Well I put in my rugged ridge sye the other day...it went fairly smoothly besides not having a lock ring pliers and having to go to 20 stores to find one.

I had purchased a driveshaft off eBay that the seller claimed it off a 98 grand cherokee and that it was 32-33inches collapsed. Perfect, well no I got it and it was the same size as my front xj shaft. I figured I could put it in with my case drop still in and I haddnt added my extended rear shackles yet to my 3.5" leafs. The slip joint on the shaft only had like an inch before it was fully extended...I figured Id be fine for a few days until in could find a longer shaft. Well nope. I guess it pulled a little on my tcase and started leaking where the flange goes into the tcase. So I went out yesterday to like 15 jjnkyards and finally found the right shaft. Its about 3"s longer then my stock shaft off a 98 grand cherokee 4.0

So no my sye is slightly leaking from where the tail shaft goes though the bearing out the back of the tcase ...and this new driveshaft I bought although its good in length i am getting vibes on the highway now, which leads me to believe I have a bad ujoint on it or its.not properly balanced.

As for my leak, if I pull the tail shaft housing off and grease the crap out of the tail shaft and put the housing back on, will that stop the leak?





Heres the leak

 

Alright obviously I need a new output shaft seal for the sye .

I also plan on seeing if the junkyard I bought this driveshaft from takes it back. Its either not balanced or the ujojnts are shot. For 125 bucks I shouldn't have vibes like crazy. If I rebuilt the shaft I may as well have just bought a brand new after market shaft.

Gahh guess I'm going to get my xj shaft lengthened after all...

Moral of the story I wish I did a hack n tap because then in could of just used a front xj shaft from the get go

 

You paid 125 bucks for a used driveline!? The output seal must have been cut during install somehow.

 

When you put rear shackles in it will take a shorter shaft are you aware of this ?

 

I hate when stuff like that happens I know the Junkyards around here are pretty much as soon as you hand the cash over its yours no returns. Good luck with getting them to take it back hopefully they do. Sye kits can be a PITA sometimes.

 

x2 the slider will come apart b4 anything moves in the case.

 

Ever do a hack and tap ...ill do a sye any day b4 I do another...jm2cw

 

The first step is measuring your driveline and pinion angles. Ideally your pinion will be 1 degree lower than your driveline. Shim the leaf springs to rotate the pinion up, although your photos look pretty good from what I can see.
There are a number of things you can do to diagnose your vibrations. Remove the rear shaft and drive a short distance in 4x4 with the front shaft in. You can put the rear on jack stands in 2x and spin the tires, to see what moves.
You can put your front shaft into the rear - my guess is that would work for a short time. Change the u-joints in your (new used) rear shaft, and have it balanced at a driveline shop if you suspect balance issues.
The junkyards around San Diego also wanted big bucks for a driveline, so I ended up with a Tom Wood shaft.
Check that the yoke bolt holding the yoke onto the output shaft is tight and torqued correctly - as I recall something like 150+ ft-lbs.
Try to eliminate components one at a time, and you will find it sooner or later.
Good luck.

 

I was desperate... went to like 10 jys in one day trying to find a GC shaft


I may have messed it up... but i was pretty damn
careful Idk how that could of happened




Really? I thought since I was lifting more it would pull the driveshaft more.








tell me about it. They are pretty reputable so we shall see.




Really interesting. I was concerned about popping my tcase apart or ruining the pinion seal or bearing.






Its deff the new shaft.. vibes weren't there with the xj shaft after the sye but happened as soon as the GC shaft went in.

 

Who made your sye kit bc mine started leaking in no time. I think it's just crap seals that came with the kit and it may not have anything to do with your original driveshaft. The junkyards also move the parts cars around a lot and the gc drive shaft may have been bent by the forks of the dozer when they move it.

 

Its a rugged ridge sye and your right that is a possibility about the shaft being bent a little it didn't look put of wack to me though but its.just the littlest bit that matters

 

wait wait wait wait wait, why cant you use a stock front XJ shaft out of a I6 4.0 on a full SYE??? thats what i plan on doing this saturday...

 

The shaft is to short. It fits but its really at the end of its slip joint so if your rear were to hang or you hit a weird bump it could pull the driveshaft apart....or damage your tcase or pinion somehow someway you need a longer shaft.. I am only at 3.5"s out back right now too with a case drop still in

 

And somewhat good news for me the jy I got my GC shaft from said they guarantee parts for 30 days... he said he'd give me another shaft since mine has bad u joints and is vibing on my truck

 

i just finished my RE3.5 yesterday but got some vibes so ima have to install my ruggedridge SYE this saturday. do you have shims installed on your rig? if so what degree?