mdcmn7

My son helped me get the packs back together.

mdcmn7

All went back together great, just ran out of time. The little one, and dad were getting hungry!!



Hopefully tomorrow I will get the bolts trimmed and torqued. Finish a few other odds and ends, then the rear will be done.

mdcmn7

Got the leafs finished up today. New shocks, everything torqued, good to go

mdcmn7

I threw the wheels on, spun the jeep around and began to disassemble the front suspension. I do have pneumatics, so this really doesent take very long. Old coils and shocks came out.

I am replacing the stock XJ springs with a pair of JY ZJ V8 ones. I wanted to find the "upcountry" coils, but that proved to be a pain so I settled for a pair of the stock V8's

The are the exact same length



However, the ZJ coils are MUCH thicker. I would have to say %25 thicker. Obviously they are much heavier as well

mdcmn7

While I was putting in the ZJ coils and a new set of shocks, I dropped my front brake lines. I probably only went down and inch, and foreward and inch, but it seemed to give me a whole bunch more slack

mdcmn7

that is supposed to say "an inch"

mdcmn7

everything is back together and torqued down.

mdcmn7

I didnt have much time tonight, This is my finals week and I have an exam tomorrow.

I still have an adjustable track bar to install. Hopefully I will get to toss that on tomorrow

mdcmn7

I put my wheels back on and everything seems great.

Before I started I had A 2" coil spacer up front, and a saggy s10 bastard in the back

Front center cap to the fender was 19.5 inches
rear center cap to the fender was 18.5 inches

I kept my front pucks and added ZJ springs + repacked the rear leafs with a full dakota pack

Front center cap to the fender is now 20.5 inches
Rear center cap to the fender is now 20 inches

That got me a good solid 3" all around. The only thing I am concered about is how much the rear is going to settle as I put some miles on it. I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

mdcmn7

Now that the suspension was back in place, it was time to put in my new adjustable track bar. At only 3" I probably could have gotten away with the stock one, by my old track bar was in poor shape, and the jeep wandered while I drove down the road. The TRE was shot, and the bushing wasnt much better. If I was gonna replace it, I may as well spend a few bucks and get an adjustable one that can grow if I need more lift.

Unfortunatly getting the track bar out was the hardest part of this whole project



The frame side was so bad that the nut just fell apart as I tried to get it off. I got some sort of crazy *** tunnel vision and spent hours trying to get that one damn nut off!!!!!!!

I half destryed the garage in the process

mdcmn7

then I got the bright idea to just remove the mount and stop messing the the TRE under the jeep

5 minutes later it was out, uuhhgg



In the vice I was able to get the track bar off the mount in about 3 minutes.

mdcmn7

Since it was already off of the jeep the rusty old mount got a visit from the grinder with a wire cup, and a few coats of rubberized undercoat. There was no way I could put that garbage back on the Jeep. I also just replaced the mounting hardware

mdcmn7

I dont know how excited I am about the rustys track bar. I have a buddy of mine who has one and loves it. He wheels the hell out of his jeep and it works fine. I liked the idea of being able to replace the TRE with a MOOG one from autozone, and the price was right.

Side by side they are very similar except for the bends. They weigh almost exactly the same. The rustys one is a little thicker. That seems to be about it.

mdcmn7

The track bar went in easy enough. Once I got the axle side mounted I just bounced up and down on the front bumper to settle the axle under the jeep a little. I measured a few places to make sure the axle was even under the jeep and then adjusted and installed the upper part.

I think this track bar is rated for 3-5 inches of lift, or something like that. I was pretty much at the shortest point of adjustment for the bar. Which kinda made sense if I am at the lowest part of the range.

mdcmn7

Once all of that was done and torqued I put a few miles on the jeep. It seems to ride and handle great. The leafs are a little squeaky, but I assume that will settle out as time goes on. It is a little stiffer than it was before, but the steering is loads better now that my trackbar actually hold the axle in place. I can tell that the new shocks are also helping quite a bit.

I think it looks a lot better with the extra height. This angle isnt great. Hopefully I will get some more pics this weekend



I am hopefully going to get some wheeling in this weekend if rustys gets back to me. One of my disco's vanished on the axle side. I have no clue, must have been the trail gremlins, the damn thing just wasnt there at the end of a ride. I am trying to have them to get me a new one, but this seems to be a problem of some sort. I dont mind going around town without a track bar, but I am going several hours away. Want a sway bar on the highway!!!