on 31's. Currently the only upgrades is armor and cb. I plan on either getting a rear locker or an sye and need advice on which one to do. I have a little driveline vibrarion now but not terrible. I plan on going to 4 1/2 lift in the somewhat future, probably with tax return. Both are about the same price if i do a driveshafy with the sye. Its a dd/weekend warrior.
What should i do?

 

Keep saving until you can get the lift and the SYE at the same time.

 

Seconded sye is the best investment ever.

 

Yup. SYE all the way. And driveshaft lol.

 

 

I don't have either, but common sense dictates the SYE would be a wiser choice. Especially if you're going to be lifting it even more.

 

Well i plan on doing both but one was going to be soon and the lift and other stuff will probably be at the beginning of the year or something. Thats why i kind of lean towards the locker bc i am not going to do the lift until later.

 

When I was at 3" all I had was a TC drop kit not the best but worked for a while till I did my 4 1/2" lift using all my 3" lift stuff. Zero vibes in the driveline then so it worked and cheap temp fix. With a 31" tire I'm sure you notice the stock gears are a bit doggy and trans temps run higher.


When most people go to a 4 1/2" lift they also go to a 33 or 35" tire I did then and had to change gears and install lockers front and rear with an SYE and custom driveshaft. That said the lockers made the biggest difference in my off road performance od anything I have done to my XJ along with the gears. If you install lockers with a stock gear they will need to be changed also if you change gears to higher ones, this applies to only a few types.


This is just an FYI anytime you go over 3" the cost goes up a lot if done correctly the lift is the cheapest part its all the other extras that mount up.

 

^x2. My actual lift (springs, shocks, etc) was about 900 but with all the other stuff (sye, ds, TOOLS, brake lines, track bar) I'm sure I'm hitting close to 2k

 

Driveline vibes however small, can cause issues with premature wear of u-joints, output bearings/seals in transfer case, pinion bearings/seals, etc.

 

I had a lot more than that tires/gears/lockers, Adj. U/LCA's, Dbl. Shear Track Bar, Good shocks and the list goes on and on close to $4-5k more over the lift.


Yes and it doesn't all that long on an older driveline to begin with.

 

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Thanks everyone! I actually decided to take care of my driveline vibe and just ordered a advance adapters sye kit! I am going with a front DS so I am hoping to get to the local pick n pull this weekend and find one or two!
I had $150 in gift cards so only ended up costimg me $39 out of pocket. I may just try saving up for a few months and buy the locker around christmas time then work on getting the needed items for the lift with tax return!

 

Now i am going to order some new ujoints for it. The sye says it needs 1310 U Joint for the one that attaches to the sye. Does anyone know the ujoint number for the one attaching to the axle?
I assume spicer would be the recommended ujoint? I have heard alot of good about them but i ordered some off of amazon when i replaced my front ones and they sent me the wrong size. Has anyone else had that issue?


Anything else i should look at changing or getting when doing the sye? Do you still need shims for the rear axle with an sye?


Thanks!

 

It's a 1310 at the axle as well.