Wrong. Even with a 1" t-case drop, my jeep, my sons jeep, and a Friends jeep, all have vibes at 3.5" or less lift.... All are '97+.

 

I agree with the previous poster about all xj's being a little different, and Im not trying to start a Rustys vs RC debate, but I recently did my 3 inch lift from rustys and havnt had a single issue with it, in fact, it handles better now then it did before. Granted my springs were also inverted from being so worn down... Good luck solving the vibrations!

 

They are all different, because they have different combinations of components. NP231 vs NP242 makes a big difference. Chrysler vs Dana rear ends make a big difference. Automatic vs Standard makes a difference etc...The hardest Jeep Cherokee of all to lift is the 2000/2001 4.0l, NP-242-J, 8.25 Chrysler, Automatic. These things get vibes with as little as 1.5" of lift. But a properly installed SYE/Shaft kit + Shims will fix it right up.

 

I've never heard of anyone NEEDING an sye and shafts at 3in.I know alot of people that put them in at 3in but didn't NEED it.I have 4.5in and have a tc drop and thats it.Stock trac bar and lower control arms and beat mine pretty severly off road and have had zero problems with anything.My axle is centered and runs great.I beat it so bad last weekend that I dented the door ,ripped off part of the rocker, ripped part of the rear bumper ,crunched the front fender ripped off a flare ,flexed the heck out of it and crushed the other rocker and still nothing.No vibes at any speed whether I'm to the floor or driving normal.

 

My 95 got a 4.5" had no vibes. Put a t-case drop in anyway. Now that's what it gets hung up on. Won't be long untill I crack a case. 99 got a 3" got really bad vibs. Didn't want to expose my t-case on this one. Had put used leafs for the 99 that the shims were removed off of. Put some on and no more vibes. The new leafs I bought for the 95 came with shims. Both 4.0 AW4 with 8.25. Hope that will help limit it down for U. Oh and with a t-case drop I tair through motor mounts one set a year because of the angle of the motor was never intended to be that steep. 99 is now at 5.5 no vibes but to be safe SYE is on the way this week.

 

You also have a '96.......

 

Yes but,about 300 guys in my group drive 97+ and they dont have an SYE and shafts and are still good.They are all 3in to 5in.

 

In our local club we have 9 guys with 99-2k1 XJ's. All with lifts between the OME 2.5" kit to 4.5". 5 of them are running RE-3.5" SF kits. All of them are running SYE kits as they all had vibes. Interestingly, they also all run NP-242-J tc and Chrysler rear end. I know one other guy with a 2k XJ with a NP231 and Dana rear end, he is running a RE-3.5 SF with shackles and spacers on top bringing it up an extra inch, he's just got a TC drop and shims...No vibes.

And these guys in our club are all weekend warriors. They aren't mechanics, they are dentists and cops and local business owners. All those kits were professionally installed.

I bet if you talk to all the guys in your club, you will find that the vast majority of them are running NP231 and Dana rear ends or have additional mods like Ford 8.8" rear ends or something else that changes the rear driveline. And more than likely a good percentage of them do get vibes but don't care as their rigs are just toys to play in the mud with.

 

I agree you don't need a sye to get it right.. Just talking about the vibes in general, with even a small lift on '97+.. It's all about the correct angles....

 

I did a RE 3.5" full leaf pack lift on my 94 XJ, 231 TC, auto Trani, Chrys rear. When I dropped it down it wouldn't even move. The rear shaft was bound up. Had to drop the TC 1" just to get it to move. Eventually had to do an SYE, rear shaft, and 6 Degree shims. Now its OK. There all different

 

i think another factor people dont realize in whether or not you need an SYE is the transmission mount. when i first lifted mine 3.5 inches, i got no vibes. after replacing the mount, i got vibes, so i had to do a tcase drop.

 

how much did you drop your case

 

me? 2 washers on each crossmember bolt did the trick for me.

 

My '97 needed an SYE at a mere 1.5".
I'm fussy, I bet a lot of folks would not have noticed the vib's, or cared if they did notice.
No amount of axle shim'n fixed the vib's, and a transfer case drop kit is counter intuitive to lifting a rig in the first place. As a matter of fact, later on I actually replaced the factory x-member with a "belly-up" type unit to gain more clearence under the rig.

 

I have the NP 242 with the Dana 35 so its not the worst setup for vibes but if i decide to get a SYE how high can you lift an xj before you need to get a longer drive shaft