My half-done lift and build thread.
 

Been running out of motivation recently so figured I might as well start a build thread and hopefully have the lift done soon. My plans are to finish the lift, upgrade the sound system, install better seats, and finally build and drop in a stroker. But right now here is where it stands.

Attachment 322140

It's a little sad looking now.

And I just found this.

Attachment 322141

Think it was from driving it home half-lifted with the axles misaligned, doesn't seem to be any other damage though, so I guess I got off lucky. I basically got kicked out of my shop (or would have had to pay $200 a day "long term bay user.") So not much I could really do, but now I've obviously got to sort out the aftermath of that.

The main goal for now is to get that pin out and the control arms adjusted properly. (Bent pin was from my buddy not tightening one of the sway bar link bolts down.)

Attachment 322142

Almost done with rear.
 

Started the rear end yesterday and am almost done with it, although having a couple of problems. Also mounted 1.5 spacers.

Attachment 321962

I expected it but the shackle is rubbing on my exhaust and also the shock bolts are breaking.

http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/...psnqj6hepi.jpg

Although what I didn't expect was my rear brake line is impossible to get off the mount. If anyone has any advice that would be great, been thinking of cutting it out and zip tying it to the parking brake cable. I have a relocation bracket.

Attachment 321963

Really like the look of JCRs new prerunner bumper, thinking that will be the next thing after gears and possibly flares.

http://www.jcroffroad.com/mm5/graphi...F2_405x270.jpg

Anyways hoping it finish the rear up and then I can move on to the front. Any advice would be appreciated, this is my first time lifting a jeep and everything is a challenge. Although looking forward to the big meats, wish I could keep the rims. :mad:

http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/...psczcp4fyz.jpg

On my rear brakes I cut the bracket and zip tied to the parking brake cable like you mentioned. Its been that way for 1.5 years and have had no issues. I check it periodically and worked for me.

Good luck on the rest.

Glad to hear it works, gonna try again tomorrow after soaking it with pb blaster today and see if I get lucky. But if not I'll probably just cut it.

Those brake lines are always a nightmare. When lifting mine (4 years ago) the line from the engine bay crumbled when trying to get that connection apart. I ended up running a new line & using an extended brake line.

Making progress every day is a good thing even baby steps.

Keep it up, it's commin along. Concerning your rims, keep em, no need to increase costs if you don 't have to. I wanted TJ Rubi rims, but ain't gonna buy 5 new (to me) rims when my 15x8's are in perfect shape. Plus the :5's I'm looking to buy are cheaper for 15" rims vs 16" rim sizes.

Yeah, the rims the 33s are on right now I think are 15x8 but they are a 6x5.5 lug pattern I believe, so no way to "safely" adapt them really, without my tires sticking 6 inches past the fenders. Can't find a shop who will mount my 33x12.50 to my 15x7 stock wheels, which is a little ridiculous but I really don't think it's unsafe with the tire at street pressure. So looks like I might just have to pick up some used steelies.

Rear done.
 

Well hears how she stands now. Got the brake line off it's bracket (thanks to pb blaster) and will either relocate or just zip tie to the parking brake cable until I get new lines. No shocks in the rear thanks to broken and rounded bolts and the front is horribly misaligned. But still looks pretty good considering.

http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/...psx2ha4ppp.jpg

Going to have to cut the exhaust at some point, because the shackle is just destroying it.

Attachment 321931

Put the bolts in backwards on purpose because it was very difficult to get them out facing the stock direction, but I still think the shackle would rub even if the bolt end was towards the exhaust.

Attachment 321932

Still need to get my 33s mounted somehow, so if anyone knows a shop in northern virginia who will mount and balance 33x12.50 tires to 15x7 (I think) rims, please let me know.

Found another shop where I can work on it, so plan to take it in over the weekend and see if I can get the front sorted out.

Attachment 321933

Also looks like I've found a solution to my broken shock bolts, if I can get the rounded one out.

Very close
 

Finally got the tires mounted. They did a really good job and even got them balanced. Only cost me $60 too. The 12.5 tires really don't look bad at all on the stock rims, so very happy with how that turned out.

Attachment 321915

Cut the exhaust too so no more shackle interference. Still haven't got the shocks on. Also might not get gears because although I thought I had 3.07s, I was in 5th gear at about 55 on the freeway, which is fine for me. Maybe it's because my engine isn't in bad shape or something, but the 4.10s that I was originally going for seem a little excessive now.

http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0xqtk2m7.jpg

Need to order a speedo gear soon though. Also I am rubbing on the front bumper at full lock, although I suspect because it's just on one side it might be caused by my still badly misaligned control arms.

Attachment 321916

Also got death wobble on my way home today at about 45 mph. Never happened before the new tires and only was brought on after hitting a pothole.

Anyways still need to sort out rear shocks, t-case drop, and get control arms/steering/etc aligned professionally.

Also if anyone knows how to get severly rounded shock bolts out, please let me know how. Tried cutting and bolt-grip.

Got bolts off, waiting for parts.
 

Finally got that shock bolt out. Had to hit it with air hammer and drill it out. Now I have 3 nuts and bolts I have to buy and also have to order BPEs. I would just use the sway bar links but I don't like how it rotates the shock.

Attachment 321689

Also waiting on new upper control arm joints from rough country, to replace the bad ones I received.

Attachment 321690

Is that 4.5 inches of lift? Looks good

6.5, never really measured, but it's probably a little higher since it's recently installed.

Wow haha I was off but awesome!

Got the rear finished a few days back. Put in Zone BPEs so I won't have to deal with the shock mounts ever again.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41nMNGo10iL.jpg

The only problem I have with them is that you definitely need to force the shock in there a lot more and I wound up having to cut reliefs in the shock bushing in order to get the way-too-big tube through there. Everything went together in the end though and feels fine.

Phone broke so no camera for a little while.

Hoping to get front done sometime over the weekend since I have all parts now. Also I've decided against doing the transfer case drop since I don't have any bad vibes yet (Diff and Transfer case are parallel) and the IRO hack and tap is well within budget. Although will have to do some searching for a driveshaft. (ZJ V8 front shaft?) I'm still worried about the driveshaft length so don't plan on wheeling it until I have a new shaft in there.

All looking good so far, good job! The exhaust is hidden.

Update
 

Got the front aligned finally although one of my severely dry rotted (free) tires blew and screwed it up again. It actually blew outside a great shop which I had put my jeep on 35 a/ts with mickey thompson rims. Also I got a great price on a custom driveshaft, gears, and a lsd from them too, so will be going with that. Now all that's left now is control arm drop brackets, flares, and bumpers. Then it's on to the engine for a little while. Will have pictures when it's out of the shop.