MountaineerTom's 2006 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited

BlueC said:
Did the length of the arms change from what you had? I assume you have Johnny Joints, is it possible you are feeling the difference between old factory rubber bushings and the new ridged bushings?
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Yes I extended the lower arms so my bumps were properly aligned; Savvy arms with JJs. There was a huge thread on if control arm bushings affect ride quality, and while I didn’t read through it, I definitely believe any kind of rubber on a suspension component can damper resonance.

To give a little background, when I did my rears the first time, I wasn’t thinking correctly and set it like a DC with the pinion pointing at the TC output. I had bad vibes but they were oscillating, which makes sense since the ujoints were out of sync. I had fixed that last week, which turned the vibes consistent. I did this at the same time I did my front arms.

Fast forward to today. I decided to pull the rear shaft first just to make sure everything was on point, which it was. I went for a drive with the front shaft in and got it up to about 75. The vibes were still there, but way less noticeable. I returned, pulled the front shaft, reinstall the rear shaft after verifying angles again, and went for a test drive. Took it up to 80 with minimal to almost no vibrations. I think the rear is dialed in perfect, and I’m just feeling resonance coming through the new control arms. So now I need to play with the front to make sure I have it set properly, which I’ll admit I kind of eyeballed.

@MountaineerTom not trying to hijack your thread, just trying to provide data for those who might be interested and/or learning. Tagging @OldBuzzard as well.
 
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Here’s a picture of my shaft for reference (lol). The end goal is a DC shaft, but right now I need my stock components to work until I do my tuck.
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Jamison, yes, your rear settings sound perfect. But you reminded me that if I still have vibes when I get it on the road, I'll need to pull my driveshafts to make sure I'm chasing the right demons.

Tom, I'm curious about your rear driveshaft angle. It sounds like yours is a little steeper than mine. I'm using 1/2" skid spacers, and my tranny shaft and pinion shaft are both at 6.5°. The driveshaft is at 19.5°, so the u-joint angles are at 13°. If yours is steeper, you might be getting into that 15° max which Tom Wood talks about. Or am I missing something?
 
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OldBuzzard said:
Jamison, yes, your rear settings sound perfect. But you reminded me that if I still have vibes when I get it on the road, I'll need to pull my driveshafts to make sure I'm chasing the right demons.

Tom, I'm curious about your rear driveshaft angle. It sounds like yours is a little steeper than mine. I'm using 1/2" skid spacers, and my tranny shaft and pinion shaft are both at 6.5°. The driveshaft is at 19.5°, so the u-joint angles are at 13°. If yours is steeper, you might be getting into that 15° max which Tom Wood talks about. Or am I missing something?
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That may be the case. My transfer case yoke is 4.85* and the pinion is 4.80* (I tried and tried but couldn't get them exactly matching) and the driveshaft is at 16.65*, so I guess that means the u-joints are at 11.82*.

I did notice an odd noise/vibration this evening when I took it out. I guess in the process of moving things around, the exhaust pipe where it wraps around the front on the oil pan and goes towards the rear of the jeep was making contact with the front passenger side upper rear control arm mount bracket that sticks out from the frame. I never thought to look up there when I initially installed the skid. Took a pry bar and moved it over a little.

I took the skid off today and cut some of the front lip off, so it wasn't so close to the transmission pan. Drilled holes in it for the Savvy engine skid and got it reinstalled. I didn't feel like going back out this evening, so I'll see how it does tomorrow. I'm thinking I need to go ahead and plan on installing the SYE.

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Didn't really mess with it today. Went out to get breakfast and the odd noise/vibration from the exhaust pipe hitting the control arm mount was gone. It should have been since I bent it off of it. :LOL: Spent more time in my shop just cleaning up and putting things away where they are supposed to be. Also put together my new Harbor Freight press. :)

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MountaineerTom said:
Didn't really mess with it today. Went out to get breakfast and the odd noise/vibration from the exhaust pipe hitting the control arm mount was gone. It should have been since I bent it off of it. :LOL: Spent more time in my shop just cleaning up and putting things away where they are supposed to be. Also put together my new Harbor Freight press. :)

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I'd love to have one of those presses, but I don't have the room. I borrowed an Arbor Press for my joints. It's still sitting on my workbench. Comes in handy, but still too big to keep around.
 
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JMT said:
I'd love to have one of those presses, but I don't have the room. I borrowed an Arbor Press for my joints. It's still sitting on my workbench. Comes in handy, but still too big to keep around.
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I've been debating it for years. Definitely could have used it in the past. Thought I had a coupon for 25% off. Didn't read the fine print but found out that Central Machinery items were not eligible. 😐 Oh well.
 
