KOTC

Ok guys, I have come from a background of mustangs, bagged cars/truvs/suvs (all 2wd), lowriders, leadsleds and so on...i'm a noob to 4x4's, a noob to lift kits and all that comes with them. Everything i own is modifieds lightly or heavily. I just picked up a 99 cherokee and it couldnt stay stock.

Started hunting lift kits and tires and so on.

Picked up a complete low mile rough country 6.5" lift kit with drop control arm brackets for $200, grabbed a nearly brand new set of bfg 33x10.5x15 all terrain ko's for $200 and decided i needed some wheels so i nabbed a set of cragar soft 8's? for $50...i know i lucked out on all of it.

I started with a 100k miles all bone stock cherokee. Sprayed every bolt on the thing even i didnt plan on touching it at that point and time, i read up some on lift threads and watched a few vids for problems and such. Started the removing stock parts, snapped all 4 rear shock bolts off even with a week of penetrating sprays and oxy/acel torch cherry red steel. the front leaf spring bolts were also a 2 hour project but did come out using a slightly modified picklefork and lots of heat. rear brake line was complete swelled and ready to go but just about everything else went ok.

Now that i have put the lift on i noticed a few problems that i think need immediate attention before i put it on the road.

After most of the install i went to put the adjustable track bar on and the link end that bolts closest to the passenger spindle was about 1-1.5" short of being near the hole...it seems the whole front axle shifted towards the driver side. But upon putting the front tires on and putting the weight on the ground it them shifted back to the passenger side and i was able to get the bolt in and tightened, my question is: why did it shift and is it normal, it seems when i lift it up in the air is always goes to the drivers side a bit, i noticed it todays when trying to put the front sway bar on after it had been sitting on its own weight for about a week, i had to bolt the upper quick disconnects up first and then lower the jeep in order to get the lower one to even come near the threaded rod to slide it on before getting a bolt on it.

Next, the drag link end that bolts to the pitman arm is on a HORRIBLE angle (maxed out angle in its pocket) and i barely got it into the pitman arm but it did go in, just very scary to me. the pitman arm is a drop pitman arm but only about 1" or so longer than the stocker. Do i need an even longer drop pitman arm? i see alot of them where they state for 6-7" of lift, then for 6-8" of lift but no drop length specs and i dont want to buy one and get what i already have. I didnt read about anyone lifting their jeep having this issue?

Number 3, the front end is going to need what looks like a heavy duty alignment now, with the driver front tire in what i think it a straight line with the rear the passenger front is about 10* turned inward to the driver side in the air or on the ground. Will this be fixed by getting an alignment?

I am going to include a few pics of the install and the drag link top pitman arm photo...any help is GREATLY appreciated.

Bone stock:

Lift kit:

During:



After:


The wife 5' tall standing next to it:


DRAG LINK ANGLE


Newest photos of the new wheels.

freegdr

looks good dont now if its just the angle but rear axle looks closer to the front of fender well than the back

KOTC

the rear axle is pretty well centered it may be just a bit forward, the photos may be throwing it off, the rear leafs also has a rear pinion angle wedge installed on them already which really helped in driveshaft aligning.

cherokee90

what did you do for a rear driveshaft? sye, HNT, stock? do you have any vibrations? im putting the exact same lift on my 98 in a couple weeks just wanted to see how lucky you got with the driveline angles.

KOTC

stock driveshaft, no mods done, i didnt even do a transfer case drop...my buddy was also scratching his head. it barely came out of the transfer case.

i havent driven it yet but am reading the pinion wedges on the leafs make a great difference so im glad someone else already did them. if i get any vibration i will probably do a drop, but im not going to be hardcore wheeling it, i will play a bit but its gonna be my daily driver, i cant afford to destroy it!

