prdgyair

Just some things i ran across when i lifted my '00 2WD XJ

First thing: you WILL probably have to drop your transmission x-member. It's not so much an issue of pinion and u-joint angle, as much as you don't have NEAR as much of the yoke on the splines, and it makes a very interesting "coffee grinder under your feet about to explode" noise. you can drop it using t-case drop spacers if your kit came with them, BUT, the 2WD trucks have one bolt and one stud. The stud CAN be removed, just takes a little work. there are holes in the "frame" fore and aft of the stud, so squirt some pb blaster in there and go have a sammich and work on your popeye arm strength so you can squeeze the **** out of those vise grips. i didn't get a t-case drop kit, so i'm headed to ace hardware to buy a couple pounds of fender washers and longer bolts.

SECOND: getting your axle lined back up in the front after taking the LCA's loose. you can fight with them and try and pry on them and cuss at them for an hour or two like i did on the first side.. OR.. you can get under your seat and grab that worthless screw jack and wedge it into the back LCA mount and put the part that would normally contact the frame on the axle and a few twist of the **** and your there.. so much easier i almost cried i suppose this trick would work on 4WD trucks too.

THIRD: i've heard it said that in the rear to replace one spring at a time to keep your axle from flopping all over the place, yada yada... I found this to be complete nonsense and make lining everything up SUPER difficult. I installed OME 3" springs, (which BTW, lifted my truck about 5" at first) and they had so much bow to them the shackle bolt holes were no where NEAR close to lining up, even with the rear shackle pulled all the way forward, i was 1-1.5 inches off.. most will tell you to put the front spring bolt in first and then the rear shackle bolt... yeah... that was damn near inpossible. using longer rear shackles may have made it WAY easier and i may still have to do that to get better shackle angle, but, if you find yourself in that situtation, here's what i did:

take the axle COMPLETELY loose from the springs and such on both sides and left it down out of the way on a floorjack. remove the old saggy springs. put your new spring in STARTING with the rear shackle, just sliding the bolt though will suffice to hold it in place. then, use a ratchet strap around the FRONT of the spring, by the little bracket that holds the pack together/in line and put the other end of the ratchet strap around your front wheel in AS STRAIGHT A LINE AS POSSIBLE so your not pulling the spring away from the front perch (downward) or forcing it up into the frame. tighten the strap to pull the hole in the spring in line with the hole in the frame. you may have to tighten for a bit and then go have a snack or something while the spring "relaxes". i had to use a BUTT LOAD of force on the strap, but after a few "tighten and time" sequences i was able to use a small flathead screwdriver to help me line the holes up perfectly and the front bolt slid right in. Pick the axle back up. install the LONGER U BOLTS nobody told me i would need, and tighten everything up. Tighten and TORQUE PROPERLY the leaf spring bolts once the jeep is ON THE GROUND. Once i let everything down and after a few weeks of driving, my shackle angle is much better, though not ideal. I'll get there

FOURTH: you WILL need a longer rear brake line. i used one off a 96 4x4 durango that i got NEW at o'reilly for like 20 bucks. if you are not doing new LCA and UCA's up front, you probably don't need new front brake lines ON A 3" LIFT. the control arms "bottom out" in their mounts before the brake line can be stressed. but if you want a little extra play, you can always drop the factory lines down a little with some CAREFUL bending and drilling a new mounting hole for the bracket...

That's all i can remember right now kids! have fun! and safety third!

wanna-be-a-wheeler

I never took my lcas loose when doing the lift but whatever works . The jack trick does work really well though. Good thread though