marc davis
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Portland Oregon
I installed Rugged Ridge SYE in my NP231 this weekend. I thought others, thinking about buying this kit, might like a quick review.
The parts came looking very nice. The packaging was not great. Not enough padding for parts this heavy. The end of the shaft was sticking out of the side of the box.
The instruction are OK but not great. Look around the web for other instructions and photos to supplement the ones provided.
Overall the install went OK. The main snap ring provided had some burrs on it and I had to clean it up with a file before it would fit the grove in the shaft. The speedo gear had some mold flashing that had to be removed before it would fit the shaft. The biggest problem was that the bolt hole pattern was machined wrong. It was rotated a few degrees from the casting. As a result the bolts would not thread in the holes. I had to grind the area where the shift rod is so I could rotate the casting to fit.
The instructions say you may have to cut the shift rod if it's 10.2 inches long and mine was. I cut it off using a cutoff wheel in the grinder. Not to hard.
Overall the product is what you would expect from Chinese vendor. More of a work in progress then a finished product.
So far it's working Ok. 20 miles and counting.
BTW I have an automatic transmission. For a new rear driveshaft I used a front driveshaft from a 92 XJ automatic. With a 3 inch lift it works OK on the road but I'm thinking I'll need to extend it for trail use. We'll see.
The parts came looking very nice. The packaging was not great. Not enough padding for parts this heavy. The end of the shaft was sticking out of the side of the box.
The instruction are OK but not great. Look around the web for other instructions and photos to supplement the ones provided.
Overall the install went OK. The main snap ring provided had some burrs on it and I had to clean it up with a file before it would fit the grove in the shaft. The speedo gear had some mold flashing that had to be removed before it would fit the shaft. The biggest problem was that the bolt hole pattern was machined wrong. It was rotated a few degrees from the casting. As a result the bolts would not thread in the holes. I had to grind the area where the shift rod is so I could rotate the casting to fit.
The instructions say you may have to cut the shift rod if it's 10.2 inches long and mine was. I cut it off using a cutoff wheel in the grinder. Not to hard.
Overall the product is what you would expect from Chinese vendor. More of a work in progress then a finished product.
So far it's working Ok. 20 miles and counting.
BTW I have an automatic transmission. For a new rear driveshaft I used a front driveshaft from a 92 XJ automatic. With a 3 inch lift it works OK on the road but I'm thinking I'll need to extend it for trail use. We'll see.