6in lift and The front drive shaft and transfer case

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

m4mckeen

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2015
Posts
117
Reaction score
17
Ram Year
2004
Engine
hemi 5.7
I have an 2004 ram 1500 it came with a 6in lift
I have paper work that came with the truck

According to the paperwork it has a Skyjacker Lift Kits - D2601A-NSP/D2601B
D2601KS-NSP-M.jpg


In the picture (gold ring) and in there installation manual there is supposed to have a transfer case clocking ring. But there is none on my truck.

Also the paper work says a front drive shaft for 740$ but there is no part number or anything so i don't know if it is aftermarket or what but this is what it looks like and how it sits installed
5983jmPvxeCWsYUEzjSxRk0MSUiBC2p0vrtk=w1167-h875-no.jpg
bU7oFtqTYQul2XuBTs4bqcVXm95mvu72148Fg=w657-h875-no.jpg
nmokpYVqeHvZrGzm2_W58qtCcfb6r7s1K4Ir8=w657-h875-no.jpg

So when i bought the truck it rumbled really bad at 70mph but i thought it was just from the tires, but after 4months of owning it, the rumble turned into a shake and my transfer case split in half
baMxeS6-tV8VPiBUjTbnhYkxUAD-T2abhQPQ=w1167-h875-no.jpg

After I replaced the Tansfer case, I never put the Front drive shaft back in and all was good. There was no rumble or shakes at all.

So now its been a few months and i wanted to use my 4wd so i put the front shaft back in and i have the shakes again.

My plan is to re-build all the joints in it, but is this thing after market? Should I buy a spacer(30$) for it to compensate for the lift or should I buy the clocking ring(240$) expensive?
 

brandonjansen

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2013
Posts
1,701
Reaction score
1,012
Location
Abbotsford, BC, Canada
Ram Year
2012 Ram 3500 Laramie Limited
Engine
6.7 Cummins - Tuned and Deleted
The that low amount of spline engagement you need a longer drive shaft for sure. That's where your shake is coming from.... What's the angle of the joints on your front driveshaft. A 6" lift on a 1500 shouldn't require an indexing ring but if your angles are steep enough it wouldn't hurt.
 
OP
OP
M

m4mckeen

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2015
Posts
117
Reaction score
17
Ram Year
2004
Engine
hemi 5.7
The that low amount of spline engagement you need a longer drive shaft for sure. That's where your shake is coming from.... What's the angle of the joints on your front driveshaft. A 6" lift on a 1500 shouldn't require an indexing ring but if your angles are steep enough it wouldn't hurt.

How would i measure that? Just get the angle of the shaft as it sits installed in the truck parked on a flat surface?
 

brandonjansen

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2013
Posts
1,701
Reaction score
1,012
Location
Abbotsford, BC, Canada
Ram Year
2012 Ram 3500 Laramie Limited
Engine
6.7 Cummins - Tuned and Deleted
To measure the angle exactly you would find out what it is on the driveshaft itself and then on the transfer case output shaft and find the difference between the two. However if you post up a picture of it I can take a better look and let you know what I think of it.
 

R.L.K.

Senior Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2013
Posts
12,803
Reaction score
12,500
Location
Bristol , Tn.
Ram Year
2014 4X4 QC Express 6 speed auto 355 differentials
Engine
5.7 Hemi
With only 6" of lift your angles should be fine , the lack of spline engagement is a definite concern! With so little spline engagement it's allowing excessive axial movement right at the splines .
Think of it like this : let's say you had a close tolerance fit bolt that was 12" long and you had 10"s of the bolt exposed ( sticking out ) the head of the bolt would move in any direction excessively, as opposed to the same bolt only exposed 1/2 " ...
 
OP
OP
M

m4mckeen

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2015
Posts
117
Reaction score
17
Ram Year
2004
Engine
hemi 5.7
Dodge truck driveshafts page

scroll down to the "Dodge 1500 4x4 Driveshafts" I gave the an email and the said my shaft is not OE but it is also too short like R.L.K. said.

If I send them my shaft it should cost only 130-150$ to lengthen it as long as my joints are fine.
 
OP
OP
M

m4mckeen

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2015
Posts
117
Reaction score
17
Ram Year
2004
Engine
hemi 5.7
Even better I found a local shop to do it. I won't have to ship it and they will even do all the measurements on my truck


Sent using Tapatalk
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
194,902
Posts
2,863,861
Members
155,252
Latest member
radikio
Top