Lift installed (kinda) - have some Qs

[bman040]

Just finished putting in a 4" mix-n-match Old man emu lift under my 05 Rubi. For the most part things went smooth. 4" OME coils front and rear, OME long travel shocks front and rear, rear track bar relocation bracket, front adj track bar, rear extended sway bar links (RE), front sway bar discos (JKS), and i also have a drop pitman arm which i haven't put in yet (don't think i need it).

Anyways, i eyeballed toe-in, steering wheel alignment, and axle centering and took it for a test drive. I Noticed alot of vibes, and generally bad steering. I broke out the tape measure and realligned the front end, and got it good enough to drive for a while till i can get it in for a good alignment. Still had vibes though.

Most acounts I have read about lifted Rubis don't need any sort of drive line mods up to about 4". So I was a little concerned. First thing i did was to get the tape measure again, and lo and behold these springs gave me a healthy 5" lift. So i didn't have a t-case drop kit, can't afford a cv shaft yet, so i threw some washers in between the skid and the frame (5 on each bolt-with that much spacing there is just enough thread left on the factory skid bolts for me to still feel comfortable). This helped alot, but there is still minor vibes, especially accelerating in 3rd. I'm broke right now, so my main question is can i get away with driving back and forth to work for a week or two with minor driveshaft vibes? anybody with first hand experience? Also, I don't have any death wobble, but the handling pretty much feels like crap. I'm planning on new LCAs front/maybe rear to help fix caster. I don't like the idea of adjustable control arms, so for 4" (4 1/2") lift how much longer fixed LCAs should i order. thanks alot. I got pics, i'll post em soon.
Brendan

[kevin]

bman, i have also kinda installed my lift on my 2003 wrangler x. its the super lift 4 inch (but it sits closed to 5 5 1/2 inches) I sill need to put on the shocks and sway bar links. (cant get the front stock shocks off) anyway i know there is a difference in the drive shafts rubi vs x but like you said over 40 mph the vibes get to where it is hard to steer. I dropped my t-case which was included in my lift kit and it corrected the bad vibes. The only thing is on your rubi you problily don;t need to drop you t-case as fare to correct drive line angles so i would recomend buying 6 new bolts for the t-case skid just a little longer than the stock ones. Then throw on some washers untill your angles are corrected.

Have fun

kbo

[mikea]

I've had bad vibes for a long time and am running a skyjacker 4" lift with no tcase drop on my rubi and am still running the stock drive shaft. Are you wanting to put a drop in? I think I have a couple of sets of skyjacker tcase spacer rails and bolts. You can have a set if you come get them or pay shipping. I wouldn't worry too much about the vibes but just don't expect your dealer to warranty the drive shaft if it fails. I wheel mine hard and have had no problems with mine except some minor rubbing at the tcase joint and some pretty bad vibrations.

[mikea]

Also get the adjustable arms, you'll regret it later. I have the skyjacker arms and they are crap. Don't get them. I'm looking at the Rubicon Express arms, they have rebuildable joints and I have never heard anything bad about them. If and when you get new upper arms you will be able to adjust your caster and move your front axle forward and the rear backward to put your axles back where they should be.

[Don]

[ QUOTE ]
Also get the adjustable arms, you'll regret it later. I have the skyjacker arms and they are crap. Don't get them. --snip--

[/ QUOTE ]

Mike: did you mean to say "get the adjustable arms, you will never regret it"? I have the Rubicon Express Lift that included the lower control arms. Someday, I'll add the adjustable upper control arms. I have been very pleased with the quality of the R.E. Lift. I love the 2nd generation quick disconnects. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tu.gif

[mikea]

yeah Don, I ment to say to get the adjustable "OR" you'll regrett it later.

Thanks for catching that. Hate to confuse people with my ramblings /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smashfreakB.gif

[DavidC]

Another vote forthe adjustable RE arms. I have just the SF adj. upper rears and along with the sye and CV driveshaft no more vibes. The darn Jeep is so smooth now it doesn't feel like a Jeep!

I'll probably get the rest of the RE SF arms here soon.

I just have to give the UPS guy a break...and my bank account time to catch up to all the other mods.

[Don]

Mikea:

I tell people to read what I am thinking, NOT what I type /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I saw a Yellow Rubi today (I Love Rubi's), but this one had a 3 inch body lift, (no suspension lift) and big tires,,,, talk about stupid looking. I suspect that the Mall Parking lot is about the only trails that Rubi will ever see.

[gmbtj]

SO is it installed yet?

by the way,
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worthless.gif

[Neal]

If you have a dana 44 in the rear witch I think you do, you will have vibrating over 30mph until you get a STE. Hate to say but it will be about $600.00+ installed. I was quoted $800 parts and labor by someone who is kinda high priced.
You need to also get some upgraded U joints in the rear with grease points on them.(O'Riely auto parts $12.00 a piece.
Good job getting what you have done so far finished.

[imported_gblue]

I have the RE 3.5 and I had vibrations with it, I had to get a Tom Woods DS (bought it from jeepers and creepers) and that fixed that problem, however you will need adjustable upper control arms on the rear because you will have to adjust you pinion angle, also I had to buy some shock brackets to move the shocks away from the axle because once I adjusted the pinion the axle hit the shocks.

One thing I have that you dont was I did a belly up skid plate which increased the angle of the DS even more.

I was told by several folks to remove the rear DS and just use the front for a few days until the new DS came in.. I never did that but I hear of folks doing it all the time on the rubicon board I visit.

If I EVER get another jeep I AM NOT touching the suspension. I have done a lift, skid plates, body lift, Motor lift, New adjustable control arms all around and the DS and I CANNOT get rid of the death wobble.. The only what that I know of to get rid of the wobble is trade it which I am in the process of trying to do now as I type /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Don]

[ QUOTE ]
SO is it installed yet?

by the way,
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worthless.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks, Patrick. I forgot to include this with my post. Don't ever get old... you will forget everything, including your name. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[bman040]

[ QUOTE ]
If you have a dana 44 in the rear witch I think you do, you will have vibrating over 30mph until you get a STE. Hate to say but it will be about $600.00+ installed. I was quoted $800 parts and labor by someone who is kinda high priced.
You need to also get some upgraded U joints in the rear with grease points on them.(O'Riely auto parts $12.00 a piece.
Good job getting what you have done so far finished.

[/ QUOTE ]

Neal, you mean SYE?? if not, what is a STE. if so, thought rubis came factory with a fixed yoke, the driveshaft itself is what extends and contracts with axle movement. only thing you can do to make it better is get a cv shaft. that was my impression anyway, someone tell if i'm wrong.

Every one else- thanks for your replies. unfortunately no pics yet. they're on my girlfriends digi camera but shes got the usb cord with her and she's in jersey right now, long story short, i'll post em on wed. I've really got nothing new to report - haven't had a chance to work on it since my last post. I think my next step is going to be to remove the factory ruber spring spacers in the front which would bring it down a 1/2 inch and might help the drive line angle a tad. anyone know of any problems running front springs metal-to-metal to the upper perches? thanks again
B

[IndyXJ]

Maybe it's a long wheelbase thing, but the 2 XJ's I have/had never had drive line vibes. Both SYE's, 1 at 4.5 and now this one at 6". Good luck with everything, the patience will pay off.