What are you doing to your rig - the continuing saga

[Starboard M]

Those are all fine guesses. No JK, although I still have use of my daughters 2013 2 door JK (she just won't let me take it offroad, but now days that is more my style). I thought I wanted the Ram 1500 Ecodiesel until I drove one. Don't get me wrong, it was a freakin' awesome truck! It is way too big for my needs as I don't haul stuff or tow anything at this point. I also drove the Ford F150, it too was very nice. As was the Chevy Silverado but they all are too big and I can't justify spending $40k - $50k on a vehicle and not parking it in the garage. What to do? Then my boy-genius told me to check out the mid sized Chevy Colorado or the GMC Canyon.

Right now the Canyon with the All Terrain package (Z71 suspension) is at the top of the list.

What about a Taco? Smaller than a full sized truck, gets decent fuel mileage, and can still go offroad if you need it to.

New they are stupid expensive, used isnt that much better either.

Now that the holidays are over, the supercharged mess has moved from the side yard storage into the garage. Time to get that thing fixed up right and take it out for real. It's not my DD anymore..

:clap:

 

[DaJudge]

Replaced the CPS. Drove home from work a few weeks ago and it was fine. Tried to go to work the next morning and no start! As usually it got me home!

Waiting on my new Passenger Door Module to come in so I can have power locks again.

Need to get it painted this spring. Trying to decide if I should Bed-liner, re-paint, or some combination of the two.

 

[1-tonxj]

Tossed a few hard packed Snowballs at the shyt-box while deciding if I wheel the XJ this Summer or cut it up a bit while the weather is warm to work on it in the outside lot where it has to sit ...I really want to cut and weld on the XJ more than wheel it, And I don't know why ?

 

[DutchVDub]

I was able to install the Rock Slide Engineering T-Case Brace after work tonight. The boss let me bring it in and throw it on the lifts. It took me just under an hour to do, and that included getting the TNT Belly pan skids out of the way and then back on.





It clears the TNT belly skid just fine and everything seemed good to go on the drive home. I'm glad I was able to get this and install it before any issues popped up with my stock t-case. I'm running 5.38 gears with the 37's so I know the driveshafts are spinning like crazy. I started to notice a bit of a vibe from the front Coast driveshaft too and think the center ball is starting to get a bit sloppy. I was starting to get a bit concerned it might take out my t-case. If this thing makes the stock case as bullet proof as its supposed to then I'll probably never swap the case out for an Atlas as I thought I might have to, and that saves me a lot of money.

 

[1-tonxj]

I was able to install the Rock Slide Engineering T-Case Brace after work tonight. The boss let me bring it in and throw it on the lifts. It took me just under an hour to do, and that included getting the TNT Belly pan skids out of the way and then back on.





It clears the TNT belly skid just fine and everything seemed good to go on the drive home. I'm glad I was able to get this and install it before any issues popped up with my stock t-case. I'm running 5.38 gears with the 37's so I know the driveshafts are spinning like crazy. I started to notice a bit of a vibe from the front Coast driveshaft too and think the center ball is starting to get a bit sloppy. I was starting to get a bit concerned it might take out my t-case. If this thing makes the stock case as bullet proof as its supposed to then I'll probably never swap the case out for an Atlas as I thought I might have to, and that saves me a lot of money.

Have been running a 231 with just an HD SYE for 4 years on 40 Boggers with a current trail ready weight of 5,800lbs and been on some of Colorados more extreme trails ...I can't see how you think a Roctrac 241 would not hold 35-37s for you it's a heavy duty case .

 

[time2getdirty]

It has to do with rotations the driveshafts are constantly spinning down the highway. Your jeep doesn't see those speeds 1/4 the amount of time his jk does.

 

[Hypoid]

It has to do with rotations the driveshafts are constantly spinning down the highway. Your jeep doesn't see those speeds 1/4 the amount of time his jk does.

Compounded by worn, going out of balance shafts.

 

[time2getdirty]

Those are all fine guesses. No JK, although I still have use of my daughters 2013 2 door JK (she just won't let me take it offroad, but now days that is more my style). I thought I wanted the Ram 1500 Ecodiesel until I drove one. Don't get me wrong, it was a freakin' awesome truck! It is way too big for my needs as I don't haul stuff or tow anything at this point. I also drove the Ford F150, it too was very nice. As was the Chevy Silverado but they all are too big and I can't justify spending $40k - $50k on a vehicle and not parking it in the garage. What to do? Then my boy-genius told me to check out the mid sized Chevy Colorado or the GMC Canyon.

