lift question

[storey618]

I've got an 86 b2 4wd. I bought some bell tech 6400 shackles for my ranger a while back and never used them so now I wanna lift the b2. If I put the shackles on will I need to get my drive shaft lengthened or do anything else?

 

[wild horse]

Not as long as you stay at or under 4"of lift otherwise probley yes.

 

[BlackBII]

What style shaft do you have?

If it's the CV shaft, you'll have to swap it out for one that utilizes U joints.

 

[4.0B2]

if you have the cv sytle driveshaft, you want to swap it out regardless of lift to a u-joint style shaft.

 

[kryptonitecb]

Out of curiousity cause I have a cv shaft, why does it "need" to be changed? Mine at full drop doesn't lock up and has done me good for 3 years now. I can't say how much lift it has since it came from slo-vo with the chevy springs installed and no additional lift.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[Shran]

If it's working then it doesn't "need" to be changed, it's just that MOST of them have already failed or are in failure mode.

The CV shaft in my B2 felt fine before I lifted it. Just the extra extension and pinion angle change make it start clicking after about 100 miles and it completely failed shortly after.

The CV driveshafts are actually a really cool idea, unfortunately they were a little under engineered.

 

[4.0B2]

I broke one, that was wore out.
had issues with a new one, swapped it out, then the 2nd new one fell apart inside the joint.

switched to u-joint shaft and never looked back.

 

[kryptonitecb]

Sounds like the failures where due to bad pinion angle and being worn out. They do have to be refurbished every now and then just like a u-joint. A u-joint could fail prematurely in both situations also.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[4.0B2]

pinion angle is fine... First one was wore out, I know that.
the new ones just failed. Maybe b/c they were built wrong or something, Idk...
went u-joint and never looked back. Maybe I just had bad luck with them.
I've heard several others complain about them to.

 

[4x4junkie]

I bought my BII with a bad CV driveshaft (bone stock, tiny tires, no lift). It's certainly a common problem.

U-joints do wear out also, however you typically would only need to replace the u-joint(s) in that scenario. With the CV shaft, the whole thing usually becomes toast (rebuild kits don't seem to be widely available anyway, and would be much more $$$ even if they were available).

 

[kryptonitecb]

I have a really good shop nearby which helps. Rebuild plus retube was ~$100, no problems and been running a cv for 2 years now, last 6 months being mainly trails. I guess I got lucky.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[adsm08]

Also, the BII CV shafts use a Repezza-style joint rather than the more common tulip joint.

The Repezza has 5 to 7 balls in a circle, held in by a cage, which is held in the cup by a snap ring. Basically the joint has to be put in the cup and then put together.

 

[Schnot]

Thread jack.

We scored a skyjacker 6" lift from an 86 ranger in the junkyard for $20. It'll fit on my uncles 88 b2 right?

Reading through this looks like we'll have to lengthen the shaft after 4"?


Sent from my iPhone.

 

[4.0B2]

Yeah it'll fit.

And maybe. Maybe not. Install it and find out.

 

[Schnot]

That's the plan. It's just a bush truck with no title so no real hurry to get it on the road.


Sent from my iPhone.