'92 W250 Skyjacker 6" lift question
 

Hey Guys,
I posted this question over in the new diesel owners section as well. But I'm having an issue with my Dodge since installing my lift kit. I bought my truck last year and been steadily working on some things for it. Had the injection pump rebuilt and tuned to go along with the POD injectors I put in it. It still has the stock turbo, tranny, etc. Just put a 6" Skyjacker softride lift kit on it last week. Got everything all done and in place. Trying to bolt up the front driveshaft and it won't connect to the pumpkin because the shaft is hitting on part of the crossmember that comes down off the top side of the frame rail down to the main crossmember section. I tried to fab a lowering kit to drop the whole crossmember assembly down 2" but it's still hitting and causing all sorts of linkage issues. So I took that back off and bolted it back up the way it was before. At this point I'm stuck with a 2wd truck. Any suggestions on what else I can do to make this work out? The only other option I could think of is to drop the crossmember back down and put a spacer between the crossmember and tranny to raise the tranny/t-case and everything back in it's original location and move the crossmember out of the way. Just wondering if anyone else has a similar truck with the same size lift and could give me some helpful hints, tips, advise. At this point I feel like I'm beating my head on the wall. Thanks for all the help guys.

Gus

Could you post some pics of what ur incountering?

With 6" lift I would definitely not be using the stock DS anyway. The stock 7260 front joint is marginal at best, and would likely be totally unsuitable at that angle. Best solution if you are not sure, would be take it to a driveline shop and have them fab up a whole new front shaft/CV/yoke of the proper length that works. 1350 fr joint minimum. Don't fuss with the crossmember drop stuff - bad idea.

How much does it hit by?

I would call skyjacker and ask there advice.

It already has a CV joint on the front, but I'll snap some pics and it'll better illustrate the issues I'm facing. That should help to clarify, but it hits by a good bit. I don't think there's any option to remake the driveshaft to make it clear the obstruction. Be back in a bit to post some of the pics.

---AutoMerged DoublePost---

Here are some pics of the problem.

Attachment 51117

Attachment 51118

Attachment 51119

Attachment 51120

Thanks for any and all help guys, but based on what I'm seeing, doesn't seem like another CV is going to help, it's already got one. I guess I'll be trying to call Skyjacker tomorrow to see what they have to say. Thanks again guys.

i think if i were you i'd give the underneath of that pickup a nice bath or have someone detail it, and yeah you definitely need to call skyjacker they'll be able to help i'm sure

The rear main is leaking, and has been, waiting to do the convertor for the tranny to replace it. Then it'll be time to pressure wash the whole underneath. It makes for a real mess anytime I have to work on it for sure. Hopefully they'll have some good advise when I call them. Thanks again guys.

From what I can see in the pics, it looks like you're going to end up having to have a custom crossmember made that will allow your driveshaft some room to move.

That's what I was worried about. If that's the case, it'll have to wait until I get my welder and torches up here, I'll be cutting away what's in the way and reinforcing where needed. I certainly miss the simplicity of the crossmember on my CJ. A few pieces of 2x2 box tubing :D

My CJ is still pretty much all stock...much simpler that way. My XJ on the other hand is far from it. If you've got decent fab skills, you should be able to come up with something that will give you the clearance you need. I've never been a big fan of crossmember/transfer case drops anyway.
Something else I'd check, is that your driveshafts have enough travel so as not to overextend them and cause problems when the suspension droops. I've seen more than one of them come apart.

your drive shaft does have a CV joint or double cardigan (heard it called that once before) but this style of joint is limited to angles. if you notice the center body will come into contact with "flanges" that are on the actual shafts yoke. get rid of these and it'll be allowed to work at a sharper angle, as for your cross member; i'd get a piece of 3" tube cut it in half and notch the member. it'll look pretty professional and of course you'll have to reinforce it b/c exh tubing or w/e you use isnt going to have the same rigidity.

Hook teh shaft up (looks like its gonna be a little short) the jack up the front end by the frame so that the axle drops. Do this slow and watch to see how how bad it hits. Also check to see what condition your tranny mount bushings are in. The ones on my 89 were all but gone! After checking all this take a grinder and modify the cross member as needed.

The front DS ends up being too short with just 2" of lift. It probably won't reach at all in this case. I know, I know, everyone out there has done it, right? But I bet they haven't got traction with it under load yet either. Plus it'll vibrate like a SOB running in 4WD if there's not enough spline engaged.

even stock ride height if you have any kind of mileage on the front shaft there's plenty of wobble

Lengthwise the shaft will reach, it's the trouble of the angle it connects at is hitting the cross member before it allows it to drop down far enough to connect to the yoke. Thanks for all the good ideas so far, and yes, I'm a pretty good fabricator, just don't have my torches, welder, grinders, etc here at my apartment. Once I move to my house I'll have all that stuff and the facilities to work on it. I guess for now I'll just have to take the shaft out and let it run around in 2wd. Also, I'm not the type that takes my DD offroading, the only reason I have 4wd is if I need it towing the trailer off the paved roads and such, otherwise it won't be seeing much 4wd use. If I want to go play offroad that's what the Jeep on 2.5 tons is for :) Thanks again for the help guys. I was hoping to hear from someone with the same truck and similar lift to see what they did. I'll be calling skyjacker shortly to see what they recommend. I'll post what they advise and let you guys know what the final outcome is.

So what did you end up doing? I'm facing the exact same problem right now on my 91 w250!!! Lemme know as soon as you can, thanks.

I still never could get a resolution from Skyjacker themselves, I've emailed their tech guy multiple times again with no reply. I think my fix is going to be to cut out a section with the torch and reinforce the crossmember. Most likely going to make a nice circular cut from the front edge of the crossmember where the two pieces come together. Then weld some plating back onto the crossmember itself. That's the simplest solution I can think up.

Ya I have had the same problem with skyjacker just ignoring me and the problem. i am going to do the same thing with the crossmember i think.

Good luck on it, I'm going to try and get mine done over the holiday break I think. I need to rebuild the ujoints in my d-shaft while I'm at it, so I'll post some pics of what I do when it's all done.

i wish i had that lift :(

thats weird i helped put a 8" full leaf lift in a friends 93 and the shaft was too short but no problems with hitting the cross memeber?? wonder whats different?? pinion angle??

I put in the shims and everything on the front, it's all leafs in the front and blocks on the rear. Not sure if the 8" has more pinion angle or something. Is the one you did an auto or 5 speed? Mine is an auto, so the cradle may be different for that.

Mine is the same, leafs in the front and blocks in the rear. Mine is also an auto tranny! Another question i had was if you had done any mods to the steering?

my friends truck is a 5 speed that might be the difference!!
he definitly needed the drop pitman arm aswell!!!

haha dam well that doesn't help me out!!!! Also, have you done the crossover steering upgrade yet? Ive heard it makes a world of difference.

I haven't done any steering mods besides adding the drop pitman arm to it, but the steering box and steering shaft are worn slap out on mine. So I'll be replacing all that soon too. It's all the original stuff with likely over 300k on it, so it's all due to be replaced. But I think they auto tranny/crossmember issue seems to be the problem. I know the 5 speed is a lot shorter tranny than the A518.