Lift questions

SNIP

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That would be a kind soul, not sole.

If you wanted stock YJ brake lines, you can get them over the counter from your local parts store. They will be listed in the parts book.

The axle breathers are either 3/16 or 5/16 hose. Buy several feet of bulk hose and cut it to fit.

Would adjustable

If you dropped the tcase you could take care of the vibes. You want the pinion angle and the tcase to be parallel. So, if the pinion angle is at 7°, for example, then you also want the tcase to be angled to 7° so the centerline of the output shaft and the pinion are parallel. (I pulled that number out of the air, I have no idea what the pinion angle is going to be, but my instinct says it will be closer to about 3°.)

I don't recall how much lift you plan on using, but they make a drop kit for the tcase that lowers the skid plate the correct amount for the lift you are using.

Ooops, late night and lack of sleep is not a good combination.

Well, local parts stores in New Zealand don't normally carry items that fit Jeeps, especially Wranglers. In New Zealand last year Jeep sold around 30 new Wrangler in the whole year..... Not a big enough market. I have found it to be more productive to go to the local dealer with part number so that it can be ordered quickly.

Thanks. Is that inner dia or out dia? I will try to measure the circumference and see what it works out to.

I am reluctantly planning on dropping the t/case with their kit. What is the acceptable range of pinion angle for a Dana 44 with automatic transmission upfront? Would having adjustable cam bolts help me in staying within the acceptable range as they allow more room to play with.

OME calls it a suspension upgrade and it is generally around 2 to 2.5" depending on the extent and weight of accessories like hardtop and beefier bumpers. For the time being I am dropping the t/case, but plan on 1" motor mount lift, 1" body lift, belly up t/case skid plate and SYE and new rear drive shaft as and when budget builds up again.

Thanks for your comments in advance.

TW

Thanks. Am I forgetting something that I should be changing as well? How stiff is the ride with heavy duty coils/shocks on a TJ? I personally don't like spongy rides (feel like boats). Any experience? I see you are running a RE 4.5", but you might have had OME in the past for all I know....

TIA. TW

Firstly, my reply seems kinda smart-ass now as I look back. Sorry.

I like to use

for my parts look ups. I find that they offer parts from several makers, and the cross reference works out properly more often than not. Plug in the make and year of the model you want a part for, then you can search the database for the parts.

I forget which, but it is a common size for which there is normally a bulk roll of suitable hose in the corner of the store. I forget that you are not in the States, but my local parts stores have rolls of various sizes of hoses on a rack over in the corner of the store. The hose you need isn't really important, that is it doesn't have to be anything specific - it just has to be there. Having said that, I am not sure that you need to replace it because it is long enough already to accomodate the droop, and the droop isn't going to change very much as a result of your lift. This is easily an issue you can address once the lift is finished.

The front drive shaft is long enought that it is seldom a problem with a 2" lift. The rear is what is driving the bus in this issue. When you install the tcase drop kit, you will end up with an angle for the tcase that is pretty much a given. Set the rear pinion so the pinion shaft centerline is parallel to the output shaft centerline. You can get the angle of the centerline by using an angle guage along the bottom of the engine block, and there is a flat surface on the diff that will be the plane of the pinion shaft.

Somebody needs to jump in here and help me out.

I think that if you raise the motor an inch, you won't need the tcase drop kit. Here's the deal on that.

With the lift, you are raising the motor and trans relative to the axles. The body lift has no effect on the vibes, but it does affect other stuff - but one thing at a time. So, you have lifted the engine AND the trans., and you have disturbed the pinion angle - which your new goal is to bring back into alignment.

First, I don't think the 2" lift will disturb the pinion alignment, so your worries of vibes are unfounded.

I think your motor mount lift is a good idea. But, the engine/trans is supported in three locations, one on each side of the motor, and one under the trans. If you LOWER the trans and keep the engine in place, you get an angle. Conversely, if you RAISE the engine and keep the trans in the same place, you also get an angle. For practicle purposes, the angle you get is going to be the same. So, you don't need to raise the motor and drop the trans as a result of the lift, you need to EITHER raise the motor or drop the trans. Get it? With a 4" lift, you need to do one or the other of these, but with the 2" lift, I am not sure you will need to do either.

IF THE SPRING KIT COMES WITH A DROP KIT for the trans, then you need to either drop the trans or raise the motor. If the springs do not have a drop kit included, I don't think you need to worry about it.

PS The belly up skid plate seems to me to be counter to the tcase drop kit. The tcase is held by the skid plate, and the drop kit is essentially a package of bushings that go between the skid plate and the frame. The skid plate drops in the center where the tcase fits it, but the belly up skid plate hasn't got the drop in the center, so the tcase will end up in the stock location relative to the rest of the drive train if you lower the skid plate, then raise the tcase with a belly-up skid plate. In this instance, you may need the drop kit and the raised motor mounts. Think of the plane that all of this stuff occupies. You need the combination of motor mount, drop kit, and belly up that keeps the plan parallel. It gets complicated if work at it hard enough, but if you just keep track of the plane it should be pretty simple.

My bad, that's

I just went on a club run yesterday and saw a '94 Cherokee on OME suspension and it looked great. He seemed to have a lot of flexing and a lot smoother ride (less bouncy) as well. I don't want to go too high primarily because I don't think I am ready for that yet. The only bad things I have heard about OME were from a guy visiting here, who I later found out actually sells Teraflex products in Australia. Thanks for all your input, it seems like I'll be okay with OME.

TW

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01 TJ Renegade 4.0L Auto D30/44, 265/75R16 BFG Muds

Not a problem, I didn't think of it as being smart-ass.

Thanks, I can surely use their database for part numbers. Finding those parts here would be another story.

Okay then, I'll leave it as it is for now and see what happens.

Another toy to acquire :-) an angle guage.......

I didn't plan on doing the body lift and motor mount lift at the same time as suspension lift at this stage. But thinking about it again, it will probably save me from dropping the t/case, so it might not be a bad idea to do it all together. I just don't want to drop the shovel any lower because I often end up bring back half of the track with me nicely tucked away in the t/case skid plate.

I understand that it has to be either one of the options. But your last comment suggest I need neither!

Well, the kit I can get in parts locally so if I opt out of the t/case drop parts I can save money and put that on motor mounts.

Belly up kit I will get when I go to SYE later, probably next year. But using that imaginary line of how the engine, t/case and the rear end line up is helpful.

TW

Thanks.

I don't think you can go too high with OME, they only make about a 3" lift anway. It used to be limited to 2.5", but I think they've raised the bar. Also, not to confuse matters, but I had a Teraflex 4" 4ST lift that was great, too! It was matched with DT3000 shocks that I'm still running on my Rubicon.