TJ re-gear lockers drive shaft concerns

[chino1969]

I am at the point where I'm considering re-gearing, new drive shafts, lockers, etc.. I've read as much as I can about these up grades. What concerns me are the stories from experienced Jeepers, having work performed by credible shops and having vibration problems they seem to be chasing forever. I'm willing to spend the money, have the right shop do the work but don't want to deal with some of the chronic problems I read about after re-gearing, new drive shafts, etc.. Thoughts, opinions and raw experience would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Quigley]

Do not go to DND customs in reading. When they installed my Nitro package that came with gears, axles , and ARB’s they didn’t cut the rear 35 spline axle short enough which caused the rear baring to fail and the front they didn’t torque to spec. The air ring on the ARB spun in the housing causing the copper line to break, my pinion nut fell off while driving, and the backlash was so loose the carrier could move back and forth in the housing. Both axles I had to address within the year, but by then I had moved to Washington so I was shit out of luck. I traded my CJ7 to them for the work but I paid for all the parts. Definitely screwed in that deal since I had to pay someone to redo the axle work. Luckily the gears and lockers were fine, but damn!

Others may have had better luck with them and they did a good job on the metal fabrication side, but how about some quality control.

 

[Alex01]

Most do not have a problem after re gearing. I wouldn't put much thought into it especially since you're going to have a shop do the work. If you encounter any issues they would be willing to work with you.

 

[nk24]

Which transmission do you have? Many of the vibration issues are on TJs with the 42RLE automatic transmission that was on 2003-2006 models because they have to be geared so deeply.

 

[chino1969]

Which transmission do you have? Many of the vibration issues are on TJs with the 42RLE automatic transmission that was on 2003-2006 models because they have to be geared so deeply.

I have the 5 speed manual NV3550 transmission with NP 231J transfer case.

 

[chino1969]

Do not go to DND customs in reading. When they installed my Nitro package that came with gears, axles , and ARB’s they didn’t cut the rear 35 spline axle short enough which caused the rear baring to fail and the front they didn’t torque to spec. The air ring on the ARB spun in the housing causing the copper line to break, my pinion nut fell off while driving, and the backlash was so loose the carrier could move back and forth in the housing. Both axles I had to address within the year, but by then I had moved to Washington so I was shit out of luck. I traded my CJ7 to them for the work but I paid for all the parts. Definitely screwed in that deal since I had to pay someone to redo the axle work. Luckily the gears and lockers were fine, but damn!

Others may have had better luck with them and they did a good job on the metal fabrication side, but how about some quality control.

Thanks for the tip but I wasn't planning on using them. The Jeep Shop in Chester Springs, PA has been well spoken of. I'll be paying them a visit next week.