Q? for J20 4spd owners 80-87

[Panther]

I have just installed the T18a and NP208 combo in my cherokee. It was extremely difficult and if I were to do it again would have done the T18a Dana 20 combo instead. This set up has two 6" adapters, one at the BH and one for the 208 making this set up 46" from the front of the BH to the rear tcase yoke.

Anyway, I was planning on doing a SOA front and SF rear but think I will have clearance issues with the front driveshaft. The output yoke on the tcase sits back kind of far from the crossmember and it looks like if I put in a lift it will hit the crossmember. I haven't had a chance to lengthen the front driveshaft yet to 37" so I'm not able to see how it looks with the driveshaft installed yet. But if I can do a lift, I would rather do driveshafts once instead of twice. I did get lucky and have a rear driveshaft installed, it ended up needing a 33" which is the same as a CJ front so I can drive it.

Anyway, J20 owners, were you able to do a lift without the front driveshaft rubbing the crossmember?

[sandmanb]

not sure about spring over hight but on my j-20/18/208 with 4 inch lift and 35's it clears. looks like it has about 2 inches of play. with a spring over you may have to modify the cross member if you plan on haveing any kind of articulation. hopefully someone will have beter info for you.

[Panther]

Thx sandman,
So you have 2" between the driveshaft and the crossmember with 4" lift?

If that's the case I might be able to work with that. With the naked eye it looks like it would hit on mine with a 4" lift. Not sure what an SOA would give me but thanks for the reply. Maybe I'll wait for the lift before I do driveshafts, not sure...
Lee

Edit: How long is your front driveshaft?

[ May 08, 2002: Message edited by: Panther ]</p>

[2j20's]

Ihave the 4in lifed ton my 76 j20 t18/20 and i have lots of room. But i don't have the extra plate's that you have.Why don't you modifie the cross member and move it back.

[Panther]

2j20,
The crossmember can't be moved because it's in a fixed location on the frame and also is holding the tranny mount. This is more of an issue with the NP208 than the dana 20. I think I'll pass on the lift for now and get the driveshafts made for stock height.
Lee

[sandmanb]

why not just do a 4 inch lift instead of the spring over? you can then run 35's and the looks and and the performance will make a major diference. like i said mine clears with that combination.

[Panther]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by sandmanb:
why not just do a 4 inch lift instead of the spring over? you can then run 35's and the looks and and the performance will make a major diference. like i said mine clears with that combination.<hr></blockquote>
I have not had good success with 4" lifts in the passed and I already have the shackle flip brackets from Todd. Plus it would be alot more expensive at this point.

[sandmanb]

i see what you mean. i does however look like you could notch the mount and renforce the mount to get the desired clearence needed. maybe find a spare mount you can play with so your not comited till you see what you can do. just a thought.

[Panther]

You do have a point there and I do have the old crossmember from the T176 that I can monkey with.
I could probably notch the "rounded" portion and weld a plate there to re-enforce it. That would probably give me plenty of room. Drove on the highway for the first time this morning and good some vibes from the CJ driveshaft that's back there now, so needed to decide soon.
The first gear sure is LOW!
Haven't tried the 208 low yet though..

[sandmanb]

let us know how it goes. if i cant get my trail jeep ready for ouray i'll be doing some work on the j-20 to make it more trail worthy and that would include beter articulation and i may need to modify mine. thinking about revolvers and that would give me a hair more lift. then just swap them to my trail jeep after that.