Didn’t have much time today but got 3/4 of one side done. This is going to be a lot bigger than I expected, which isn’t bad.

 

Wholly smokes look at that rake!!! LOL Looking great though so far can't wait to see the rest. I have a 4.5" RE lift going on mine as well soon. Are you or did you use relocation brackets for the leafs in the rear?

 

Oh since your doing the RE 4.5" kit did I ask already if you are using the full kit or did you piece it together? Reason I ask is do you have adjustable Lower Control Arms and Upper or all non-adjustable? Like I said the majority of mine is going to be RE 4.5" kit too so I'm anxious to see how it turns out.

 

I ended up getting the full kit with leaf springs. Got a great deal on it used, in an unopened box. The kit comes with adjustable uppers and fixed lowers. It’s a complete kit minus the sye and driveshaft. Depending on your rust leavels you may need new bolts. You should have a 5/16 and 5/8 drill bits on hand. This kit come with 3.5” lift springs and 1.25” lift shackles which should ride better than just springs, but will interfere with the tail pipe on your exhaust. I’ll just run an extension straight out the back. I would say this is one of the most complete kits on the market. I’m really glad I found this deal ended up paying $700 for it.

 

Awesome I was going to get the full kit but yea you struck a sweet deal on that kit. I probably will have well over that amount in mine by the time I get all the rest of the pieces I need. I just did it piece by piece so I can mix match some other quality parts.

I was defiantly wondering if you had Adjustable UCA's as so do I but I was also only going to order the non-adjustable ones so if yours is working out well with that setup then I will do that. I have 3.5" rear leaf packs as well and planned to use relocation brackets along with a new shackle.

 

Were you able to do this kit without extending the brake lines?

 

It could be done, but not wanting any droop, or unless one is fine with ripping out the OEM lines upon flexing.

 

You could do it without brake lines the kit comes with new ones. On the front if you reposition the lines you will be good. The axle housing bottoms out on the lower control arms before the brake line has any strain on it. Just remove the mounting bolt and then flex out the suspension and drill the hole where the brake line has room. I haven’t messed with the new lines yet, since the old ones seem frozen. Hope I can get them to break free with out having to do new lines

 

For this who may do this same lift there are two items i’ve Changed. Both are on the swaybar disco. First I noticed that the swaybar had slack where it bolted to the aluminum block. The kit comes with a spacer that sits in the swaybar and it was too tall allowing s the bar to move up and down. Grated this xj has over 200,000 miles and the bar could be worn some. I used a washer large enough for the spacer to sit inside of and that took up the extra slack.




Now on the quick disconnect part I added a washer so pin doesn’t ride against the rubber bushing




The second side went a lot easier because I knew what had to be done. Hope this may help someone else out.
1. Remove shock
2. Disconnect brake line mount
3. Remove lower control arm
4. Remove sway bar link (mine wasn’t pressed in, normal bolt)
5. Remove spring tie down
6. Lower axle and remove spring
7. Remove upper control arm
Now just put on the new parts starting at 7 and working your way back to 1

I did use a tap to thread the bump stop mount instead of the self tapping bolt






Tomorrow is the drag link install

 

She rolls now, not drivable, but moves. Need a new rear driveshaft.

 

Those tiers and wheel combo look great! Your running 35" right?

 

It looks like you have clearance for normal driving but I would defiantly be concerned if you ever flex it to see what space you have and not rub.

 

Those are 285/70r17. Measure out close to a 33 and taller than some tires rated 33s.

You are correct, right now though I’m not driving it till I do the sye. It will need some trimming for daily driving, but nothing major. After I do the gear, which will be a while, I’ll do some fiberglass fenders

 

dont forget to get yourself some RE control arm drop brackets brandnew unused.
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f127/...-rods-4050210/


oh and I almost forgot which thickness adapters did you go with? looks good!!

 

Thanks for the link, I’m going to work all the bugs out first and see how it does. I used 1.5” adapters which put me at 4bs