98 xj d35 5 speed. 3in lift on 31s. Tom woods sye and rear driveshaft.

So it's been like this since I got the jeep. I replaced the trans mount, quite a few u joints and those killed a lot of the vibs and noises I was getting.

The vibrations and noise now really aren't that bad but it is there, and I can feel it in the rear. Also I notice sometimes when I shift gears that it almost feels like the rearend clunks? And my u joint at the pinion went bad, and it should have been fairly new. Once again it isnt crazy bad but I'm still concerned.
So maybe my pinion angle is off? With a sye and only 3 inches of lift I wouldn't think so, but I'm not good with the geometry that goes into it.

Thanks

 

The pinion should be pointing at the t case, like the lower picture

 

Or one or two degrees down for pinion walk under load.

 

True. But that is a general idea, my guess is that be needs shims.

 

Yup. Time to buy an angle finder.

 

Without the proper pinion angle your u-joints will bind. This is where a lot of the sound will come from and it will cause your u-joint to fail. Since you only have 3" of lift, you may not need to get the larger 6 degree shims but it sounds like you definitely need something. They come on various sizes, usually in increment of 2 degrees. I recommend the steel shims over the aluminum for obvious reasons but you decide.

 

Pictures tell a thousand words...

 

Measure the pinion angle and order the correct steel shims, u-bolts, and center pins.

 

I hope the picture posted.
Anyway, it looks to be pretty much right on. And I'm fully aware my pinion seal is leaking...

 

Maybe it's just me, but the pinion almost looks a little too high...hard to tell. Measure it and post what you find.