I couldn't come up with a name for the Jeep build, and I have a small goat sticker on my back window. Anyway, I ordered a Rubicon Express 5.5" long arm lift. A buddy and I put the lift on this past weekend. When I ordered I searched for some write ups about installing this lift and only found one from a magazine. That being said, I decided to do a short write up of the install for posterity's sake. Here goes.

First let's start with the beginning. Here is what a brown man in a brown van brought me one week ago.

Friday after work, the boxes were torn open to reveal these glorious parts.

We started by taking off the stock cross member. Of course we supported the transmission/transfercase before removing the cross member. We then put on the transmission mount supplied in the kit.

Once we mounted the transmission mount, we bolted up the long arm mounts in the stock cross member holes.

 

If you look at the previous picture, the five bolts on the inside of the unibody frame rail had to be drilled through the pinch seam. Those sucked BTW. Once I drilled and bolted them up, I mounted the side braces, which also had five bolts that needed to be drilled through the pinch seam.


Next, I bolted up the center section of the new cross member.


Next up was drlling 1 1/8" hole in the unibody frame rail and slide in some plate for the additional long arm mount to bolt to.

 

I'll spare y'all the details of taking the old junk out. I put the new shackle on, and one of these bolts was hindering the travel of the shackle so I cut it off even with the nut.

The new leaf springs went on without a problem.

 

This is where I got lazy with the pictures. The old junk came out fairly easily. Once you get the old springs out, you have to drill a hole in the middle of the spring perch to put on the new extended bump stop. Then put the new springs on. I then followed the instructions and set the proper length of the lower arm and mounted it. Follow the same instructions for setting and mounting the upper.


Pretty much repeat for the driver side.

This is where I stopped. I still have to re-install the front sway bar and quick disconnects and the front extended brake lines. The kit didn't come with shocks, so I put in an order for a set of Bilstein 5100's. They should be here within the next few days. Next weekend should allow me enough time to also install my SYE. Stay tuned...

 

Maybe I missed it, but what size tires will you be running? I envy you, I want longarms bad

 

Well, I'm planning on trimming a good bit and running 35's, but I'm trying to work out a deal trading my current 31's for a local guy's 33's, until I can scrounge up the money for new 35's.

 

looking good so far cant wait to see the thing finished

 

Well, a local guy had an 88 two door XJ for sale that was supposed to have lockers front and rear, brand new 33" TSLs, 4:1 kit, and chromoly axle shafts. Needless to say, it only had a front Aussie, 4.56 gears, and the 33's, for the low price of $700. So I put the 33's on my Jeep and just finished taking off the fender flares, due to rubbing issues. Here are a few updated pics.


Tomorrow I'm hoping to trim the fenders and get some type of duracoat on them.

 

looks good

 

Sexy! Did you weld the CA mounts to the body? I didn't, but I know it was in the instructions, I got the 4.5" longarms. You're gonna love them.

 

DAMN....looks good man...MORE PICS!

 

looks good. don't forget to cut the stock lower control arm mounts off. but be ready, they're a bit of a pain.

 

That is the understatement of the year! Those old mounts sucked more than Jenna Jameson. I still haven't finished grinding down the remnants of them.

 

Well, I finished putting on a new chain in my transfer case as well as a SYE. I bought a CV shaft from a guy off my local offroad boards, but it turned out to be too short, so I've been using my front driveshaft for my rear until I can get a suitable replacement. Once I finished up the SYE I drove over to my local offroad shop for their show and shine event and took home first place in the used and abused category. Sorry I didn't take any pictures of the event. I left my camera at the house. Today I've been installing the Bilstein 5100's, bar pin eliminators and stem conversions for the fronts. FWIW, Rusty's shock conversion brackets and BPE's suck. None of them fit like they should, and had to be modified to work correctly.

 

Looks great!