well getting the lift in took a total of 4 days in the driveway and 1 day at the shop. day one consisted of tearing down the front end and getting it mostly back in minus the track bar and the lower sway bar bolts. day two was basically spent going at the track bar bolt at the axle which was completely bound in the sleeve (first sawzall, then finally realized cut wheel was the way to go after many hours of frustration) and the sway bolts (didnt realize those were pressed in until hacking off and then slowly drilling out, other side i punched a bunch of holes in the bolt and was able to rip out the press fitting) and capped off by breaking all four rear upper shock bolts. day three was more frustration in the rear with the front leaf spring bolts bound up in the sleeves, but finally went ahead and hacked off the springs then cut into the bushings. day four ran around to find new spring bolts, cut the other stuck one out and finished up the rest of the rear minus the shocks obviously (including being locked out for a couple hours with all tools stuck in the jeep).

that was all two weekends ago, i then ran out of time and patience and took it to the shop tuesday afternoon after having it sit for the week. got the call early afternoon today that it was all set - said they popped the nuts of the upper mounts and fed bolts in from the top. also had them install the tcase drop and an alignment

one note is that i found it impossible to work from the front of the leaf spring back as was suggested in one of the writeups i read. instead bolted up the leaf to the shackle, then jacked up the front of the spring until it lined up with the front bolt, then jacked up axle to bolt up u-bolts. i also learned that a cut wheel is your best friend! spent plenty of time screwing around with the sawzall when i probably could have been done in 1/10 of the time with the cut wheel.

anyways camera died a couple weeks ago so only have crappy cell phone pic but here it is...rides soooo much better than before. currently sitting about 4.5", not sure how much it will settle but knew they ride high...might need bigger tires soon!

 

What write-up said to start with the front of the rear leaf spring? We better have that guy go in and amend that.
Starting at the front would be nearly impossible and 10 times harder than starting with the back. I jammed wood blocks between the rear shackles and frame and that made it easy for the spring to go towards the front hole when jacked. I believe I used cardboard to pad the top of the leaf while jacking towards the front hole.
Mike

 

one shackle was free and moved easily just by jacking the front of the spring. on the other side i had to push it forward with a prybar while my friend put in the front bolt

unless i misunderstood...from the tech write-ups:

12. Install the rear leafs, Put the front leaf mount on first, then hand tighten the U-Bolts, then do the rear leaf bolt. We thought this would end up being the easiest and it wasn’t that bad.

 

Nice looking lift there, I want to do my own 3 inch RC lift soon too. Still collecting tools and supplies for the job though. And I have run into some more pressing and urgent matters to attend to lol.

Great looking though!

Also, It's a Jeep, are you really ever done? lol

 

the lift looks good - when I have mine running right a lift is on my list

 

Yea, you got it right... Now the next time someone says "put the front leaf mount on first" you can set them straight from personal experience.
Nice work
Mike

 

I didn't do a write up on that but i had no problem installing the front of the leaf spring first then to the shackle. It can be done from my personal experience.

Lift looks great

What did you have to cut off with a cutting wheel?

 

thanks for all the comments!

i suppose you can do it anyway that works for you. i think my problem was that the shackle was sorta seized and didnt want to rotate forward easily.

used the cut wheel on lower track bar bolt, cutting the leafs and bushings and finally cutting the front leaf spring bolts. in most cases a sawzall wouldn't fit anyways, plus my experience is it takes a hell of a lot longer. i would definately have one handy from the get go next time around. we had these tools around but no access (various neighbors were out), so i ended up making a few trips to buy sawzall, big drill and the grinder (though my friend actually picked that up)

 

If you install the rear first and put a piece of wood between the shackle and frame, you can just jack the axel up and it naturally forces the front right into place. I wonder my my RE instructions said to do it this way? Ahhh, what do they know anyways...
Mike

 

I followed the instructions on my lift from Rusty's ("Ahhh what do they know anyways...") and did not have a problem. I guess RE had trouble doing it the way i did. I am definetly not discrediting anyone and what they know. All i am saying is that it can be done and i didn't have a problem.

 

Here's what the 4.5" Rustys lift installation instructions say online... Keep digging Warthog....


41)

 

Yea mount the frame (front) end first then shackle. Thats what i did and did not have any problems.

 

I stand corrected.
Mike