Clayton 2.5 overland and pinion angles

[Raider2]

Hi, looking for advice here. Just installed the Clayton 2.5 overland plus kit on my rubicon in my driveway. Measured all the control arms to Clayton’s recommended lengths. My issue is the pinion angles look pretty severe to me. See pics below

this is the rear

this is the front as it goes into the transfer case.

I assume these need to adjusted. Do it myself or take it to a shop? And advice is appreciated.

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[JT1]

Hi, looking for advice here. Just installed the Clayton 2.5 overland plus kit on my rubicon in my driveway. Measured all the control arms to Clayton’s recommended lengths. My issue is the pinion angles look pretty severe to me. See pics below

this is the rear

this is the front as it goes into the transfer case.

I assume these need to adjusted. Do it myself or take it to a shop? And advice is appreciated.

The front looks normal. What is your caster set to?

I added a driveshaft spacer to the rear of mine, helped that angle a little.

 

[Raider2]

Update on the rear: extended the UCAs to 16-13/16 from the recommended 16-9/16ths and this brought me to about a 2 degree difference on my pinion and drive shaft according to my iPhone and this should be within spec. Of course doing this the springs started to bow. See pics below

does that drive shaft angle look ok? I don’t really want to push the arms out anymore because of the spring bow. Might get a carrier bearing spacer. And is this spring bow ok?

 

[Raider2]

The front looks normal. What is your caster set to?

I added a driveshaft spacer to the rear of mine, helped that angle a little.

front caster looks to be at 5 degrees. Just thought the shaft was angled pretty rough in the transfer case.

 

[JT1]

front caster looks to be at 5 degrees. Just thought the shaft was angled pretty rough in the transfer case.

It's a tall lift. My Clayton 3.5 ended up at 5" up front.

You CV joint will self clearance a little bit, but if your front shocks are longer than 28.5 extended, be prepared to replace it soon.

 

[Silverator]

My very good local shop just told me that my pinion angle was not great. OK for short term, but not great for long term. Clayton 2.5 Overland plus lift here as well. They ordered a carrier bearing drop kit for the Gladiator. With Clayton 2.5, it's on the border. Any higher and you definitely need to address it.

 

[Reddog]

Hi, looking for advice here. Just installed the Clayton 2.5 overland plus kit on my rubicon in my driveway. Measured all the control arms to Clayton’s recommended lengths. My issue is the pinion angles look pretty severe to me. See pics below

this is the rear

this is the front as it goes into the transfer case.

I assume these need to adjusted. Do it myself or take it to a shop? And advice is appreciated.

Did kit come with center carrier bearing spacer? If not, buy or make one. They are about 1/2” thick or slightly more.

 

[Raider2]

Did kit come with center carrier bearing spacer? If not, buy or make one. They are about 1/2” thick or slightly more.

Yep ordered the rock jock one, will be here Monday

 

[Raider2]

Update on this:

installed the rock jock bearing spacer and bought a digital angle finder. The spacer corrected the angle by 1.1 degrees and brought me to .8 degree pinion angle. I then was able to bring in the UCAs by about 1/8” and now sit at a 2.2 degree pinion angle. The springs look slightly better but was hoping for a little more correction. I have an appointment at a local 4x4 shop in a couple weeks and will get their opinion. Other than that the truck drives great.

side note, I am getting a single “clank” sound from the rear when I go over speed bumps. I’m about 90% sure it’s the sway bar endlink because I can replicate it by jumping on the rear bumper. I have it torqued to spec so not sure what to do. Is this just the nature of the heim joint on the endlink?

@Clayton Off Road

 

[alexlab79]

I occasionally had a clanking sound in the rear after installing my front and rear springs. I double-checked everything, and then, by chance, I discovered the cause when I bumped into something... It was my spare tire!

 

[smlobx]

Yep ordered the rock jock one, will be here Monday

the carrier bearing spacer with my AEV lift consisted of 3, 1/4“ plates so it is very close to the thickness of the one you ordered.

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