Ive been working on my 96 cherokee 4.5' lift for three days now and the front end is done and i managed to get the rear AAL on but now the shackles (mainly rusty bolts) are a problem. I am trying to get this done as soon as i can so would it be worth it to have a professional finish the job or keep struggling with the bolts myself?

 

spray the crap out of them with some sort of spray such as pb blaster let it sit then spray it again and before you try an dtake them out wack em with a hammer that will help loosen up the rust if that dont work try heat

 

x2 on soaking with pb blaster, I had to let mine sit a couple of days spraying daily with pb blaster to get them to come off. Also, you NEED a breaker bar, if you don't have one try to borrow one, or buy one, its a good investment.

 

If you started go ahead and try to finish it. Get a good breaker bar like $50 but it will come in handy in the future

 

How big of a deal would it be if i just put the wheels back on and continued driving on the stock shackles, then continue soaking it while still driving it and try again in a few days?

 

Wont hurt at thing. Rear will just sit at little low. Drive it and spray the bolts till they break loose.

 

If i do, should i wait till i get the new shackles on to do the alignment or will it make a difference?

 

shackles shouldnt make any difference for the alignment.

 

Ok doesnt matter anyway luckily i was able to get them off on my last try