I am in the process of replacing my driveshafts and want to do everything right. Im fairly sure I will be going with Tatton shafts but am concerned about pinion angle. I have a Rancho 4" Sport lift which is supposed to maintain factory geometry but i do not know if this applies to the driveshaft. Does anybody have experience with this lift?
Below is the list of components on the Sport Lift:
Front and rear coil springs
Uses O.E. pitman arm
Front adjustable track bar included
Extended length front sway bar end link
Upgraded front and rear bump stop spacer
Front extended length brake lines included
Control arm relocation bracket
Rear axle track bar bracket
Rear brake line drop brackets
Rear sway bar spacers included
There is not a lift out there that will maintain the factory geometry. If it has adjustable arms it should not be a problem getting your pinion angles right.
Fixed arms with bracket are not going to let you change pinion angles.
I had 4" Rancho Lift. I had to rotate my rear Axle pretty far to get the CV Driveshaft angle correct. To keep my springs straight I cut off the factory lower mounts and installed JKS adjustable mounts. 2-doors need to rotate the axle more the 4-doors.
If you want to run a CV shaft you need to buy some upper adjustable control arms for the rear. A 4" lift on a 2 door does require a CV shaft in the rear. You can run factory on the front.
Yea front is going to be a fine line between caster and pinion. Shoot for stock 4* but depending on lift height you might have to favor pinion.
Longer lowers or shorter uppers.
I'm still somehow running my stock shaft w/ 3.5" lift on a 2 door. Longer uppers will raise the pinion up. You want the Pinion a couple degrees lower then the DS.
Obviously all 8 arms are the way to go for wheelbase and pinion Angles.
Yea front is going to be a fine line between caster and pinion. Shoot for stock 4* but depending on lift height you might have to favor pinion.
Longer lowers or shorter uppers.
I'm still somehow running my stock shaft w/ 3.5" lift on a 2 door. Longer uppers will raise the pinion up. You want the Pinion a couple degrees lower then the DS.
Obviously all 8 arms are the way to go for wheelbase and pinion Angles.
Edit: does the kit use their drop brackets . I am running Rancho drop brackets at 3.5 and my pinion angle is 1.5 with a Adams front DS. No vibrations but doesn't mean the same for everybody.
TBH I would skip the shaft unless yours is shot and spend the money on some shorter springs. I have the 4 inch Rancho kit and it's too tall for a 2 door. My next investment will be hydro assist then either MetalCloak 3.5 springs or Synergy 3 inch springs. You will HAVE to move your rear spring perches to rotate the rear axle enough to get the pinion correct. You will either have to cut and reweld your perches back on or buy JKS adjustable perches, but the JKS perches will not work with the Rancho rear track bar bracket. You will need to get the JKS rear track bar bracket.
I also ditched my Rancho 4" lift for RK 2.5" springs after about 2 years of use. The Rancho did make th 2-door very high ... and although it looked cool .. I wanted to lower my center of gravity so there wasn't so much pucker factory on hills and ledges.
You will need some adjustable control arms for sure to get the pinion angle in check. We shoot for the pinion to be 2-3 degrees lower then the driveshaft. On a 2 door with that much lift as some people have stated you may want to look at coil wedges or rotating the spring bucket on the axle as well. Let us know if you have any questions about any of our products!
RK coil wedges won't do it. Been there done that. I have a set in the box somewhere that were on for about a week. Springs were still bowed enough to hit the track bar once my pinion was adjusted. The Rancho springs lift the 2 doors about 5.5 inches, it's just to much. It sucks, because they actually ride nice and barely sagged with my bumpers, carrier, 35 spare, winch and hardtop when it's on.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
JKOwners Forum
2M posts
62.8K members
Since 2007
A forum community dedicated to Jeep Wrangler JK owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, classifieds, reviews, engine swaps, troubleshooting, suspension, and more!