Pinion Angle question

[Wrangl3r93]

My jeep is undergoing a new wave of mods before I have to call it quits for a while once the baby comes. I've run it with the stock driveshaft on 4.5 inches of suspension lift for 3 years and it doesn't ride horrible but it's been getting worse and worse. Crawled under to take a peek and the degree shims that came with the RE lift have completely worn out and are allowing the axle to shift inside the ubolts. I'm ordering a SYE next weekend and already have the front xj shaft to shorten but finding an acceptable 8.8 rear end has been somewhat of a challenge. I plan to go ahead and put the SYE/driveshaft in with the d35 because all of my research says you can use the same driveshaft with the 8.8 so I won't have to do it twice. I'm trying not to throw money into the 35 since I know I am swapping axles anyways but I'm having trouble finding shims to set my pinion angle directly at the transfer case. It would have to rotate back quite a bit. Any ideas?

 

[Wrangl3r93]

After some more research it seems RE is the only maker of degree shims? the one supplied with my kit originally were aluminum but the ones I've read about are all steel and don't have the problem mine do. I'll have to crawl under with the angle finder to figure out which one I need but it seems to be the general consensus that 4-5 inches of lift needs the 8 degree shims. Now if someone could point me in the direction of a cheap pair I'm loathing putting anymore money into this 35.

 

[GaryMB]

Procomp makes a variety of degree shims for leaf springs, just check summitracing.com or ebay. You said the RE shims worn out? Shims are not a moving part, I'm trying to picture this but don't really see how this would happen unless the u-bolts came loose which could cause a whole mess of problems.

 

[Wrangl3r93]

If I can I'll snap a picture. I was wheeling it pretty hard and on the way home noticed a small bump on takeoffs. I think I might have cracked the shims or something allowing the axle to twist just a little and create more damage. Hard to tell without tearing it apart. I'll look for the procomp shims though. RE wants $32 a shim.

 

[jps4jeep]

I would not recomend the shims, they are so prone to failure, especially if you wheel it. plus they really don't adress the angular change of the pinion, a band aid of sorts.

Ideally you should cut the mounts off and re-weld them. in all honesty, it should not take more than 2-3 hours for a novice assuming you have access to a grinder with cut off wheels (if you don't, $75 investment well worth it) and a welder. basically aim the pinion at the out put, lower it just a C-hair to keep some rotation in the needle beerings and weld it up.

You mention that your searching for the 8.8.. 1. the shims would be a decent temporary solution 2. the drive shaft will swap over.. most likely not, the pinion length's are very close, but you have a drive flang as opposed to a traditional yoke, that and conversion will take another couple inches up, even with the slightly offset pinion, I have found the shaft to be a little long in relation to collapsing travel, this is my experience, yours might be different, there are some discrepencies in driveshaft length/t-case placement/axle placement in jeeps.

 

[Wrangl3r93]

The shims would just be temporary until I can get the 8.8. I'd weld the perches on it at the right pinion angle on the install. I've read a few build threads where they talked about reusing their cv style shaft from the 35 to the 8.8 but I haven't found any good pictures of the axles side by side for a good comparison. My rig is mainly a daily driver anyways with wheeling once every month or two and with the baby coming that will prob get cut back. If it'll hold together on the street until I can get a new shaft cut to length, for more intense wheeling) then that's fine by me. The output on my tc is leaking along with driveline vibes and I don't want to throw a bandaid at it, the SYE is the way to go and should fix both problems. Found a good deal on the shims over at Northridge and I've always had good transactions with them so I'm feeling a little better about that.

If anybody has done this swap or knows anybody who has can you enlighten me on the driveshaft you used? Shorter, longer, the same?

http://www.jeepz.com/forum/drivetrain/22706-8-8-rear-axle-swap.html

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

Mopar spring perches are only $20pr, so you can cut your stock perches off and weld on new ones at the correct angle. Easier and cheaper than figuring out what shims to use.

 

[Wrangl3r93]

Gf snapped the 35 at a stop sign. 8.8 here I come!!!