Hi,
I finally lifted my '07 Grand Cherokee. Before doing a proper suspension lift I decided to go the cheap and temporary route of coil spacers, and I must say it seems to work perfectly and I don't care much for massive flex. Wheels do not make contact with the pinch welds in the guards unless I am flogging it over rough terrain or go through a hole I don't see (as you do).
Crawls up everything surprisingly well for 32.6" tyres and a cheap set of spacers. Well, it did!
Now the current predicament. It was raining heavily at Big Bend (near Charters Towers) and I tried one of the sand hill climbs in the wet and rather than backing off I let my tyres dig down into the sand and bite, followed by two consecutive bangs - that being both CVs blew up. I managed to drive home in low-range though so yeah no tow truck yet!
Going to put that down to my own stupidity, holding it at redline in soft, wet sand and not backing off. Considering the abuse they took before failing - alot of abuse and I definitely won't go into detail here, I'd be completely happy replacing the CVs with stock ones should they not be ridiculously expensive (I haven't checked, assume 500-700 each knowing MOPAR tax). I would even consider a 2nd hand set that aren't completely flogged out but will check on that if nothing more ideal is available.
I just installed Repco CV shafts, and immediately, they have not got near as much vertical travel as the stock CV shafts. Even with a 2" lift, they bind up at maximum travel (when lifting the body with a jack). And the drivers side one seems to be faulty out of the box as spinning the tyre moves the whole suspension unless it is completely flat on the ground. They were installed correctly and not mishandled. Drives fine if I baby the throttle but any moderate acceleration produces a shudder.
Watching this video of brand new Repco CV shafts, does this look like an issue in the diff, or in one of the joints itself? To me it looks like the diff moves with the first joint fine. The whole suspension moves as I rotate the tyre. This only occurs at certain angles. I have not given it any curry yet as I need a way to get to and from work.
>>>VIDEO<<<
Are there any better aftermarket alternatives that are cheaper than going OEM, other than the RCV ones that cost US$2000/pair?