Lifted 2012 JK's - Skip the Y-Pipe & Just Get a 1310 Front Driveshaft

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Somewhere around 4.5 and 4:10s in rubi axles.

where did you take that caster reading from? even if your drive shaft weren't balanced, i'd be hard pressed to believe that you'd be having vibrations with factory caster and 4.10 gears. also, just out of curiosity, if it were really so off, why didn't you just send the shaft back to have it re-balanced under warranty?
 

matt

Caught the Bug
Had an alignment shop put it on the rack and give me a baseline to work with after I lifted it. $20 bucks.

I pulled the ds and vibes went a way. I haven't confirmed it's the ds yet, been too busy. So I'm in no way bashing reel, just throwing out what the driveline shop told me, and the amount of weight on it now vs when I took it to them. Even they said to run it to confirm before calling reel.

If the ds goes on and the vibe I got at 60+ is gone then I know the culprit. I took the 35's out of the picture, I'm running stock sra tires so its not the rubber causing the vibes. Might end up being something in the axle, who knows.

Reel is 50 miles away, the shop I took it to is 5. I wanted a second opinion on the ds.

I need to spend some time under the jeep to get things sorted as everyone issues are always a little different with so many variables.

I just wanted to jump in and share my 1310 rub since I was surprised as I read and was told that I won't have any issues.


--
Matt
 
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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Had an alignment shop put it on the rack and give me a baseline to work with after I lifted it. $20 bucks.

I pulled the ds and vibes went a way. I haven't confirmed it's the ds yet, been too busy. So I'm in no way bashing reel, just throwing out what the driveline shop told me, and the amount of weight on it now vs when I took it to them. Even they said to run it to confirm before calling reel.

If the ds goes on and the vibe I got at 60+ is gone then I know the culprit. I took the 35's out of the picture, I'm running stock sra tires so its not the rubber causing the vibes. Might end up being something in the axle, who knows.

Reel is 50 miles away, the shop I took it to is 5. I wanted a second opinion on the ds.

I need to spend some time under the jeep to get things sorted as everyone issues are always a little different with so many variables.

I just wanted to jump in and share my 1310 rub since I was surprised as I read and was told that I won't have any issues.


--
Matt

no sweat off my back even if you were trying to bash reel, just trying to help and i just didn't think it sounded right to me. even if it weren't balanced just right, 4.10's shouldn't have enough spin to cause a vibration unless your caster were pretty off. still, i guess you've gotta start somewhere if you really want to find the culprit. hopefully that's all it was.
 

matt

Caught the Bug
Finally got around to working on this tonight. The axle clearance problem was minimal, removed the heat shield and all is well in droop land. Its close, but doesn't rub, about 1/8+ from the pipe.

The DS feels much better now that it was re-balanced.

So ya, skip the y-pipe. :thumb:
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Finally got around to working on this tonight. The axle clearance problem was minimal, removed the heat shield and all is well in droop land. Its close, but doesn't rub, about 1/8+ from the pipe.

The DS feels much better now that it was re-balanced.

So ya, skip the y-pipe. :thumb:

glad to hear you got it fixed.

What about both the y-pipe and the shaft?

it's your money and you're free to spend it on whatever you want, even if it's on things that you don't need :yup:
 

sempermarc

New member
She is flighty now, negative caster angle?

What's your caster angle? I have not measured my caster yet but I am willing to be it is in the negative now. I just installed a 1350 front DS and I am within 1 deg of 0 on the pinion and DS angle but now at highway speeds it gets a little hairy as she gets pretty flighty when I hit some grooves in the pavement. I know this can be fixed by clocking the inner "C"s or buying an aftermarket axle assembly. How did you deal with it or did you? Thanks for any input you might have.


I just wanted to post this up as a public service announcement as I get 2012 owners asking me this question all the time. If you lift your 2012 Jeep JK Wrangler more than 2.5", you will have issues with your factory front drive shaft making contact with the exhaust cross over. However, rather than wasting your money on a Y-Pipe kit that can cost upwards of $300, please do yourself a favor, spend the extra $150 and just upgrade your front drive shaft to a 1310 drive shaft like the kind that J.E. Reel or even Coast makes.

