Contrary to what some seem to think, the factory driveshafts that come on a Jeep JL Wrangler are in fact, surprisingly strong. The rzeppa joints used are really beefy, the one u-joint that comes on the front driveshaft is a 1330 (bigger than a standard 1310) and although the tube walls are on the thin side, they more than make up for it with their very large cross section. In the past and on a JL Wrangler, I would have recommended that the front driveshaft be replaced after installing a 3" lift or more but thanks to the all new FAD system that the JL Wrangler comes with, there really isn't a need for it. Of course, on a 4-door Unlimited, the rear drive shaft is so long, you really shouldn't have any problems running it even with a set of 37" tires. That is, so long as you aren't running too tall of a lift.
Now, if there is a reason to consider an aftermarket, double cardan u-joint style driveshaft for your JL Wrangler, it'd be because you have a 2-door. Being that the rear driveshaft is so short, a 2.5" lift or more will cause it to sit at a steep enough angle that the CV boots will be in a constant state of pinch. Sooner than later, this pinch will cause the boots to fail prematurely and that'll leave the bearings inside to fry. Also, if you have a 4-door JL Wrangler and are running 3.5" of lift or more, you may want to run a new rear driveshaft as well and mainly because the diameter of the rear factory shaft is so big, it'll rub the side of your gas tank at a full flex. Because aftermarket driveshafts are made with thicker tubes, they can be made a lot narrower diameter and that goes a long way to help out in the clearance department. The same can be said up front as well especially if you're running shocks that allow for big droop. The narrower diameter of an aftermarket driveshaft will do a much better job of clearing things like your skid bar and exhaust cross over.
As you can guess, the last two reasons are why Cindy and I decided to upgrade our JL Wrangler's driveshafts to set of aftermarket, 1350 u-joint style double cardan driveshafts and in this episode of the JL JOURNAL, you'll get to see what it takes to get them installed. As an added bonus, we also included the necessary steps of how to set your rear pinion angle after the install as well. We hope you find our video to be helpful to you and if you have any questions, please let us know.
List of everything you'll need for this here: wayalife.com/s...
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This installation should helpful for any aftermarket 1310 or 1350 driveshaft including those made by Adam's Driveshaft, JE Reel, Coast, Tom Woods, Rough Country or the like.
#jeep #driveshaft #jeepwrangler #jlwrangler #wranglerjl #jljeep #jeepjl #wrangler #wayalife
3 окт 2024