Right now the Canyon with the All Terrain package (Z71 suspension) is at the top of the list.

He listened to me:clap:

 

[1-tonxj]

It has to do with rotations the driveshafts are constantly spinning down the highway. Your jeep doesn't see those speeds 1/4 the amount of time his jk does.

Would think the drive shafts would be spinning an Atlas just the same ...The guys running 35s on 4.56 in the Dodge Diesel pickups have no issues with the old 241s or the newer 271/273s . Advanced Adapters uses the 6 planet gear set from the 241 on their 4 speed box . Not arguing here just can't see the case falling apart any more or less than an Atlas would . I would think the bigger wear item on the driveline would be unitized hubs in front ?

 

[1-tonxj]

Compounded by worn, going out of balance shafts.

Shatty drive shafts would be an issue on an Atlas as well . I also see many XJ on 4.88 gears and 231 cases driving daily , so can't see the 241 falling apart . A crappy drive shaft will fall apart no matter the case it atttaches to when it spins . Avanced Adapter uses the 241 planetary gear set on their 4 speeds . If wanting better than 4-1 gearing then that would be reason to upgrade but driveshaft revs just does not seem like a reason ?...The Atlas also offrers front operation for front digs ,but with 37s and a stock JK front is that really an option you want to use ?

 

[DutchVDub]

There have been a fair amount of instances where a JK case explodes on the interste with little to no warning. This is pretty much always on rigs running 5.13's and 5.38's. The problem being that the driveshafts spin a lot faster at those speeds than they do when they're balanced. The vibrations are causing the housing to fail around the front output. Its not an internal issue, its a housing issue. The reason the Atlas is less susceptible is because their housings are pure beef and sacrifice zero strength for weight reduction.

For what its worth I've seen similar failures on NP231's. I just don't think its as common because for the most part people aren't gearing as low with them. You can't go lower than 4.88's with the stock gears and by the time somebody has gone to axles and tires allowing for and requiring such low gearing they probably aren't spending much time on the interstate.

Like I said, I'm not fully convinced this is a must have item. I've been driving my Jeep for the last 5 months or so with the 5.38's and have done over 80mph on the interstate with some faint but noticeable driveshaft vibration and not had a failure. I just figured for the introductory price of 150$ shipped it was a cheap piece of insurance and provides me with some piece of mind. The guy that designed it tested it for 3 years on his competition rig before selling the idea to Rock Slide and I bought it directly from him.

Here is a link to the thread:
http://www.jkowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=207834

 

[1-tonxj]

There have been a fair amount of instances where a JK case explodes on the interste with little to no warning. This is pretty much always on rigs running 5.13's and 5.38's. The problem being that the driveshafts spin a lot faster at those speeds than they do when they're balanced. The vibrations are causing the housing to fail around the front output. Its not an internal issue, its a housing issue. The reason the Atlas is less susceptible is because their housings are pure beef and sacrifice zero strength for weight reduction.

For what its worth I've seen similar failures on NP231's. I just don't think its as common because for the most part people aren't gearing as low with them. You can't go lower than 4.88's with the stock gears and by the time somebody has gone to axles and tires allowing for and requiring such low gearing they probably aren't spending much time on the interstate.

Like I said, I'm not fully convinced this is a must have item. I've been driving my Jeep for the last 5 months or so with the 5.38's and have done over 80mph on the interstate with some faint but noticeable driveshaft vibration and not had a failure. I just figured for the introductory price of 150$ shipped it was a cheap piece of insurance and provides me with some piece of mind. The guy that designed it tested it for 3 years on his competition rig before selling the idea to Rock Slide and I bought it directly from him.

Here is a link to the thread:
http://www.jkowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=207834

I'd be curious to know if those failed cases had drive shafts that were too long and when the front axled suspension compressed the drive shaft collpased length wasa tad too long causing it to beat the output to death I've seen bad driveshaft set up take out even 205s rear output from that exact situation ...if you got vibration and drive at speed daily that will wear out the tapered roller bearing on even the Atlas outputs ...It would be much simpler a solution if they put real lockinmg hubs on those axles ,which I know that is not a super cheap conversion ,but would make everything live longer up front and driveshaft balance a small issue only when using 4wd on roads in bad weather, which your speed would probably not be 80+ then . LOL...An Atlas ...Dynatracs or home built tons and it's solved...lol...tell your Wife that's the only way fix it

 

[DutchVDub]

I could see driveshaft length being an issue, I could also see binding of the front driveshaft during axle droop being a cause. I've watched that take out a 231 and with as much as the front axle on a JK is able to flex with even factory arms it could be a cause of stress and premature failure in the t-cases..