So you know, an aftermarket 1310 drive shaft or even 1350 drive shaft will be narrower in diameter, will not have a slip shaft boot and will not make contact with your JK's exhaust cross over as would be the case with a factory drive shaft. This is a shot of a factory drive shaft installed on a 2012 JK with 3.5" of lift and at a full droop...

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Now, this is a shot of our J.E. Reel 1350 front drive shaft installed on Rubicat with 12" coil overs, no exhaust modifications and at a full droop...

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As you can see, the shaft is not making any contact with the exhaust cross over and there is plenty of room to spare. Also, on the 2012 JK's, the taller you go, the more of an angle you will have at your output shaft CV joint. At just 3.5" of lift, this angle will be sever enough to cause the CV boot to fail prematurely and so, even if you were to install a Y-Pipe, you would still end up having to replace your front drive shaft sooner than later.

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Need I say, do yourself a favor, spend just a little more cash and do things right the first time around.

This has been a public service announcement from your WAYALIFE.com Administrator :cool:
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
My caster? It's at +4° as it should be. Unlike your rear drive shaft, you MUST put a priority on caster over pinion angle. Assuming you have a drive shaft that is balanced well, you shouldn't have any drive line vibrations with this setup.
 

sempermarc

New member
Thanks. I was worried about pinion angle. JE Reel says 0 deg and I was concerned it could bind and grenade my transfer case. I will adjust it tonight.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using WAYALIFE mobile app
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Thanks. I was worried about pinion angle. JE Reel says 0 deg and I was concerned it could bind and grenade my transfer case. I will adjust it tonight.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using WAYALIFE mobile app

On a JK front axle, 0° measured at the pinion = +4° of caster. If you were to take a reading on top of your ball joint, this is what you would see. Again, up front, your front drive shaft should NOT be in line with your pinion.
 

texas05

New member
Finally got around to working on this tonight. The axle clearance problem was minimal, removed the heat shield and all is well in droop land. Its close, but doesn't rub, about 1/8+ from the pipe.

The DS feels much better now that it was re-balanced.

So ya, skip the y-pipe. :thumb:

I have a 1310 installed and still make slight contact with the exhaust heat shield. I installed exhaust spacers to get more clearance but don't like how low the crossover gets. If I cut off the heat shield it will fix the clearance issue.

How easy did the heat shield come off? Did you use a grinder?

Question for the larger audience, Any need for the heat shield with the stock rubber boot not there now? I would like to remove the spacers.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I have a 1310 installed and still make slight contact with the exhaust heat shield. I installed exhaust spacers to get more clearance but don't like how low the crossover gets. If I cut off the heat shield it will fix the clearance issue.

How easy did the heat shield come off? Did you use a grinder?

Question for the larger audience, Any need for the heat shield with the stock rubber boot not there now? I would like to remove the spacers.

LOL!! Give it some time and the shield will break off all on it's own :crazyeyes:

Seriously, you can just grind off the tack welds and it should come off pretty easy. Having said that, I don't know if the shield is there more for the slip shaft boot or to help prevent heat from translating to the sump pan or both.
 

texas05

New member
LOL!! Give it some time and the shield will break off all on it's own :crazyeyes:

Seriously, you can just grind off the tack welds and it should come off pretty easy. Having said that, I don't know if the shield is there more for the slip shaft boot or to help prevent heat from translating to the sump pan or both.

I'm thinking it's only there for the rubber boot protection because the heat shield does not extend under the transmission pan. The only concern might be heat transfer to the new driveshaft.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I'm thinking it's only there for the rubber boot protection because the heat shield does not extend under the transmission pan. The only concern might be heat transfer to the new driveshaft.

Really?

DSC06332.jpg

Or, is it that you have a manual?
 
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