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Front Driveshaft too short?

Roch Road

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Anaheim
I have a 97” XJ with a custom long arm setup I built. I stretched the front end out 1-1/4”. My front driveshaft now looks too short. What raises the concern is that my front end seems to be binding up somewhere and will not fully drop out. My arms are a radius arm style setup. I have checked Everything! Trackbar is not binding either is the sway bar.. I have 10.6” fox shocks and with the straps off it will only droop out to 9” on my shocks. LCA’s are not hitting anything either as they do with short arms. Any thoughts?
 
The issue sounds about right, get a new driveshaft!
 
Thanks. I wasn’t sure if the driveshaft was limited somehow from over extending. Btw... I am running a heim joint style crossover steering. The heim joint on the pitman arm side of the drag link is not bound up either. It still has a decent amount of misalignment left.
 
Did you pull driveshaft and test it?

Does passenger side droop out farther than driver side due to track bar.



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I have been out of town so I have not been able to pull the driveshaft to test it. I have a feeling it may be the trackbar but I just can’t see where it is hanging up. Maybe it is causing the radius arms to bind up somehow? I am thinking of putting it back on my dads lift to remove the trackbar to see if this is the issue. Currently the passenger side does droop out a bit further but not much. My trackbar has 2” Johnny joints on both ends while only one end is adjustable. I also cut off the stock mount off and replaced it with a SFR mount. Now that I have crossover steering I’m wondering if I should go to an otk trackbar setup. I know it would line up better than the horrible angle I have now with the drag link. Would the otk setup have less chance of causing bind? I have 4.5” RE lift coils. Thanks again for the help.
 
One drawback of radius arms is that they do bind up towards the end of the their range. No idea without looking at it but could be whats going on. Do you have poly bushings at the axle?

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So I looked at pictures. To me it looks like its hanging on limiting straps.

9" of extension is alot considering you say you have 11 " shocks. 2" of up travel?

Yes after looking at the photos both your steering and track bar could be redone. But looks like you have plenty of suspension travel.
I'd do steering and track bar because what pictured is stock junk

Everyone wants more droop I dont get it, make the damn thing drive and steer well.

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I have switched to crossover steering with no stabilizer and it’s still binding but not on the pitman arm heim or any steering components. Trackbar is custom 1-1/2” x .188” wall with a stinky fab stock replacement bracket which is not “stock junk”. Jonny joints on both ends. Most Jeepspeeds have 10-12” of travel so I’m looking to fully droop my 10.6” shocks. I don’t think that is too greedy. I have poly bushings (2-5/8”) on the unibody side and 1-1/4” heims on the axle end. Surprisingly, the Jeep is very stable and steers well despite the improper angle on the trackbar/drag link. I know it has a little bump steer but it’s hardly noticeable. I will definitely be doing an OTA trackbar setup to realign them properly. I just don’t want to waste time/$$$ if it won’t give me more droop because I can live with a little bumpsteer given my prerunning speeds with a 10” travel Jeep. I’m thinking of using the SFR OTA trackbar bracket and to make my own trackbar. Thanks for the replies. Much appreciated
 
Also, it is hanging on the straps in the pix. I need longer ones now that I have crossover steering. The Currie TRE at the pitman arm was binding. Hence nice the straps. The Currie setup only permitted about 8.5” of shock travel
 
If you want more droop make the track bar flatter and longer.

You have whatever you actually have for droop.

You probly have about 4-5 of up travel and 4-5 of droop

I'll look at the pictures again and think of something.

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Is this your current set up?
21c4aeaf83fa93fe5bc04bcfd014cbc4.jpg


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You want us to tell you what’s binding with photos of parts that aren’t installed anymore?

Radius arms bind when articulated. Dropping them both at the same rate shouldn’t present any issues. The drive shaft will pull apart if it is too short. Spline engagement is another topic, but it shouldn’t limit droop unless the u joint is bound up.

With the drive shaft, shocks, and limit straps removed, you should be able to droop the suspension enough to pull the coils out. Really there are I only a few things that can limit droop at this point... steering binding, trackbar hitting the factory axle mount, brake lines, or control arms hitting the factory axle mount.
 
Pictured looks like drag link joint on the pitman arm might be at its max misalignment but I can't tell it has the rubber boot hiding it.

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With the drive shaft, shocks, and limit straps removed, you should be able to droop the suspension enough to pull the coils out. Really there are I only a few things that can limit droop at this point... steering binding, trackbar hitting the factory axle mount, brake lines, or control arms hitting the factory axle mount.

Another thing I forgot... when you droop the suspension, unlock the column. You may have some bump steer that is fighting against it.
 
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