dlincoln91

I am thinking about getting the rough country complete set of control arms.
I plan on getting a new front drive shaft but not a rear. Will the rear shaft be good with the new pinion angel or will the new angle cause it to rip a boot and go out as well as the front?

zoeydad

I am doing this and the stock shaft looks just fine. I have a 2 door running the stock shaft with adjustable arms. With the pinion angle corrected for the lift, the boot at the shaft looks great...no pinch at full droop. I've been running it this way for a bit over 10K miles and have no issues with it whatsoever...hope it stays that way.

mkjeep

You have a 4dr, you'll be good for a long time, unless you drop the stock ds on a rock or something.

wayoflife

the rear will be good to go regardless if you keep the arms situated the same as stock or set so that your drive shaft and pinion are parallel. it won't make a difference.

sorry but, if you're running a factory drive shaft, you've only addressed the pinion and not the output shaft. that angle is still severe and it will fail there. trust me, i have seen it happen. you should be okay for a while but, once you start to see grease on your gas tank and the bottom of the tub, it'll just be a matter of time before the bearings fail and you will need to replace it.

dlincoln91

thanks guys.
do you think that the rough country arms look like good quality?
I have never been a big fan of the RC lifts but when i was looking at the arms they look really actually nice and through my local forum i can get 20% off of the full set so im think it might be a good deal
what do yall think?

zoeydad

I'm not saying your wrong about needing a shaft in the future, but when the pinion is rotated up it raises the rear end of the shaft which in turn does lessen the angle at the t-case.
I've seen umteen references to needing a shaft on a 2-door, but I haven't seen any that reference changing the arms and using that to help the stock rear shaft.

My logic is that if you're going to need a rear shaft you're going to need arms to go with it. Why not get the arms and try to save the shaft? I haven't spent a dime more and there is a very good possibilty that the shaft could survive. If it don't...oh well, at that point I only need a shaft.

joneszj

That's taking words right out of my mouth. I have the full set of Teraflex arms on my 4" Superlift. At the moment, I have them all adjusted to run the stock shafts - they are at short lengths. The rear uppers I even had to trim a bit and rethread to get the pinion angle just right. The angles on the boots aren't the best, but they have been holding up to all the abuse I can throw at it for a little over 10,000 miles now. I love having the adjustable control arms because when I do have the money for new shafts, I can move my rear axle back about an inch, set the pinion correctly and get everything dialed in with the new shafts.

So there you have it, two of us 2 dr guys running stock shafts and all control arms. The shafts are still a weak link, but there's always something. I say go for it. And I can't speak about the RC arms, but I would recommend Teraflex in a heartbeat.

wayoflife

yes, there is a slight correction to the angle your output shaft sees but for the amount of lift you have, it's not as significant as you would think. in the end, it's still at a much greater angle than it was and it's in that position continuously. believe what you want but honestly, i have tried doing exactly what you have on a friends JK with the hopes it would make a difference but, in the end, he still ended up needing to replace his shaft after about a year. but hey, you can believe whatever you want to believe.

and that's great. nobody i know has suggested that you don't run like this as long as you can. if anything, i think a search will show that i often recommend running your shaft till it breaks. the only thing i had said is that by making the adjustment you made, you've only addressed the pinion and not the output shaft. that angle is still severe and it will fail there. that's all. still, i personally think it's a good thing to do as when you do need a new u-joint style shaft, you'll already be good to go to install it.

Wings fan

I just did this Sunday. I added new upper rear control arms like WOL said so down the road when the stock DS goes I won't have to by control arms and the DS.

I will say this I was supprised how much difference it made at the output shaft. How my pinion angle is now set slightly higher (2 degrees) than my DS angle. This is as short as I can run the control arms. Before at full drop the DS would touch the CV collar now it doesn't and the output angle is much improved.

Unless I'm completely crazy I had a drive line vib at 45mph that is now all but gone, and the Jeep seems to have much better throttle response with the correct angles.

I hope this will extend the life of my stock DS and as WOL also said I will run the stock one till it dies.