Lots of progress and lots of new problems. It was a very busy weekend in the garage.
First, the progress. Body lift, motor mount lift, MORE steering riser and UCF extra-clearance skid plate are all installed. I love/hate the body lift. The butt crack looks like ass, but the belly clearance is worth it. Plus, the spare now fits and clears the bumper on the stock carrier with the lower snubber trimmed down. I’ll black out the exposed green at some point and it will look better. No fan shroud modifications were required either which was nice.
I think my steering pillow is shot and that’s where some of the steering “clunk” noises are coming from. One more thing to look into.
I ordered the 241 savvy shifter cable kit, but was shipped the 231 version. They quickly responded and mailed the 241 conversion parts which should arrive today. As it sits now, the t-case linkage is not happy and I’m permanently in 2wd.
Now the problems.
There’s resistance in shifting to 1-3-5. I’m assuming its just the lower shift boot binding and/or the shifter bezel. Driveable, but it needs pressure to get in gear in 1st or 3rd.
Exhaust clearance: on startup and at low RPMs, the exhaust hanger rattles against the tub. I knew this might be an issue since did not modify the exhaust or hangers in any way. Not a huge deal, but annoying and I’ll have to get to it eventually. There’s plenty of space between the muffler and the skid plate to move it down. Just need time to get to it. The 241 clears the tub without issue. (UPDATE: fixed in 057)
Rear axle… fun. I had to further shorten the lower CAs to close to their minimum and extend the uppers. the angles are 22* on the DS and 21* on the pinion. Seems really steep, but I’m only at a 3" spring lift with the extra clearance skid, and I know there are others with 4" and the extra or ultra (or savvy) skids out there. No “vibes” to speak of, but the butt-dyno says its not as smooth as it was pre-tuck. We shall see.
The driveshaft may need to be lengthened. I ordered it as a best guess not knowing when I’d install the tuck. I should have known better that I wouldn’t wait to get the tuck done. I’ll call up Tom Wood’s this week and get their input.
After the tuck, the additional pinion rotation caused more (predictable) issues. The track bar is unhappy again, making contact with the edge of the gas skid. Just need to clearance the lip of the skid plate or (eventually) get a correctly bent rock jock track bar.
Rear shocks (55241) were too short to begin with, but the additional rotation moving the lower mounts further away from the frame has reduced my down travel to even less than the ~2" I had. I have the longer Rancho 55256s in the garage to be installed this week. The additional rotation also showed me I didn’t remove enough of the spring perches the first time around to clear the shock bodies. A quick fix with the angle grinder and all is well.