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Vibes. I give up. Ventura county shop?

I have a 98 xj, lifted inches in rear, 5 inches or so in front, RC longarms, 231 with brand new AA SYE, 8.25 open 4.56 gears. Brand new motor mounts and transfer mount. Angle is 1 degree below output. Measured who knows how many times.

At one point I thought the RC crossmember was not aligned properly based on the trans mount I was using. I slotted the mounting holes in the mount, and aligned the pinion perfectly with the output shaft.

I installed the gears about 20k ago. There is no play in the pinions, gears are quiet, no metal in oil, nothing obviously wrong with them.

I have smooth running nitto terra grapplers(road tires) in about a 33 inch size.
Front shaft is not installed.


Originally was using stock front shaft in rear. Vibes.
Totally rebuilt shaft, and had balanced at Driveshaft service Oxnard. They said the slip joint was fine. Still vibes.
Had it re-balanced. Still vibes

Ordered a brand new Tom woods shaft with the long spline. Better, but still vibes.

I have read and re-read every thread on this subject over the past few months(even some posts where I think I know what I am talking about, but obviously don't).

Anybody around Ventura county have a shop they trust that can take a look at this? I am just tired and frustrated with it.

Vibes are felt above about 55 mph in drive or overdrive
Don't seem to vary depending on accel, decel, cruise or coast.

Front axle shaft ujoints are good, one is new other is smooth.
Rear Wheel bearings are new, front are tight.

Hoping for a shop recommendation or somebody that may have some time to give me a second set of eyes on this thing.

Thanks much,

Mark

I am located in Newbury Park, Ventura County:wierd::conceited
 
At one point I thought the RC crossmember was not aligned properly based on the trans mount I was using. I slotted the mounting holes in the mount, and aligned the pinion perfectly with the output shaft.

I have always thought this about my RC long arm Xmember. Measure your stock xmember from driver side to center of bolt hols for trans, and do the same to the RC xmember.. They are 1/2 diffrance to one side right? Ithink its to far to PS IIRC?

I have had the RC kit for 2+ yrs and never gotten rid of my fron vibes. Just tolerable now. Spent more $$ than i think i should have on Driveshafts and balancings to make me sick. LOL


That trans mount did you end up going with?

Good luck with this man. Post up if its fixed.
 
My xj originally came with the offset trans mount. I don't remember how far off the RC holes were from my stock crossmember, but they were different. I got the centered one from Rock Auto, and then had to slot the mounts to align everything. Not sure which way it all went now, but I tested it in all possible alignments and found that it didn't make much difference.
 
Ventura 4x4. I think the guys name is Mike? My dad has taken all our 4x4's over the years to him, and he's done a ton of good work.

He's even taken a look at my dad's westfalia to brainstorm offroad upgrades to his van. Ended up helping him install some lift spring and a set of custom offset wheels and tires he picked up.
 
I have a 98 xj, lifted inches in rear, 5 inches or so in front, RC longarms, 231 with brand new AA SYE, 8.25 open 4.56 gears. Brand new motor mounts and transfer mount. Angle is 1 degree below output. Measured who knows how many times.

Unless I am reading this incorrectly you are stating that the angle of the pinion is one degree less than the output. That is what you want if you do not have a SYE.

When you have an SYE you want the pinion pointing upwards toward the output shaft of the Transfer case. It should be pointing nearly directly inline with the driveshaft(1-2 degrees lower is OK, to allow for Torque to bring it directly inline).

Sounds like you need to shim the axle to get the pinion pointed upwards.
 
If you drive to Pasadena, I can peak at it and tell you what is wrong with it.
 
Coast driveline makes some of the best driveshafts, I don't know about anything else, but I would trust them completely.

Ventura 4x4, the guys name is Rueben, and I think this is the number ocver there: 805-642-5459, he is really helpful and knows his stuff, swing by there and I am sure he could help you out. I wouldn't mind taking a look as well if you are in the area and I have the time.
 
Coast driveline makes some of the best driveshafts, I don't know about anything else, but I would trust them completely.

Ventura 4x4, the guys name is Rueben, and I think this is the number ocver there: 805-642-5459, he is really helpful and knows his stuff, swing by there and I am sure he could help you out. I wouldn't mind taking a look as well if you are in the area and I have the time.

Well that was my experience, wasted about $750 with them.

The driveshaft was way out of balance brand new and they did not fix it, and when I had went in specifically to have them put in shims they did a tcase drop instead without asking me first and was unable to fix my issue blaming the axle. This was back in 2009 so maybe they have cleaned up their act, but I would never give them another cent.

I now do a lot of business with Powertrain Industries.
 
Coast driveline makes some of the best driveshafts, I don't know about anything else, but I would trust them completely.

Ventura 4x4, the guys name is Rueben, and I think this is the number ocver there: 805-642-5459, he is really helpful and knows his stuff, swing by there and I am sure he could help you out. I wouldn't mind taking a look as well if you are in the area and I have the time.

haha, crap, Rueben, that's right. I was WAY the he** off. Sorry about that, OP.

We've had these things done to our rigs:

Jeepster commando - lift kit, tires, alignment
fj80 land cruiser - lift kit, alignment, baseline tune-up/fluid swap, locker/tcase solonoid repair
fj100 land cruiser - lift kit, alignment, slider install
Vw Westfalia - lift kit, electrical system troubleshooting cooling system repair, et, etc...haha

They're definitely good people.
 
Danny at D&S Auto Works in Santa Paula. Hes done alot of work on jeeps for years. 805-525-7400 Tell him New Image sent you. HE will take care of you :)
 
Unless I am reading this incorrectly you are stating that the angle of the pinion is one degree less than the output. That is what you want if you do not have a SYE.

When you have an SYE you want the pinion pointing upwards toward the output shaft of the Transfer case. It should be pointing nearly directly inline with the driveshaft(1-2 degrees lower is OK, to allow for Torque to bring it directly inline).

Sounds like you need to shim the axle to get the pinion pointed upwards.

Sorry, needed to be more clear. The pinion is pointed toward the output shaft, not parallel with the output shaft. Wish it were that simple!

Skullver, I will pm you. I will drive, you can hang out the door and feel around for the vibe? LOL Maybe you can find something obvious. Sounds like Ruben at ventura would be my next option.

Thanks all!
 
Mark came by a few nights ago and we checked it out....

To start off, his vehicle is VERY well maintained. He puts a lot of time and care into his rig. After crawling under his rig, everything seemed normal (tight CV and joints, angles were perfect, etc.). We drove it on the freeway for a while and the vibes came...at about 64 mph and progressively get worse. It wasn't obvious as to what the cause is. No leaking pinion or SYE seals indicating a bad driveline vibe and bearings going....actually he has tried 5 drivelines to eliminate this.

His front suspension is a radius arm set up connecting to the crossmember. The radius arms have joints like an RE or a JJ so I since we feel it in our seats, I suspect the lack of road isolation and something in the front end is the cause. IT wasn't 'that' bad....livable. We took it to 80mph and it was definitley worse. Mark is going to live with it and should there be something obvious it should show wear as time goes on so he'll keep his eyes on it.

Good to meet you Mark.
 
tried rebalancing the tires?

I had that conversation and Mark evidently changes his tires more often than his underwear. He has had many different models and styles on his rig.

It didn't feel like a tire issue when we drove it anyhow....
 
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