Or, he could back off the beans.










Sorry. I couldn't help myself.

 

I have JE Reel 1350's front and rear. No issues with them at all.

 

Are the adjustable control arms going to eliminate the problem. or are they something that needs to be done along with the drive shaft? What kind of prices are we looking at for the arms? I just took my JK to a local off road shop today to have them look at the shaft. They want $650 to change it out. Of course, that includes the price of the shaft, but that seemed pretty high.

 

I dunno, David at Northridge just got $500 from me for a new frt shaft. But I know one thing from being on this forum, they're gonna stand behind it if anything goes wrong. Top notch business, from what I've ordered in the past and from the input they have on the forum, they seem to care about what's going on. I don't mind paying more as long as I can count on that business as being a stand up type. Now, David, Where's my tracking number!

 

what shop did you take it to? some are better than others around here. i think you can do it yourself. jackmac4 listed the tools for you and there are tons of people on here that can help you with questions you may have as you do it. i say save your money and do it yourself.

if you decide you would prefer someone to install it for you, i can recommend an excellent shop in the bentonville area.

 

not to get off topic, but should bone decide to do it himself... jack did you end up using an impact gun to loosen front or did you just tough it out?

 

Ha! If you only knew the extent of how real that statement is....

A good shaft will cost you around 500-600, some are cheaper, others are more. They are definitely an expense though - and a big reason why people put off changing them out. I would definitely recommend you do it yourself - its not hard and its good experience. I wouldnt change out your rear though unless you are putting on adjustable control arms. Once you move to an aftermarket driveshaft you'll need to set your pinion angle in order to eliminate vibrations in the driveline. To do this you need adjustable upper control arms. Its very important to have your pinion set properly, but even more so with aftermarket shafts.

I can't promise you that buying adjustable arms is going to eliminate your problem but its a good place to start.

On a 2dr with over 4" of lift, you almost always want to change out your front shaft as well - or you'll hit your cross member/transfer case skid at full flex and rip your boot off or worse.

I just completed installing my 4" lift, and I waited to buy it until I was able to get not only the lift but also front/rear shafts, control arms - basically the whole nine yards. The only thing I didn't really do was new gears. I'm going to tough it out on 4.10s for awhile.

Yes, an impact gun made semi-quick work of getting the nut off. Screw toughing it out.

 

I took it to Jewel's place in Bentonville. I've dealt with him before for my CJ and always had good luck. He didn't mention anything about control arms. He just said that he could hook me up with the shaft I need. I think I have seen your Jeep sitting there before. Silver 2 door with blacked out wheels? What other shops around do you know of? I'm going to visit 4 wheel concepts today to see what they can suggest.

 

My lift came with replacement control arms from SkyJacker. I don't know of them being adjustable. Aren't those supposed to keep the pinion angle correct? The guy at the shop I took it to said my front shaft seemed to be in good shape with clearances and such. He said he would not recommend replacing it, only the rear. I'm only hearing the ticking noise in lower gears, and only until the Jeep warms up. Could this be something else? I was thinking maybe something in the rear end. It would make sense that the ticking noise would quit when the rear end oil warms up, right? It only does it when the Jeep has been sitting for more than an hour or so, and then for just a mile or so.

 

Come and take a look at it sometime when you get in Bentonville. I work at the corner of 7th and Benton, next to the old fairgrounds. You can't miss my Jeep, it's the only one in the parking lot.