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3" lift or higher - Replace driveshaft?

Reasons

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Will the driveshaft need to be replaced with a lift over 3"? I assume with the Gladiator's longer wheelbase the driveshaft won't be hindered by clearance issues like the JLU, but not sure. Waiting on MetalCloak to come out with a lift for the Gladiator similar to their 3.5" Gamechanger Edition for the JLU.
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Gren71

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Will the driveshaft need to be replaced with a lift over 3"? I assume with the Gladiator's longer wheelbase the driveshaft won't be hindered by clearance issues like the JLU, but not sure. Waiting on MetalCloak to come out with a lift for the Gladiator similar to their 3.5" Gamechanger Edition for the JLU.

Ive also been wondering this. Hope someone here knows.
 
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Reasons

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According to Evo, no drive shaft changes are required on Their lifts until the 6.5”

I installed the 4.5” on mine and so far no issues what so ever. I will report back if that changes.

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Amazing rig man!
 

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The front driveshaft will need go be replaced with shocks over a certain amount of down travel. Daily driving won't matter, but I ran 12" travel shocks on the front of my JL with the stock driveshaft and it completely deformed the stock joint housing at the transfer case end(3.5-4" lift) on our first offroad trip.
 

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Metalcloak 3.5 inch game changer recommends driveshaft replacement and has a link to the front drive shaft. I still wonder and am questioning if the rear drive shaft should/needs to be replaced with this lift. Anyone have more insight on this.
 

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Frankly, I wouldn’t use lift as the final determinant. Any driveshaft angle over 3 degrees is suspect.and ideally both ujoints in the driveshaft are at the same, but opposite angles. It is fairly easy to measure the ujoint angles using a cheap specialty tool or even a protractor. The bottom flat on the diff case is parallel to the pinion. That angle minus the angle of the driveshaft equals the ujoint angle. It is a little more difficult at the TC end, but turn the drive shaft until the TC yoke is perpendicular to the ground and take the measure at the TC yoke. The beauty of this method is the surface your Jeep is parked does not have to be perfectly level, although the flatter, the better.

It might be helpful if people with various lift heights from various manufacturers posted their ujoint angles for comparison.
 

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The problem with that diagram is that it shows the differential rotating with the lift and the diff ujoint angle not changing as the axel articulates.
 

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The problem with that diagram is that it shows the differential rotating with the lift and the diff ujoint angle not changing as the axel articulates.
Yeah, it's just a poor man's animated .gif - what did you think of the article?
 

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Oh, sorry the article is excellent. The gif was distracting.

You know, ADHD is easily distracted by shiny objects like moving pictures!
 

ChrisJT

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I'm about to buy the 3.5" Metal Cloak Game Changer. I assume I will need a front drive shaft, and I'm debating about going with the Adam's. Anyone else have a 3.5" and did or did not replace the drive shaft?
 

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I'm about to buy the 3.5" Metal Cloak Game Changer. I assume I will need a front drive shaft, and I'm debating about going with the Adam's. Anyone else have a 3.5" and did or did not replace the drive shaft?
With the travel on the Metalcloak shocks you will definitely need a front driveshaft (even with their 2.5" kit)
 

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There was some incorrect stuff listed earlier in this thread, but I believe Chris is right. MC lists the front shocks at 30” extended, which should necessitate a drive shaft swap.
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