Desert Rat

I'd lose the LCA drop brackets in favor of some longer arms. The brackets tend to just hang up on stuff.
Other than that, I'd like to nominate you Newb of the year.
Three posts and you already have a clear idea of how everything works. You obviousely know how to search. This guy ^^^^^ is my friggen hero!
Nice work!

peep

That drag link definatly looks distressed. Have you placed a deeper drop pitman on it? My bud Dave did receive an incorrect adjustable track bar when he got his 1st lift kit from SkyJ, (struggled with it for couple hours) had to be exchanged. Looks like you've got wedge blocks with your springs, excellent! How is your rear drive shaft length? I like the positioning of your rear wheels to wells, they will swing in a slight rearward arc as the spring flexes toward flat and axle rises. You have done an awsome job. Nice, real Nice! Your wife's gonna take this one for herself.

KOTC

the track bar is adjustable but i have yet to play with it, i am not sure what tolerance i have to work with before it becomes unsafe as far as thread depth and such into the arm, it looks like i have a little bit or room to unthread it some.

the pitman arm i have on it compared to the one that came off (stock) is only about an inch difference so im thinking i could get a deeper drop arm, but i cant get any specs on the sites i have seen them advertised on, all they say is for 6-8" lift, or 4.5+ and such, that doesnt help too much.

the rear drive shaft has plenty of length on the tail of the transfer case, it barely came out, some made it seem like there was no doubt i would need a slip yoke eliminator kit but its not the case. extremely weird being lifted so high...i dunno, im not gonna start questioning it though, if it aint broke dont fix it!

KOTC

Ordered a 5&1/4" drop pitman arm, i'm not going to hardcore wheel it but have a little fun here and there with it (gonna be my daily driver) also talked with RC about the track bar, i need to adjust it some to attempt to get the front axle to shift to the passengers side about an inch, although i cant get it perfect yet because i need to get an alignment done for the toe-in/out before i can measure for perfect centering. I only have about a 1/4" of thread showing from the track bar link so i should be able to get it where i need it. If not i see the drill a new hole next to the other one trick done quite a bit on many sites.

So i pulled the front sway bar off since i was having issues getting the quick disconnects onto the axle brackets with it being off centered and decided to try a flex test on it, never did one of these before but have seem others post them. I'm not sure how much more it had left in it but i was worried it might roll over or something (new to this whole deal) But will try and push its limits when i get it on the street and try flexing on something stationary.

VTJeep

It's a good lookin rig man! Ya lucked out with the set up and it seems clear you do understand the concepts needed. Up is certainly different than down and once you get the hang of it, that thing will be very capable. Consider a locker for the rear. Idk what your familiarity with the locker gig is, but lunchbox or auto lockers engage when tires slip and manual lockers (air, electric, cable) are up to you when you want it. You said your just gonna do mild wheeling so a locker may be overkill, but I bet you'd only need 2wd for most of it!

VTJeep

Oh and idk about what other may say, but no sway bar set up in front is dangerous above like 30-35... Just my .02

KOTC

thanks, yeah i think a locker might be overkill, but hell the lift is really overkill for i am gonna do with it but i didnt want a 3" kit and some 31's, that just doesnt cut it appearance-wise for me. go big or go home on everything i usually do. i guess i kinda fibbed a little on the lift, its a 6.5" but then i also put the 2" coil spacer on top and the rear shackle is using the lower mounting, so its probably settled at about 7.5" or so which explains the maxed out drop pitman arm, i measured my drop arm currently on the there and its only 3.75" total drop which is actually only like 1.25" more than stock from what i remember looking at the stock one.

i will be reinstalling the sway bar once i get the front axle centered, with it being offset i could get the one side mounted but not the other so i pulled it back off until thats taken care of.

Sean1125

Lift, Tires and wheels for You: $450.00
Me: $1988.00

You Win. Truck looks good man!

KOTC

just got this in the mail, 5.25" drop arm,its a beast at 6lbs and nearly twice as think as the 3.74" drop arm i have on there now... hope it corrects my geometry to the arm from drag link, i think it will. then adjust trackbar in hopes to get about half inch to passenger side. and get alignment and im ready to rock.



quick comparison:

cherokee90

looks good and people that say go long arm tell them to STFU, for a DD drop brackets are way better. they are much more stable then long arms at highway speed and can be purchased for less if you look around.