Daily Driver, Go Where I Want To Build

This happened with my jks body lift install. Pucks near rear shock mounts, had to go to tractor supply and get bolts 1/2 inch shorter

20180805_132451.jpg


20180728_170416.jpg
 
This happened with my jks body lift install. Pucks near rear shock mounts, had to go to tractor supply and get bolts 1/2 inch shorter

View attachment 89869

View attachment 89870
It is very common for manufacturers to miss that the bolt under the grill is longer than the 4 under the rear of the tub. The 4 are shorter so they don't come through the floor even though all 5 mounts are in fact the same height.

Dorman caught it on their later versions of the same mounts.

89877


Of course, they still don't understand that it is not 05-06 specific like they list. It is the same for 97-06.
 
I just replaced my jks body lift with the 1.25" savvy body lift. The jks was only on my jeep for a little more than a year, and it was down to about 1" of actual lift. Thanks for the heads up on this one!
 
I just replaced my jks body lift with the 1.25" savvy body lift. The jks was only on my jeep for a little more than a year, and it was down to about 1" of actual lift. Thanks for the heads up on this one!

Thanks to Blaine for understanding and sharing these things!
 
Last edited:
At least I know where to drill to get that broken bolt out. And now I won't have to cut the tub like I thought.
 
  • Like
Reactions: IPerkWVU
The second camera is in place. Mostly.
20190509_155106.jpg


The temporary front camera mount slipped and I got a great view of the winch.

All the dash switch spots are full now!
20190509_160526.jpg


The cameras are only triggered by the switch now. I had thought about keeping the rear connected to the reverse lights and using relays and diodes to make an override that turns both on. But that was complicated and I figured if I want one camera, I would want both.

It's an experiment. We'll see how useful this all is, both on and off road.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Marklar1983
An interesting thing happened on Sunday on my way back home from New Mexico. I heard and felt the front drive shaft failing on the highway.

In the past, I have mentioned that 75mph is doable, though lower speeds are quieter and more pleasant. This was true. However, I was making an assumption that the "harmonics" I was noticing around 75mph and higher were similar to the harmonics that others have described and never thought much about it since those sustained speeds didn't matter much to me.

The earlier drive south was uneventful with speeds in the low 70's. This drive back north was already several hours long. I began to notice the ambient "noise" was more dramatic and was now perceivable in the high 60's. Then there was a very subtle but noticeable sudden change that I can't quite describe, but didn't feel right. At the next exit, I stopped to take a look. I immediately noticed that the front drive shaft was quite hot, especially at the double cardan joint. This seemed odd, since the rear shaft doing the driving was only warm. I removed the hot front driveshaft. The DC joint felt stiffer than I thought it ought to.

Back on the highway, everything was different. Even at 55mph, all of the minor noise I had dismissed as "Jeepiness" was gone. 90mph was incredibly smooth! The problem (that was more severe than I ever believed) was connected to the front driveshaft.

This is the factory driveshaft with about 140k miles. I rebuilt it for the third time recently after the centering ball started to chirp again. What I believe happened is that the centering ball pin was dying. The prolonged driving was generating enough sustained heat to burn away the grease. That subtle change I felt might have been the fast decent to catastrophic failure.

I just ordered a new front drive shaft from Tom Wood with the extended splines and longer travel slip joint. It should arrive early next week. Hopefully this will reset the baseline for what normal really ought to be.

This experience is interesting, because I have been chasing and fixing small vibrations over the last many months. But the biggest one was one of the most obvious, and I wasn't even aware of it. Its a good moment for self reflection, I suppose.
 
Last edited:
Glad you caught it in time. I've been experimenting with drive shafts myself as of late. Right now, I'm about ready to drive my POS into the lake and leave it for fish habitat.
 
Me too. Its pretty scary knowing what was probably coming next.
 
An interesting thing happened on Sunday on my way back home from New Mexico. I heard and felt the front drive shaft failing on the highway.

In the past, I have mentioned that 75mph is doable, though lower speeds are quieter and more pleasant. This was true. However, I was making an assumption that the "harmonics" I was noticing around 75mph and higher were similar to the harmonics that others have described and never thought much about it since those sustained speeds didn't matter much to me.

The earlier drive south was uneventful with speeds in the low 70's. This drive north was already several hours long. I began to notice the ambient "noise" was more dramatic and was now perceivable in the high 60's. Then there was a very subtle but noticeable change that I can't quite describe, but didn't feel right. At the next exit, I stopped to take a look. I immediately noticed that the front drive shaft was quite hot, especially at the double cardan joint. This seemed odd, since the rear shaft doing the driving was only warm. I removed the hot front driveshaft. The DC joint felt stiffer than I thought it ought to.

Back on the highway, everything was different. Even at 55mph, all of the minor noise I had dismissed as "Jeepiness" was gone. 90mph was incredibly smooth! The problem (that was more severe than I ever believed) was connected to the front driveshaft.

This is the factory driveshaft with about 140k miles. I rebuilt it for the third time recently after the centering ball started to chirp again. What I believe happened is that the centering ball pin was dying. The prolonged driving was generating enough sustained heat to burn away the grease. That subtle change I felt might have been the fast decent to catastrophic failure.

I just ordered a new front drive shaft from Tom Wood with the extended splines. It should arrive early next week. Hopefully this will reset the baseline for what normal really ought to be.

This experience is interesting, because I have been chasing and fixing small vibrations over the last many months. But the biggest one was one of the most obvious, and I wasn't even aware of it. Its a good moment for self reflection, I suppose.


Welcome to the club. My Jeep is the same way. You can cruise at 90mph without the front driveshaft and not feel a thing. 90 mph with the front driveshaft in is definitely doable and doesn't cause any major vibrations, but they are definitely there. I've had my front driveshaft fail a couple of times during the ~30k miles since the Jeep got lifted (CV joint once, slip joint 2 times).

Let me know if the brand new driveshaft changes anything. I usually find that once I replace the driveshaft, I get around 500 miles of vibe free driving. After that, there is a slight vibration at higher speeds and it never gets any worse than that until the driveshaft fails. I'd be interested to hear if yours is the same way.
 
What doe failure look like on yours? Really noisy or is it breaking?
 
What doe failure look like on yours? Really noisy or is it breaking?

I've had both. When the CV joint failed, there was a terrible and extremely loud noise (chirping) that appeared over time. It eventually got very bad and I had to change out the shaft.

When the slip joint fails, I can usually just tell by vibration. It hasn't happened to me in a couple of years because I don't drive the Jeep much anymore, but IIRC, after 500 miles (since a new driveshaft) I would get a slight vibration and then suddenly the vibration would get much worse and I'd be irritated enough to warrantee the shaft. I had one shaft not even last 3000 miles and another lasted me 10,000. I'm more hopeful since my frame swap as I drove the Jeep 3000 miles at highway speeds and haven't found a problem yet.

I've had the front driveline gone through by a few Jeep shops and they can't find anything wrong. But I throw a new shaft in and the same thing happens a few months later. Here is a video I took a few years ago of my failed slip joint that was causing vibrations.