I found this site to have a decent setup for calculating the rpm of your driveshafts.
http://www.texastransams.com/articles/top_speed_calculator.htm

Using it my driveshafts at 75mph are spinning at approx 3695rpm

An XJ w/ auto transmission on 35's and 4.88 gears has a driveshaft RPM of 3533.

Also for reference I calculated my stock JK Rubicon w/ auto (stock gears and tires) had a driveshaft rpm of 3260 at 75mph

I'm not sure how much of a difference that really makes. If I were running 35's with the 5.38 gears like the guy who designed the brace though I would have a driveshaft RPM of just over 3900 at 75. I could see that being a factor.

According to Tom Wood's website a UJoint is typically rated to operate at a continuous load at 300RPM for 5000hrs at a 3deg angle.

Also, it appears most driveshaft balancing machines spin at 1000rpm (I'm google searching and reading as I type this) although there are some high speed machines that can spun a 17lb shaft up to 9000rpm.

 

[D.W.Tim]

A whole bunch done lately so some pics are in order.

Tube/sheet flairs and short stinger with guards

Picked up a LP 30 last Friday and plated the CA mounts, replaced the TB mount with 3/16" tube and added coil bucket bump stops. Added a hole with a welded nut in the BS so I can add hockey pucks when I get tires.

by far the cleanest item under my XJ. Just need upper CA bushings.

Working on a roof rack/rub rail type deal. I wanted something to hold camping gear, lumber maybe a roof top tent and some kind of protection for the roof line. I seem to come mighty close up there quite often and I'm a magnet for tight "Scrape off the mirrors" trails. The end result will look somewhat like a exo but that is not my intent. I just want four legs at the corners maybe put a ladder on the side behind the back door.

anyway, as it sits today

 

[Boostwerks.com]

put a shock in! arty:

 

[jdogg4]

well right after xmas instead of buying a treager smoker I bought a brand new rear glass for the jeep. hadn't driven it for a week was driving the stock jeep. went out to make sure it would crank over brushed the snow off and there was a 1/4" hole and then the whole thing was crackled busted. so its a nice clean clear window.

 

[ColoradoRaptor]

Have been running a 231 with just an HD SYE for 4 years on 40 Boggers with a current trail ready weight of 5,800lbs and been on some of Colorados more extreme trails ...I can't see how you think a Roctrac 241 would not hold 35-37s for you it's a heavy duty case .

It will hold just fine until the driveshaft joints fail at speed then you will be picking up pieces of your t-case and shafts off the interstate........ ask me how I know this.....

 

[DutchVDub]

It will hold just fine until the driveshaft joints fail at speed then you will be picking up pieces of your t-case and shafts off the interstate........ ask me how I know this.....

Yep, I've seen it happen on a buddy's XJ. I had to help him get a trailer and retrieve his rig from the side of I-25.

 

[1-tonxj]

It will hold just fine until the driveshaft joints fail at speed then you will be picking up pieces of your t-case and shafts off the interstate........ ask me how I know this.....

Bad drivine angles will do the same to a driveshaft even if attached to a $2,700 t-case and will rip apart an Atlas when that prop shaft slaps the shit of it during the failure . Keep in mind the Atlas uses the same yokes and flanges available for the 231/241 so bad driveshaft angles will produce the same failure it's just a$2700 case casualty instead of $250 with the 231 ...the 241 is not cheap to replace folks think just b/c it is 4-1 it's made od Gold ,which is why i would do a 231/300 or atlas b4 I bought one ...lol...even worse are the used teralow 231s folks want $1200 for .

 

[DutchVDub]

In the case of my Jeep the angles aren't bad at all. I'm only running 3" of lift to fit the 37's. On top of that the JK driveshafts are a fair amount longer than the ones on an XJ. My front shaft is 39" at ride height and my rear is 45" at ride height. That's yoke to yoke measurements while sitting in my driveway.

In the end the T-case brace was designed by a guy who had a t-case failure and now after several years of beating the hell out of his rig, including competing with it, hasn't had one. Its not crazy expensive like most JK parts and I figure its cheap insurance that also supports a vendor who isn't apparently out there to bleed our wallets dry like GenRight, TeraFlex, and the like.