Haha I can see that! And yeah not planning on goin RC with anything..

Also no longer doin LAs... Going for Rustys or IRO adjustable uppers and lowers..
Anyone know the difference between forged end and flex forged end(Rustys)?

 

Buying leaf spring bushing replacements soon.. If I go from IRO, they're cheaper but don't ask what kind of leafs you have.. Rustys are more expensive but they let you choose from stock, rustys, or Rubicon express.. I'm buying other stuff from IRO so I wanna go thru them.. Anyone bought these thru IRO?

 

As of last night, these are ordered

Adjustable upper control arms - IRO
Adjustable Lower control arms - IRO
Hack n Tap SYE - IRO
Grade 8 U-Bolts for Chrysler 8.25 - IRO
Shock Boots (Orange) - Quadratec

Pics of arrival to come!

Next step: come up with $80 to get leaf bushing replacements - Rustys

 

Ok, all parts have arrived and the lift is goin on Saturday... My uncle was kind enough to let me use his pole barn at his farm and his air tools and torches so I hope that will make the process go alot smoother... He also has a forklift and I was wondering if anyone has ever used one to get their xj up in the air and if so, how and is it safe? Pics of install will be posted... Eventually haha

 

what part of the jeep will you be lifting with the forklift.. we've used a forklift to lift jeeps by chains to the cage. or tire for flex. or just by the roof (jeep on it's way to the scrap yard). I cant see a forklift being useful. it will be in the way or be unsafe. dont do that

 

Safe to test flex? probably be fine. Safe to hold the vehicle in the air while you work on it? NO! Grab some jack stands.

 

The goal was to use it to lift it while workin on it but definatley not worth the risk if there's no safe way to do it... Jacks it is!

 

yeah for the front, jack up the front and put jackstands under your frame rail behind LCA mounts. then remove the tires and let the axle hang freely. jack the axle up and down as needed to install control arms

 

Started the lift on Saturday and its been my dad and I workin on it every night from like 6 to midnight.. Any ways... Front is done and everything seems ok except the sway bar is rubbing on the coils right where the joint to the disco is (pic will show eventually)... Now on the rear we had to do a few things the hard way and now we have both leafs on and the u-bolts on on the passenger side... Our challenge now is getting the axle in place on the drivers side to do the u-bolts there. We can't move it into place without disconnecting the drive-shaft. Is this normal? Has anyone else had this problem? We're going to disconnect at the transfer case and do the hack-n-tap so it's not a big deal but I just figured it was do-able.. Pics from the build and final result will be posted when done...

 

Here's one to keep you interested... Took it after we finished the front

 

Well after 2-3 weeks of workin on it... (Could only go work on it from 6pm-midnight and not everyday) we finished it.. Hit a few bumps along the way considering neither my dad or I had ever done it before and my PO never showed up to help us like he told us he would...but here's some pics..

Wanted to see where it stood on me before we started



My cousin heatin up the bolt on the swaybar mount that we had to knock out to put the new mounts for the new swaybar discos in




Ended up using the forklift after all... Jeep was never left sitting on just the forklift for longer than 5 minutes and that was to throw jack stands under it... BAD IDEA if we would've used only the forklift. We put the forks under the trailer hitch just as an extra support one night and when we came back the next day, the forks had drifted prolly a foot lower.


To get the bottom pins on the leaf in the hole.. We used a ratchet strap from the axle to the hitch. Before we figured that out, we tried pullin just the axle but it would've pulled the jeep off the jack stands before it gave way... So note: ratchet axle AGAINST another part of the jeep.. Unless there's a better way..haha




PROBLEM:

Anyone know if an alignment and adjustment of control arms will keep this from rubbing?

PROBLEM 2: Tires rubbed BAD on leafs..

(Fixed) 1.5" wheel spacers (front and back)

Here's some I took before the wheel spacers after we rolled her out into the yard











Next to moms 98 Olds Aurora


Where she sits on me now...


After these were taken, we put the wheel spacers on, found a cracked brake hard line (replaced)..
Replaced a hard line to the rear and added length to put this thing back on


And then bled the brakes... After that we drove it back to my house (20 miles) my speedo said i got up to 40 but Dad (following me) said i was at 45..earlier this week I scheduled an alignment... Was supposed to be done today but the guys said their equipment couldn't handle it.. Kinda cool..kinda sucks.. But now a place they recommended has me scheduled for Monday and then I'll let you all know how it drives and stuff...

To come: more pics and another obstacle we had to deal with during the install (pics on dads phone)...

Anyways...lemme know whatcha think! Considering this is my first interesting update on this thread, I hope I can attract some more people...Thanks!
- Drew

 

Good build

 

Thanks man

 

Took a pic as I dropped her off to be aligned (round 2) and also found out I have a headlight out....sweet



Supposed to pick her up tomorrow at 5... Can't wait to be drivin her again!

 

Looks good man. Good job on getting the alignment done quickly. You'll be thankful you did. After I lifted mine I was in a rush to drive, and drive for about a month and a half unaligned. Got massive death wobble and uneven wear on my front tires. Always nice to meet another XJ owner named Drew.