Jeeptunes

i had a jeep come into my garage this week that had a home made lift kit on it.


this thing cameto me with electrical problems and when i opened the hood and saw this i almost sent it back out without even trying.
the problem was the lights lit very dim and the fuse melted before it blew.
so i disconected the rear harnes under the kicker panel by the fuse box and found out the problem wasnt under the hood then i decided it was time to actually attemp to fix it. i followed the wires back to the rear harness junction behind the spare tire and unplugged everything. i put a new fuse in and pluged the harness back in up front and turned the light on. i had someone watch the lights upfront to let me know when they dimmed again. so i started plugging wire back in until they dimmed.
the wire i plugged in went to the tailgate so i looked in the tailgate and found two wires plugged in that didnt belong i unplugged them and the problem was fixed the only possible thing i could think of for the wires being there would be a third light and it didnt have one.


next my job was to check it over for inspection and when i pulled the wheels off i found some very interesting thing almost disturbing.

lets start with the mild we all know what this is and where it should be bolted fast. i found that new steel line had been installed to lift it up 4 inches from the rear. without even building a support bracket.



then i pulled off the front wheels and found something even more upsetting and disturbing.

the first one we can all recognize as a sway bar linkage


then i looked a little harder and found this linkage going from the body to the front rear.


sorry its crooked
at this point i was mortified. so i checked the integrety of the welds and found them suitible. i then drove the jeep down the most horrible road in town believe me its bad and i live in pennsylvania if that tells u anything.
it held up surprisingly well. it drives straight and the kit is solid. the back of the car does creek a little but that the end with store bought parts lol.

i just had to share this with you guys and gals

Jeeptunes

the jeep was sitting on my lift at work when i took these pics

JeepingDan

How is the rear lifted? I can't really see in the pics..

Jeeptunes

i didnt show pics that where about good pieces lol. i actually didnt take any good one lol.
the front has 2 inch spring blocks that sit on top the spring and the rear has 3 inch blocks between the rear and the leaf springs.

b. lee

Is that last pic a lower control arm? The sway bar links are no big deal, and really, that extended and beefed LCA is probably better than stock, I'd just question the accuracy and thoughtfulness of the rest of the homebrew parts. There's lots of scary stuff out there!

And you're right, one look at that wiring and I would have sent him down the road. That looks like a huge can of worms that I would not open.

Jeeptunes

unfortunatly i did open it, thank god i didnt have to touch the real mess under the hood. i think that harness should be replaced it might let the jeep run better lol and yes thats the lower control arm. and when i was saying something about it to my grandfather about it "he owns the garage" he told me i should have seen the stuff people pulled off before you could get store bought parts. and i know the sway bar links are nothiing . it just drive funny if you break one. in fact the rear sway bar was completely removed. i think this jeep is an 86

Jeeptunes

i actuall failed this jeep for bad brake hoses 2 out of the three are rotted