I have 4* shims on my XJ with my SYE and driveshaft. Thats what I heard you usually need with an SYE, but I'm not sure what you're doing as far as driveline issues go.

 

I'd probably start with 4 deree and a 1" T-case drop. I ran that setup for a few years. If you're SYE, you'll prolly need about 8 degrees to point the yoke right at the T-case. You can stack shimms (not recomended but works just fine if you re-torque your U-bolts religously)


:thumbsup:

 

interesting write up on how to make an angle finder in this tom woods article

Worked for me! :thumbsup:

 

If it helps, im going with the H&T and a RE driveshaft anyone ever have this setup and what shim did you use?

 

I got my RE 4.5" kit from Red Rock and Jason recommended the 2.5 degree shim. The pinion is almost straight with the driveshaft, but I don't have a SYE.

 

If it helps, im going with the H&T and a RE driveshaft anyone ever have this setup and what shim did you use?

2000XJ, 4.0L, AW4, NP231, RE H&T, RE driveshaft, 8.25 rear axle. With the RE 4.5" leaf packs I used a 6* shim with good results.

I still have the same 6* shims with my current suspension which is the same 4.5" leafs plus TeraFlex shackles for around 6.5" of lift (might be sagged down to 6" now).

That was my experience - I can't guarantee yours will be the same.

 

Maybe a newb question, but how do you get enough diff fluid in with a 6* shim? I've got a 1.5" shackle and the rear diff spews fluid if I take out the plug. I don't know what angle I'm sitting at, but I'm sure it's less that 6.

 

park on a hill

 

I have a 3 degree shim and its about as correct as it gets. I even ran it with no SYE and it was fine. A 4 degree would work fine also.

Remember, the RE 4.5" kit is a 3.5" rear pack with a 1.25" shackle so it alreay has nearly a degree of correction due to that.

 

Maybe a newb question, but how do you get enough diff fluid in with a 6* shim? ...

Easiest way I've found is I cover the hole with my left thumb. Holding the bottle of gear oil in my right hand, I insert the tip above my thumb and squirt a bunch more in. Then remove my thumb and quickly put the plug in before too much oozes back out.

 

Man, I can't belive some of you guys are running such steep shims. With my RE 5.5" lift, D44, and JB SYE kit, I only needed 4* shims to be dead-on. Do you guys with the 6* or steeper shims all have the 8.25" rear end?

The RE shackles are really only 3/4" lift, not 1.25" like they claim, so you'll get about 1-1.5* just from that (true 1.5" lift shackles will actually give you about 3* pinion tilt).

 

Remember, the RE 4.5" kit is a 3.5" rear pack with a 1.25" shackle so it alreay has nearly a degree of correction due to that.

BUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Wrong. RE1462 is a full leaf pack no shackles yielding 4.5" of lift. I have them. :rofl:

:brickwall

 

uh, ok, but that's what what Twisted was talking aboot. The RE 4.5" kit uses 3.5" leafs and their short XJ shackles, not a 4.5" leaf pack.

 

Man, I can't belive some of you guys are running such steep shims. With my RE 5.5" lift, D44, and JB SYE kit, I only needed 4* shims to be dead-on. Do you guys with the 6* or steeper shims all have the 8.25" rear end?

With my first setup I was just eyeballing it, and since the sales guy at RE was the one that recommended the 6* shim, I didn't question it. When I added the shackle, I thought I would need a smaller shim so I went with a 2* and that worked but I was getting noise from the rear end (but no noticeable vibes). After ruling out the diff, I decided to measure my driveshaft-to-pinion angle to see where I was at. It was way too much. The 6* shim put the pinion at 3* lower than straight with the driveshaft. Noise was reduced and no vibes.

 

while we're in the same thread here...

Im having a vibe problem around 55-70mph only on acceleration in that range do i get vibes. I have 4 degree shims installed. My mistake was not measuring angles before I installed them. How can I measure the angles now that I have the shims installed and have vibes?

 

Well the angles I measure are always the angle between the pinion and driveshaft, so you can measure that anytime, shims or no shims, and see where you are at. Theoretically the pinion is supposed to point directly at the transfer case output which means 0* angle with the driveshaft. But with leaf springs you should account for some axle wrap so you want the pinion pointed down 1 - 3*.

I used a little yellow angle finder that I bought at Sears I think.