gnarly_mike

So I'm at the point where my front driveshaft is limiting my flex. Will simply changing to an aftermarket shaft fix this? I have 11.6" travel shocks, so I'm only losing an inch or so of droop, but I want it.

This makes me wonder how people with 14" travel shocks or coilovers are flexing so much without the DS limiting their articulation?

Just going to a smaller diameter aftermarket shaft? Clearancing the crossmember under the transmission area? Both?

I don't even have aftermarket control arms yet. I know these do very little for articulation but in lots of cases they will help a little. I plan on doing RK long arms soon and I assume I'll need to do DS front and rear with the long arms. I'm wondering if this will solve my issue? I want to use 14" or 16" travel coilovers or struts after I build one ton axles and I want to have the full capability of the units I choose.

karls10jk

A double cardon shaft will take you far. The rzeppa on the front is limited to 14* of travel, the TF replacement pushes it to 28* but I don't know that will buy you the extra travel you want.

Biginboca

There's a couple things. Are you limited by the joint on the shaft or the shaft hitting the exhaust?

I've seen some guys rerouted the exhaust to cross to the driver side further back. I have a 2011 with a manual transmission which is supposed to be the most droop friendly front set up. (3.8 which is a little different from the 3.6 set up, and manual vs auto also is a little different.). I'm at the maximum I can go on droop with aftermarket driveshaft and factory exhaust. My tatton 1310 driveshaft just about touches my exhaust at 8" of droop from a measured 4" lifted ride height. (So about 12" of shock droop below factory ride height.) If I rerouted the exhaust I could go a little more but then I think I'm already getting close to the binding limit of the front ujoint so I'm not looking for more. (I have a non castor corrected factory d44.)

I think with an aftermarket driveshaft you'll be good for now and to get 14" or more you are going to have to take the next step of clearancing exhaust and crossmembers. And you'll need to look at the range you can put a ujoint at the diff pinion through at that point too. Although since you are building tons maybe you can clock the pinion up some?

And a pic cause why not, lol. I couldn't find one of the driver side drooping...

TheDirtman

Adjustable arms will not help, if you rotate the pinion up you will loose caster and if you dial in your caster you will have less room in the joint for flex. Even with a caster corrected axle you are limited to around 14" of travel on the front. Now this is a full axle droop and even with an aftermarket driveshaft you will bind the joint. However with a limiting strap installed at the differential you can run even longer travel shocks with one wheel stuffed and one drooped.

I have the same question as boca, what exactly is limiting your flex? Bind or is the shaft hitting the exhaust? You can still install a limit strap to prevent exhaust contact or joint bind and maintain the individual wheel droop.

gnarly_mike

The shaft is hitting the crossmember, it barely rubs the exhaust, not enough for me to worry about. The shaft rests on the crossmember under the tranny. It's. 2012 auto sport. Factory axles at the moment.

Since I'll be welding on all my own JK specific mounts/brackets on the one tons, could I rotate it some for high pinion then weld the stuff on at the correct angles relative to the ground? Or would this cause issues? Should I just try to save up for a Currie front? I'll probably be doing a 15 bolt rear.

TheDirtman

Its going to be a caster vs angle with the factory axle. Unless you are going to spin the tubes to caster correct the axle it does not matter where the brackets are located except for the geometry that will affect pinion angle when you articulate the suspension. You can do this with playing with the length of the upper vs the lower arms. Having an upper arm that is shorter will pull the pinion up a bit when you droop the suspension due to the tighter arc the uppers will move in. Running a skinny driveshaft will also give you more clearance at the exhaust and there are spacers and reaction kits to move the cross pipe for more clearance.

gnarly_mike

What driveshaft would you recommend? I pretty much only hear about Adams and Tom Woods. Sometimes see people list JE Reel. I'm just wondering how people with custom long travel (14"-16") front suspensions on JK's run without these issues. I know the stock shaft is a big part of it but even with aftermarket it seems it would be an issue around 14-16" of travel.

Right now I am setup with like 6-7" droop and the rest in up travel. On the passenger side I can droop farther than the driver side, due to the driveshaft hitting the crossmember. The exhaust isn't an issue really, I can wrap the boot in something that protects it from being rubbed through from the exhaust, which its only barely contacting. The crossmember is the real issue

TheDirtman

Your local driveline shop should be able to build you a shaft. They are all basically the same thing built out of the same parts. Mounting flanges are really the only difference. Prefer a 1310 output flange that uses U bolts.

Biginboca

I wonder if your crossmember set up is different from mine. I'm at 12" droop and could easily get more if not for the exhaust contacting my aftermarket driveshaft. There is no crossmember on my set up that would impede my droop, but again I have a 2011 with 3.8 and manual. I'll shoot a pic of what's under mine maybe those running the set up have started with something different from you? Of course trimming and moveing a crossmember is perfectly doable if needed!

Biginboca

This is looking from the front back up towards the tcase. There is a evo skid over my exhaust which has that semi circular notch in it below the driveshaft and that skid is covering (protecting) my exhaust. Then behind the exhaust (closer to the tcase) and not visible is my crossmember. My driveshaft will get into the exhaust but would never touch the crossmember behind it even with probably 18" of droop.