I've got an 03 TJ Rubicon that'll get a 2" Old Man Emu Lift and a 1.5" engine lift (also same body lift, to fit full skidplate). What driveline problems should I expect & plan on, what do I need in order to fix those problems, and should I get new driveshafts made?
Thanks for your help
Andrew Whitley
Andrew!
What's up?
Anyway, I'm going to stab at your question, even though we've probably talked about this before anyway. Now all those people on this forum who have helped me figure this stuff out in the past can have a chance to tell you why I'm wrong ;-)
From what I've found when researching the lift for Aaron's rubicon, you're definitely going to want to do something about the rear driveshaft, most likely involving replacing it with a new CV shaft (the stock rubicons still have u-joint rear driveshafts, after all). You'll also have to have a shop machine the output shaft from the t-case to have a CV flange rather than a U-Joint flange as it does stock. Since the rubicon already has a slip yoke on the t-case output shaft, though, you won't have to mess with that (which will save you some money).
Since your full skid plate will raise the t-case along with the engine (right?), your effective lift of the output shaft of that t-case with respect to the rear axle pinion will be in the neighborhood of 3 to
3.5 inches, depending on how much that skid raises you. That, in my opinion, puts you in need of a CV rear driveshaft, especially since the rubicon t-case, as I understand, is longer than the np231 on the regular TJ, resulting in an even shorter rear driveshaft.Ok, there's my go.
Now, be careful out there in mortarville!
/Bob
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