n_a_i_w

Im new to the forum but I have noticed that there isnt much info. on the Iron rock lifts. So I figured I would start a thread with the experiance i had with dealing with Iron Rock, The installation, and what i thought of the products. First I do not work for them so I'm not trying to promote them. This is all opinion. Take it for what its worth and I will do my best to help out with any questions you have. I will put in lots of usless info as well for those that need it. For those that dont know from here on out Iron Rock Off Road will be reffered to as IRO.
I have a 1988 Cherokee Limited XJ. I researched lifts for about 2 months before buying my XJ. My plan was to biuld a everyday driver and also a rock crawler that Rubicons would turn there heads and say what the . Then ask me to pull them out as i passed by. So far it has gotten allot of attention! To start here are a few pictures of the XJ before i started.

This is my order from IRO:
XJ 6.5" Critical Path Long Arm Lift Kit
Doetsch 8000 Shocks
JKS Quick Disconnects
XJ Hack-N-Slap Slip Yoke Eliminator And Driveshaft Kit
XJ Hack-N-Slap Slip Yoke Eliminator Seal Housing
Heavt Duty Over THe Knuckle Steering
5/8 OTK Upgrade
XJ D35 Axle Truss
XJ Heavy Duty Steering Stabilizor
RC 1.5'' Wheel Spacers
The Cost: Right under $2500.00 with the JP Magazine 10% discount Code








Before you start Make sure you have the tools you need to do the job. Use anti Seize on everything. The unibody for sure. Some of the bolts where hell to get out. I would sugjest spraying all the bolts WD 40 or something similar to the front, rear end, Leaf springs bolts, Etc. for a few days in advance

Driver side before everything was removed,



Passenger side before everything was removed,



I will get some more up later on. have to go for now. I'm sure it will take me a few days to complete this. Be patiant. Anyway take it easy all. Thanks for visiting my thread..

n_a_i_w

O.k. Have some more pictures. My computer crashed and I losts some files. Any way.

Heres the old Cross member.



You can thee where the old crossmember was. the first hole in front of the old mount is where you have to drill and tap the trird hole for the new IRO mount.


Heres the new IRO in place.When i finally was ready to do my final insection I put locktieght on the to bolts that i had to drill and tap.


With all the old lift gone I'm about ready to put on the long arms. Make sure you hang on to all the old bolt hardware. there are a few spots you have to reinstall some of it. I went trough and painted everything I could black while everything was out.


Here are the IRO arms mounted to the axle. In the instuctions it says to mount the driver side arm at the bottom point first then rotate up and mount the to of the Y. I had to mount the top of the Y first. It was alot easier. I do recommend you have some help to mount the driver side Y arm.



Here is the passenger side long arm completed. It would have been alot easier to hook up the control arms to the upper points with a come a long.



The driver side long arm installed. Sorry i dont have a better picture of the cam. But I use a large cresent wrench to ajust is once everything was back in place.




Here is the driver side complete.

n_a_i_w

And the rear. This is where I had the most trouble removing the old hardware and recomind soaking all the nuts and bols with lubricant for a few days before you start. Also put anti seize on everythinga as you put it back together.
The driver rear before takeing out the old stuff. I had to use aa good ratchet and cheater pipe to break the bolts lose to the leaf springs.



The rear Passenger side.



Like the front I started painting everything black while i had everything out. just helps later down the road with rust. You can see my breather tube hanging down. I had to replace it with a longer piece.



Here is the driver rear back together. While trying to reinstall the leaf spring bolts i broke one of the unibodt nuts lode to the front of the leaf spring. I just welded it from the inside. Like i said before I had to use some of the exsisting hardware for the rear leafs. So i took the best i could of the bolts. The stretched line is the E-brake cable. i took care of that later on.


And the rear complete.

tannerp89

what size tires are you plannin on runnin?
i would look into getting a stronger rear axle, i doubt the Turdy five is gonna stand up to your abuse, and trussing it is a waste of money.
you gonna toast shafts before you ever damage the housing.

builtnotbought89'

^^^X2! How about a finished side shot?

n_a_i_w

I'm going to run 33's or 35's havent desided yet. Yes the D35 is going. I'm upgradeing to a D44 or ford 8.8. Here are a few pictures of it after.

tannerp89

looks *****in!!
are you gonna trim your fenders? you could fit 35's easy if you trim, but the 33's will stuff nicely....
and good just making sure, i hate seeing people waste money that could go towards more Jeep parts! lol....
if your gonna spend the $$$ upgrading the Turdy five until you get a D44 or 8.8 id invest in some alloy shafts, make it a super Turdy five, that way itll take some abuse with 33's....

n_a_i_w

Here is the Hack N Slap slip yoke eliminator kit install. I'm going to cut and paste from my other post but add some more pictures to this one.