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MountaineerTom said:
I've been debating it for years. Definitely could have used it in the past. Thought I had a coupon for 25% off. Didn't read the fine print but found out that Central Machinery items were not eligible. 😐 Oh well.
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Definitely one of the good buys from HF. I bought one probably 5-6 years ago to rebuild a suspension. At $150 I got my money back on the first car. Of course, it's just been holding other crap for a year or two now, but I'll use it again soon enough.
 
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I bought a HF 12-ton press several years ago. It mostly just sits there, in the way. But every once in a while when I need it, it really beats a vice and a hammer. I'm sure you'll put it to good use.
 
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I finally did my test drive, kind of expecting to be rid of the vibrations. No such luck, they're still there, above about 40 MPH, and especially accelerating and pulling a hill. Just to verify, I removed the rear driveshaft, and wired a heavy baggy over the TC shaft to keep dirt out of the greased splines. Running in 4WD at highway speeds, the TC makes its typical whine, but there were no vibrations at all, even under heavy load. So I'll be buying an SYE and DC driveshaft.

I suspect that with your similar setup, you may find the same thing. Good luck.
 
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OldBuzzard said:
I finally did my test drive, kind of expecting to be rid of the vibrations. No such luck, they're still there, above about 40 MPH, and especially accelerating and pulling a hill. Just to verify, I removed the rear driveshaft, and wired a heavy baggy over the TC shaft to keep dirt out of the greased splines. Running in 4WD at highway speeds, the TC makes its typical whine, but there were no vibrations at all, even under heavy load. So I'll be buying an SYE and DC driveshaft.

I suspect that with your similar setup, you may find the same thing. Good luck.
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Yeah, I already have the SYE (on the work bench in the press pic). I think I’m just going to plan on doing that and ordering a driveshaft afterwards so I don’t have to worry about it.
 
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I drove it to work today and the exhaust pipe moved over and was hitting the passengers side rear front upper control arm mount bracket again.

@OldBuzzard and @Jamison C, did y’all have this problem? I didn’t think there were any issues with exhaust and the UCF Extra Clearance Skid? It’s the original exhaust as far as I know.

This weekend I’ll see if there is some play in the skid that will let me move it towards the drivers side some. I didn’t hear this noise after the initial installation, only after removing the skid to trim the front lip down so it wasn’t so close to the
transmission pan. It must be in a different position than it was on the initial installation. 🤷🏻‍♂️

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MountaineerTom said:
I drove it to work today and the exhaust pipe moved over and was hitting the passengers side rear upper control arm mount bracket again.

@OldBuzzard and @Jamison C, did y’all have this problem? I didn’t think there were any issues with exhaust and the UCF Extra Clearance Skid? It’s the original exhaust as far as I know.

This weekend I’ll see if there is some play in the skid that will let me move it towards the drivers side some. I didn’t hear this noise after the initial installation, only after removing the skid to trim the front lip down so it wasn’t so close to the
transmission pan. It must be in a different position than it was on the initial installation. 🤷🏻‍♂️

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Do you mean your front upper control arm mount?

If so then yes, I had this problem when I did my mock up with the spacers. The exhaust did exactly what you described by hitting the upper control arm on the passenger side. I thought no problem, I’ll just drop the exhaust hanger at the transmission mount some. This ended up pushing the exhaust into the front driveshaft at certain points of articulation. So I heated up a couple of the mounts with a torch and sort of bent them to where I wanted since I can’t weld.

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Jamison C said:
Do you mean your front upper control arm mount?

If so then yes, I had this problem when I did my mock up with the spacers. The exhaust did exactly what you described by hitting the upper control arm on the passenger side. I thought no problem, I’ll just drop the exhaust hanger at the transmission mount some. This ended up pushing the exhaust into the front driveshaft at certain points of articulation. So I heated up a couple of the mounts with a torch and sort of bent them to where I wanted since I can’t weld.

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Yes, I meant the front mount.

Hmm, I’ll have to check into that. Thank you.
 
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MountaineerTom said:
I drove it to work today and the exhaust pipe moved over and was hitting the passengers side rear front upper control arm mount bracket again.

@OldBuzzard and @Jamison C, did y’all have this problem? I didn’t think there were any issues with exhaust and the UCF Extra Clearance Skid? It’s the original exhaust as far as I know.
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No, mine didn't do that. It's OEM exhaust. But I have 1/2" spacers on my skid at the moment, which might have made a difference. Maybe I should go look at how close it comes. SYE is ordered, so mine will be moving up like yours.
 
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