Vibration After Lift Kit?

Trenton · Mar 31, 2020

I installed a 6" Rough Country lift kit on my '98 K3500 and now I have a vibration from the front driveshaft. I know it's from the front driveshaft because I removed it and it drives smooth as butter. Did anyone have a vibration after installing a 6" Rough Country lift kit, and if so, what did y'all do to fix it?

b454rat · Apr 1, 2020

How are the u joints? At what speed does it vibrate? Even with a 6" lift, the angles aren't that bad. Make sure joints are good, seated correctly and nothing is loose.

ZRoe · Apr 1, 2020

I actually had some vibration and after a little troubleshooting the yokes were making contact with each other because of the more drastic angle. Nothing a light massage with a flap disk can't fix.

How do you like the rough country steering bracket drop kit? I have a Pro Comp and I am having some troubles with the bushings in mine.

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Trenton · Apr 1, 2020

ZRoe said:
I actually had some vibration and after a little troubleshooting the yokes were making contact with each other because of the more drastic angle. Nothing a light massage with a flap disk can't fix.

How do you like the rough country steering bracket drop kit? I have a Pro Comp and I am having some troubles with the bushings in mine.

Sent from my moto e5 supra using Tapatalk

Oh shoot that's right, it does rub! Thank you! I'm definitely gonna grind it down a little bit. As far as the lift kit goes, I can't say anything really bad about it. My frame is slightly tweaked so it made it difficult to put on, but that's not the lift kit's fault. The bottom section did have to be cut because one spot was welded wrong where the lower differential mount bolts to. The only issue with the lift itself is the fact it uses a rear block, and can cause HORRIBLE axle wrap like it did when i was trying to back up in the trails, but what do you expect for only $1000? I'm probably going to end up buying a WFO Shackle flip kit and 2" tapered blocks to replace the Rough Country block.

cngodfather · Apr 1, 2020

I am getting a vibration also after my lift. I have not narrowed it down to what it is yet. I have a 3" body lift, front torsion bars cranked up, and 3" tapered blocks in the back. The original thought was that the tapered blocks might have caused a geometry misalignment. I was going to try the rectangle blocks to see if it made a difference.

Trenton · Apr 1, 2020

cngodfather said:
I am getting a vibration also after my lift. I have not narrowed it down to what it is yet. I have a 3" body lift, front torsion bars cranked up, and 3" tapered blocks in the back. The original thought was that the tapered blocks might have caused a geometry misalignment. I was going to try the rectangle blocks to see if it made a difference.

I have a 5.5" tapered block in the back and i don't have any vibration. Mine DID come from the front driveshaft. Unless you have a really short wheelbase, 3" blocks shouldn't negatively affect anything. At one point i had 3" flat blocks and no vibration, so its worth a shot.

ZRoe · Apr 2, 2020

Trenton said:
Oh shoot that's right, it does rub! Thank you! I'm definitely gonna grind it down a little bit. As far as the lift kit goes, I can't say anything really bad about it. My frame is slightly tweaked so it made it difficult to put on, but that's not the lift kit's fault. The bottom section did have to be cut because one spot was welded wrong where the lower differential mount bolts to. The only issue with the lift itself is the fact it uses a rear block, and can cause HORRIBLE axle wrap like it did when i was trying to back up in the trails, but what do you expect for only $1000? I'm probably going to end up buying a WFO Shackle flip kit and 2" tapered blocks to replace the Rough Country block.

I put in an Off Road Design shackle flip and my truck rides very nice for being lifted. The flip netted me a little over 4" on my k2500 Suburban.
I run my torsion bars at the minimum setting up front to keep my CVs level and the shackle flip actually has my truck sitting just a little higher in the rear which I like.
The factory rivets are sure a pain to get out though! And getting the new hole template to work around the existing hole for a Suburban (the trucks don't have this problem) was a real PITA!

I have a roughly 2 degree shim in mine and no vibrations in the rear. Hope all of this is helpful though not directly related to the original post.

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Nunnery09 · Oct 26, 2021

I put a 4inch lift on my 99 obs suburban and now have vibration, you have a picture of where the yoke was rubbing and needed grinded?

Nad_Yvalhosert · Oct 26, 2021

I work at a suspension shop where we install all sizes of lift kits. The majority of Chevy/GMC front driveshaft vibrations are fixed by a custom front driveshaft.
Now, we check the angles of the front differential and the front propeller shaft. Quite a few have needed a dual cardan joint installed on the differential end. The u-joint seems to need a lot of articulation due to the drop brackets rotating the diff to clear the frame. A dual cardan joint splits the angles between the joints and smooths out the vibrations. Traditionally the dual joint is put at the t-case end, but we asked the driveshaft builder to alter it and it works great!

Vibration After Lift Kit?

Trenton

Just a Texan transplanted in the Rockies

b454rat

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ZRoe

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Trenton

Just a Texan transplanted in the Rockies

cngodfather

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Trenton

Just a Texan transplanted in the Rockies

ZRoe

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Nunnery09

Newbie

Nad_Yvalhosert

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