Here are some photos of the hack N slap slip yoke eliminator install. When they say the output shaft is harden steel they are not joking. I finally split my transfer case and took the output shaft to a machine shop.

This is the only thing I through a Flag at with IRO. They said i could cut the shaft and do the install in a few hrs. Two days later this is what i ended up doing.

Let the begin split,




behind this plate is the oil pump tube. very important when you reistall.



all the bolts are a 15 mm except for this one. this is a 10mm 12 point socket. remember where the 2 bolts with washers are. that is your split points. DO NOT TRY TO SPLIT ANYWHERE ELSE! there are special spots to insert a screw driver or bar. trying to split in another point will damage housing.



THis is what the inside looks like. while you are this far make sure to clean the magnet. but remember to put it back in.......



everything out.Remember with way everything comes off the shaft. I forgot and spent an hour online looking for diagrams.



The output shaft completely disasimbled. All those little pins are your needle bears. Dont lose them.




I used vasiline to reistall and hold all the needle bearing in place. Again make sure they are all there.



Putting everythnig back together




you can see that the end of the shaft is tapped and threaded. Remember to be care with the oil pump tube here. I put gasket material on both sides of the case and when i put it back together i didn't use a lot of torch. only about 20 or 30 lbs. i just worked my way around the case a half dozen times trying to use the same amount of preasure.



Dont forget to replace the lock ring before puting on the tail housing.



The adapter and seal in place.



And the job complete. it wasnt to bad to do. this was my first transfer case split.



And a few shots of the driveline installed.





Anyway i hope this will help you all out. let me know if i can help out anymore. i have lots more pictures i can send you.
Like i said i cut and posted from my other tread also. I will have the upgraded steering on here in the next day or so.
I'm off to bed one more nite shift. . Take it easy all.

wildspear

sorry guys.... but that was funny.... a super turdy, I gotta get one

bluedragon436

I have been looking at the IRO kits for quite a while.... I guess IRO currently is more widely known out your way.. but it is slowly making its way around as the kits are getting out there and proving themselves.. I look forward to seeing some reviews on the performance of the lift from ya.. I am def. thinking of getting their long arm upgrade when it comes time for me to hit up my "stage 2" of my suspension build...

xjoffroad

what a waste. then if you do this the ring and pinion are your weak points. dont want to blow ring and pinion on the road or trail. rather snap a shaft.

tannerp89

^ ya tru...guess no matter what you do its still polishing a turd huh.

n_a_i_w

Well I'm not going to polish up the D35. AKA TURD. I found a few Ford 8.8 and a D44 on CL. No matter what I go with I will install a detriot lock with either 4.56 or 4.88 Gears. I have a guy that will do the Ford 8.8 and the Front D30 for me installed for $2000. I'm leaning for the Ford 8.8. I've done this much and invested alot into my rig. Believe me when i say I'm not going to skimp on anthing. espeically the Front and Rear end. Just saving up the $$$

xjoffroad

right on!

n_a_i_w

Hey all. bad news, when my computer crashed i lost the pictures to my steering upgrade. i only have some of the before and after. sorry about that. I will post those pictures so you can see the differance. IRO is alot bigger and stronger. IRO dared me to break it.
A few things. If you do go with the upgraded steering you can not run 15 inch wheels without wheel spacers. I found this out the hard way. I pulled out of the garage and took off all my wheel wieghts on the inside. Also you cant put the old skid plate back on. the steering arms get in the way. This didnt bother me to much sense I'm upgradeing my front bumper.



And the upgraded steering




I had to put in a photo of all the old stuff.



Sorry I couldn't be more detailed. I hope this thread helps you out. I did the lift with basic hand tools in my garage. I didnt have a shop to do this. The lift from start to finish took me about 20 hrs. to install. I called IRO a few time. i got to know the guys in the shop on a first name basis. They where always very helpfull and never in a rush. I talked with one of the guys for well over and hr. one day. The craftsmanship of their produces are far beyond what I hoped for. I wil not go with another lift. I would recommind IRO to everyone. I will attach a few pictures of the flex this lift allows. I think the pictures you see will say more for IRO than I ever could. Again I hope this thread was usefull. If it was please rate it. I would like to know for myself it everyone enjoyed this thread. Again thanks for your time. Be safe out there..............................