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I just bought a '93 Xj in pretty good condition, and am in the process of installing a rough country 3" lift and replacing things that need replacing.
I bought the kit before I knew a whole bunch about what I was doing, but that's pretty much my style. It usually works out.
Anyway, I got the front end done and took it for a test drive. Had a new vibration that starts around 35mph which I haven't really narrowed the source of yet. It goes away after 40. Tomorrow I'm going to install the back and go for a drive again, but I'm expecting to still have the vibration, and it may be related to pinion angle, or maybe I messed up when tightening the control arms.
Before the lift it was a smooth ride with no unexpected vibrations out to 80MPH, which is my arbitrary maximum speed limit I've vowed never to exceed in this thing. The boots on most of the ball joints are shot, but the ball joints themselves seem ok.
After installing the lift I did do an alignment. As the driver, the vibration feels like it's coming from between the driver and passenger seat, out somewhere under the hood.
The kit came with lower control arms and an add-a-leaf. In order to get the angles right, I'm planning on using shims I make myself.
I'm pretty sure the LCA shims would be fine 3D printed with ABS, but the shims for the leaf probably should be made of metal, but I think I can get away with 3D printed rear shims just to figure out the dimensions of the metal ones I'll need to make.
Last edited by QuickNDirty; 05-13-2016 at 01:56 PM.
Haha! Got the lift fully installed minus the track bar which arrives next week sometime. A little driveline vibration after 55mph. I'll measure the angles tomorrow and see how far I can get printing some shims.
The Rough Country lift is kinda stiff but did fine with the tests I put it through.
Ultimately, any shims I use will be metal, but I'm going to try 3D printed ones first just to see how they hold up, and also to figure out the dimensions I need on the metal ones. I can mill the front shims for sure, maybe the back too unless they're too big for my little mill.
says plastic is fine =) I already know ABS parts with .2mm layer heights with 100% infill are stupid tough at temps less than 160F, but the types of forces applied in rear shims will probably destroy them pretty fast.
Last edited by QuickNDirty; 05-14-2016 at 09:06 PM.
Do you know what degree you need? I've got some 6* BDS aluminum shims, brand new, sitting right here not being used..
Not yet, I just got the height to where it's going to be for a while. I may have a figure tomorrow. If 6 degrees is the magic number I'd be happy to buy/trade for your shims.
Dunno what your cup holder situation is like, but mine sucks. I just spent a beer sitting in the driver's seat thinking, "Where do I want my beer to be while cruising on my property in search of hogs? Is this solution symmetrical so if I have a friend with me, I don't have to hold his beer while he takes the shot?"
The answer to that, tentatively, is either side of the e-brake, bolted/adhered on to the front face of the center console. Should give enough clearance so working the e-brake is easy while also accomplishing the goal of holding a drink without pissing anyone off. If that works pretty well, I can make them in a variety of colors.
Those cupholders don't hold a can very safely tho...they are only good when you are not moving.
I've never used them personally, nor do I drink anything from a can so I can't comment haha. But even the built in cup holders on the 97+'s I've had are questionable for anything except a blender bottle haha.
I tried one of those cup holders that attach to the front of the console. It interferes with my e-brake and also sucks at holding cups. Waste of $8 in reward points.
Here's my first pass at a cup holder. Modeled after a shipley's donuts large coffee cup which run a little larger than the rest. I think with some constant diameters thrown in it should hold most anything reasonably well. The first few will be held to the center console with double sided foam tape until the kinks are worked out, then I'll add bolt holes and do it the right way.
First shot hit pretty close to the bullseye.
Last edited by QuickNDirty; 05-15-2016 at 10:02 PM.
The difference in angles between the tc and rear diff is about 3 degrees, but the slip yoke has about 0.02" of play left/right up/down. I'm thinking bad bearing.
Are the bearings for the front and rear output shafts the same?
05-13-2016, 01:53 PM
Shims
