nodakxj

Very clean XJ. Sounds like you have some good plans for your build. Good luck with the install.

notamechanic

This project has been going very slow for me hah. Finished the front on Saturday. To push the front axle out I put my bottle jack between the axle and control arm mount with a small block of wood to push the axle out. It worked pretty well. Spent a lot of time getting the track bar in.

Another problem was the drivers side spring retainer clip threaded hole on the axle seemed to strip and I couldn't torque the bolt to spec. So I took the 1" self tapping bolt front the kit and just used that. I was a little wider but should hold.

Getting the stock control arms off the passenger side was tough too, I don't have a long pipe to get leverage so I took my breaker bar and put a jack under the handle to crack the bolt loose.

We started the back late sunday afternoon and I'm wishing I would have gone with full leaf packs from the start because those aals are a pita. I was able to get them in and now we noticed the provided shackles hit the exhaust so we need to go rent a sawzall today to cut the exhaust. Once thats done the rest will hopefully go easy or easier..

notamechanic

The coils and aals seem to be very high quality, the sway bar links are crap (most likely by buying disconnects in the next week), and everything else seems decent.


Stock shock next to zone shock fully extended
Not a huge difference, I was a little disappointed and hope it doesn't effect articulation. Although, they seem to be decent quality shocks.
<a href="http://s288.photobucket.com/user/kcavallo1/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsjnm9jd4d.jpeg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll161/kcavallo1/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsjnm9jd4d.jpeg" border="0" alt=" photo image_zpsjnm9jd4d.jpeg"/></a>

New spring in
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Using a jack and breaker bar to loosen the passenger lca
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Font lift done
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Rear add a leaf
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Made in canada. I don't know why, but I like that haha. We'll see how long they last.

Also, judging from the lift height of the front, I am more than happy that I went with a 4.5" lift. For a while I was really up in the air about lift height and couldn't decide between 3" or RE 3.5". The RE ended up being out of my budget, and 3" just didn't seem like a enough, but this so far looks awesome. These are only 32s and fill out the front end perfectly. I hope it performs as well as it looks. I think for anyone trying to make the decision, just go with the 4.5". It's not too high, looks good and if you're planing on lifting at all, you'll probably want to go higher eventually anyways hah.

gunmetal_nightrider

Glad you didnt have too many problems. For those potentially pesky bolts i spray them with penetrator every day during work week and drive around. By the time im ready to work the vibes and movement has generally led to a positive result. Jeep looks sweet on those rubicon rims. Zone is a subcompany or branch of BDS suspensions. Super quality stuff. Zone is just the more economy level products.

Yeah the best info i ever saw on here was "if you already want a lift height, go higher!" Room to expand and such. Interesting about the shocks...i never measured mine

notamechanic

Lifts done, the suspension feels pretty good to be honest. Not nearly as stiff or bouncy as I had anticipated. I'd say my jeeps ride quality has suffered the most from these tires which rattle the whole truck, especially at slow speeds. I'll get used to that. My drive line has some vibes, hard to tell if it's more from the used MT's though. Hoping once the kit settles some they will mellow out. I haven't adjusted my drag link so my steering wheel is turned when driving straight, but that should be an easy fix. With minimal mechanical experience I was able to do this in two days. If I had been more prepared and had the proper tools I think it would have been much easier.

Planning on some quick disconnects for the sway this week and then saving up for the next piece of the puzzle. I was originally planning on the bumper next, but I think rock sliders are much more important at this point. Then I can hit the trails even sooner.

Here are some before and after pictures

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gunmetal_nightrider

Looking good man. Unlock the steering wheel (turn key to aux i think) and turn the adjustment sleeve next to the pitman arm on the drag link. That will adjust the steering wheel.

My advice..get some auto lockers next. Armor is good but lockers pay dividends as well as gears.

notamechanic

Thanks for the advice. I'm looking at a spartan for the front but deff want some rockers before I hit any harder trails or rocks.

Waterlogd2005

I like the Rubicon wheels on the XJ.

Tough Luck off Road

I agree I love the Rubicon Wheels it gives it a nice look.

Nice Build so far man I look forward to seeing what you do in the future!

notamechanic

Thanks guys, and yeah I'm stoked on how the wheels look. At first I thought a 17" wheel may look a little too big for an xj.

Hopefully getting some protection soon for the body and underside so I can hit some trails. Anyone wheel in socal?

gunmetal_nightrider

Not I. Theres locality threads on here where you can see if anyone is nearby you or knows of good legal spots.

notamechanic

I also wanted to mention after a week of driving. My jeep drives much better than stock. In my opinion. Much less body roll and less bouncing. My stock suspension had 73,000 miles on and seemed to be in fair condition too.

Driving over 55 mph the driveline vibes become apparent; I haven't been able to drive any faster than that yet. I want to hold off on the SYE for a little while, but may need it sooner than later.

Steering feels much tighter than stock, I think with the heavier tires and help of the rubicon express stabilizer.

Over all the installation was not too bad. It took me two full days to complete with only hand tools. Most time was spent putting the leaf springs together, removing the transfer case skid studs, and loosening the passenger side control arm bolts. I was also not aware that I needed to cut the exhaust so I wasted some time finding a friend with a sawzall and picking that up from them. The instructions were pretty straight forward, could use more pictures (for us inexperienced folk) but worked out fine. Haven't had a chance to wheel it, but I may be going out this weekend.

Tough Luck off Road

Let us know how it handles off road when you get to wheel it

notamechanic

I haven't taken it on anything serious yet because I need some sliders but I just went out to Joshua Tree National Park and had it on Geology Tour Road.

Geology tour road in hardly considered off road, its a wash board road with sand and some small ruts. The washboards were rough but smoother than my TJ. Washboards always suck though. The jeep seemed to be very stable and predictable through the small ruts where the suspension had to articulate terrain. Practically no body sway and seemed to stay very level. After a few hundred miles of driving the suspension has settled maybe half an inch. The shocks seem to have broken in and dont feel like they do a whole lot compared to last week when they were fresh. I now wish I bought better shocks, but I'll get some bilsteins down the road.

Over all, I'm very happy with the lift and would recommend it to anyone.

slamin81

looks great man, just ordered my zone 4.5 couple days ago. seeing yours is good motivation