Dudes,
So I have a JKU with 4" lift an 35s. I'm afraid I'm going to extend the rear drive shaft to the point it breaks or that my angle in the front is too extreme and it too will break. I can't afford new drive shafts. Any thoughts?

I'm thinking of swapping 4" for 3" or even 2.5"? What the minimum I need to clear those 35s with stock fenders?

 

Downing to a 3in would be fine to clear 35s. Don't know why your worrying about the rear DS though. It's the front that needs to get changed due to the pinion angles. I know a few guys that have run a 4" and didn't change their front DS for a bit. Have you put any thought into saving up the 3-400 for it?

Shouldn't be too much of a problem as long as you don't wheel hard in the meantime

 

I have a 4 inch lift with 35's on my JKU and I wheel it, no drive shaft issues yet. You should be fine.

 

I see you have a 2013 JKU with auto.

The rear stock shaft has CV joints on both ends. They should not be a problem with an Unlimited.

The front may be an issue down the road. Make sure the drive shaft rubber boot is not hitting anything. On a 2013 a replacement exhaust crossover is sometimes needed. Also watch for grease splatter caused by the CV rubber seal at the front of the transfer case. As long as the angles are handled by the CV joints and not the front U-joint you should be OK. A little angle (less than 3 degrees) is OK on the front U-joint because you don't put a load on it at highway speed. Even then, it may vibrate some above 50mph.

I have a 4" Rancho Sport Lift on my 2010 Unlimited Sahara with auto and have not had any problems after 7 months.

 

I definitely want to save up for the new front drive shaft. I should have mentioned the day after it was lifted, I took it out trail riding. Nothin crazy, but my spider gears grenaded, locked up the front diff, and forced the front drive shaft to twist in half. I was lucky the drive shaft gave way and not the trans. So after a $3000 day on the hunting trails, I'm a little cautious about front drive shafts and angles.

 

4" bds

 

I went with a 3" lift initially so I could squeeze more life out the front drive shaft...

I have a 2 door and have read that the front drive shaft is more of an issue with two doors vs 4

it worked great with 33's, when I went to 37's I replaced the drive shafts and went to 4" of lift.

matthew

 

Guys is it me or will your auto trans not shift to 5th gear? My JK STRUGGLES to get up over 60 too!

 

What gears? Did you calibrate the speedometer?

 

I calibrated the speedo, but I got the stock 3.23s. I still use this as my daily driver as well as my trail vehicle. If I change my gears I'm gonna have I full up every day!