7+" Rear lift, driveshaft questions

I

iamBazzy

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I've been working on lifting my '03 V8 2WD. The rear seems to be kinda limited as far as "kits". Right now I'm using 5th gen 2" springs with a 1.5" spacer in the rear. From what I've read on here, the standard rear height is 21" hub center to bottom of the fender. Right now the truck sits at 25.75", so that's 4.75" of lift. I'm getting some rubbing at full lock and before I start trimming, I'm going to adjust the front Bilsteins a little higher. So I need to even out the rear, waiting on a set of 5th gen 3" springs and use a 3" spacer, so that'll be 7.25" lift out back. I have adjustable rear upper control arms, extended brake lines, and adjustable panhard bar.

My main focus is with the driveshaft angle and possibly length. The u-joints are failing (higher mileage, pinion angle might need some more adjusting), so the truck is parked until I figure out what I need. Rather than replace the u-joints and have them fail again, should I look for a longer driveshaft as well? Is there a common driveshaft swap? With the truck being 2WD, I'm not building this as an ultimate offroader, it's strictly a pavement pounder.. I just want everything to be fully functional
 

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Mike07SE said:
You're definitely going to need a longer driveshaft to compensate for this amount of lift. Jeep guys do this a lot. Common vendor is Tom Woods. They may be able to help of point you in the right direction.

Tom Wood's Custom Drive Shafts - Tom Woods Custom Drive Shafts Custom Driveshafts Specialist
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Thanks for that, I had a feeling this was enough lift to require a longer driveshaft, but I wasn't sure.

Why don't the Rough Country 6" FJ or Fabtech 6" rear box kits include a driveshaft spacer, or even recommend a custom driveshaft? A quick search found this spacer:

Triple Drilled Toyota Driveline Driveshaft Spacers by Low Range Off Road, .75", 1.0", 1.25" (TDT-DS)

I really don't want to drive something that's unsafe, a spacer in the drivetrain doesn't sound trustworthy
 
iamBazzy said:
Thanks for that, I had a feeling this was enough lift to require a longer driveshaft, but I wasn't sure.

Why don't the Rough Country 6" FJ or Fabtech 6" rear box kits include a driveshaft spacer, or even recommend a custom driveshaft? A quick search found this spacer:

Triple Drilled Toyota Driveline Driveshaft Spacers by Low Range Off Road, .75", 1.0", 1.25" (TDT-DS)

I really don't want to drive something that's unsafe, a spacer in the drivetrain doesn't sound trustworthy
Click to expand...

Probably a cost factor when these companies put out these kits. Their product may be at the cusp of not needing it and people that do are a case-by-case basis.

If it were me I'd be investigating a new shaft. The spacer may be OK, especially with a street only cruiser, but still doesn't leave me warm & fuzzy.
 
I don't see why a new driveshaft is necessary. People have metaltech LT kits in the rear and jump their trucks. Certainly longer isn't necessary IMO but higher angle joints maybe. Then again the driveshaft is already pretty long to begin with, I imagine longer than some of the short jeeps. A driveshaft can be lengthened pretty cheaply, but a full new driveshaft will certainly be a good chunk of change.

I would be looking into a body lift instead. Much easier on all the drivetrain components, although you don't have CV's to worry about and those are more than half the battle.
 
Inv4drZm said:
I don't see why a new driveshaft is necessary. People have metaltech LT kits in the rear and jump their trucks. Certainly longer isn't necessary IMO but higher angle joints maybe. Then again the driveshaft is already pretty long to begin with, I imagine longer than some of the short jeeps. A driveshaft can be lengthened pretty cheaply, but a full new driveshaft will certainly be a good chunk of change.

I would be looking into a body lift instead. Much easier on all the drivetrain components, although you don't have CV's to worry about and those are more than half the battle.
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I guess the cheapest route is that spacer I linked, as long as it's safe and I don't feel vibration. The highest kit i've seen is 6", and it's a big coil spacer, new shocks, bump stops, panhard bar, upper control arms. I have all that stuff covered, can't imagine another inch would cause the driveshaft to fail. I'm worried about the angle though, the u-joints were fine until it was lifted. I tried my best to get it correct, but maybe it's still off.

I'm not a fan of body lifts, don't like the gaps

Inv4drZm said:
What rear shocks do you have?
Click to expand...

Using Rough Country 2.2s right now. Haven't decided what i'll get when I go higher
 
iamBazzy said:
I guess the cheapest route is that spacer I linked, as long as it's safe and I don't feel vibration. The highest kit i've seen is 6", and it's a big coil spacer, new shocks, bump stops, panhard bar, upper control arms. I have all that stuff covered, can't imagine another inch would cause the driveshaft to fail. I'm worried about the angle though, the u-joints were fine until it was lifted. I tried my best to get it correct, but maybe it's still off.

I'm not a fan of body lifts, don't like the gaps



Using Rough Country 2.2s right now. Haven't decided what i'll get when I go higher
Click to expand...

The spacer will do nothing for the driveshaft angle, in fact it will make it worse.

At some point you will run out of downtravel and could use longer shocks though that may be somewhere closer to 10". You could check by jacking at the frame near where the LCA's mount and measuring the downtravel, seeing how much is left from ride height.
 
Inv4drZm said:
The spacer will do nothing for the driveshaft angle, in fact it will make it worse.

At some point you will run out of downtravel and could use longer shocks though that may be somewhere closer to 10". You could check by jacking at the frame near where the LCA's mount and measuring the downtravel, seeing how much is left from ride height.
Click to expand...

Well since I can adjust the rear axle front/back using the upper control arms, side to side using the panhard, so hopefully I can get it more aligned so I don't ruin another set of u-joints. I'm concerned with length since I've hardly found any info on adding more than 6". I know it's only an inch but as it was mentioned, maybe that's the limit of the stock driveshaft length.

The Rough Country shocks are good for up to 6", I don't want to overextend them. I'm sure i'll find something to fit, i'm sure plenty of struts will fit if I press in the right bushings
 
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