97 xj t case drop help

gboroxj

Active Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2010
Location
Greensboro
i have a 97 xj, it is for sale but i am trying to fix it so i can get more out of it. it is lifted 4.5 inches and on 32s. the lift is a rubicon express. i got the lift from a guy who flipped his xj 2 months after he lifted it. when i got it he gave me a t case drop kit for it. i do not know where it is now because when i put the lift on my older brother convenced me that i did not need it. I can hearing a grinding/rubbing noise, and feel a slight vibration in the floor/gas pedal, when I'm driving above 40mph. It happens whenever I let off the accelerator, and then again when I press the accelerator. It seems to be within a certain area of the gas pedal, because if I want I can find the sweet spot, and keep the noise. i posted something before about a grinding noise saying that i thought it was the transmission. i just thought about it possibly being that i have not dropped the t case and it could be eating my u joints and causing a vibration.
so to some it up how much should i drop my t case without loosing all my ground clearance but still eliminating the need for a sye? also when i do the u joints should i go ahead and do the front ones as well as the backs or just the backs. any help is nice, thanks aaron snider
 
For only 4.5" of lift you may or may not need the drop kit. If you are getting those kind of vibes I'd check your pinion angle and if you need to drop the case just go 1".
 
the angle form the rear dif to the t/c. the angles of the u-joints should not be too severe. I would go with a 1" drop to be sure.
 
will the t case drop help? just checked and no shims in it and there is a pretty bad angle. what degree shim should i use with it, 4.5 inch lift, a little sagged and i just found my drop under the house with stock parts and it is 1 inch drop.
 
i just dropped my t case... realitivly simple but crysler decided to use both a bolt and a stub on each side of the t case support mount... bolt is simple enough but ended up using vise grips to pull out studs. oh well... this helped the pinion angle a good bit but is still pretty bad compaired to what it ought to be. i have 4.5 inches of lift and drop was 1 inch what degree shim should i use? i was thinking from 2* to 4*. any one know? i have to wait a day for shims to be shipped so i am doing u joints tommorow and ordering shims. i am going with a 3 degree if no one has any advice. thanks aaron snider
 
Pinion angle requirements depend on what type of rear driveshaft you are running.

You probably have a stock shaft with u joint on each end. If thats the case, your pinion should be perpendicular to the output of the transfercase. Get an angle finder and see what they measure.
 
did my u joints and checked my pinion angle using a picture and paint on my computer i got between 3 and 4 degrees im gonna put a 3 on it and it is a stock shaft. which type of shim should i get? alluminum or steel? and some just have holes that the leafs stub goes through into the axle holders and others have more thickness and have a hole on one side and an actual nub on the other side. which is my best bet?
 
so the difference in angle from the pinion and the output shaft is 3deg?

If you go with shims, use the kind that just have a hole in them. Pull the centering pin from your leafs and put the shim in with the bolt going through it.

I have a set here i'm not using if you need some. I belive they are 4deg shims.

look here for more reference on driveline angles:
http://www.4xshaft.com/index.html
 
its a bolt like JC said. You can see the threads and the nut on the top side. hold it with vise grips on the bottom and back the nut off. Go ahead and replace the bolts (centering pins) aswell.
 
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