3" lift, estimated install hours

Does anyone know why whenever I ask a shop how long it will take to install a 3" lift they quote me at 7- 8 hours when most of the lifts that I am lookiing at estimate between 3 - 5 hours if you do it yourself? Should I really attemp this project on my own?

3-5 hours? Riiiiiight.

I almost hate to post this but it took me 23 hours for my RE 3.5" lift install. I thought I had everything ready but so many things went wrong that I got delayed every time I turned around. Broken rear shock bolts, difficulty in removing the sway bar end link posts, leaking brake lines, rear spring bolts, you name it. Keep in mind also that condition of your rig (rust and corrosion) and actual parts to replace (full leafs vs AALs, track bar, etc) will greatly alter your estimate.

Search a'plenty and make sure you have all of your tools on hand and ready to go. Pickle fork, ball joint press, torque wrenches, grade 8 hardware for the shock bolts that WILL break, lube, and all of the stuff you wont think about.

I know I could do the lift now in under 8 hours.

Play it safe and figure on two days - especially if there's any rust. Took me over a day for the rear while the front went quick and easy.

i completely agree with rocknxj. expect to run into unexpected roadblocks. when i did a RE 3.5 over the summer i hit problems such as frozen stock shackle bolts and seized/then stripped studs when doing the tcase drop

Well when a lift quotes a time its usually for an experienced mechanic. At my shop we quote 4-6 hours on a XJ build that's if everything goes well and all the bolts come out nice.

If you can do on in 3-5 hours I would be impressed, I can hardly do it in that amount of time with all the tools and a lift. If every things come off nice and goes back together well you can do XJ lifts fairly quick, but most of us know that doesn't normally happen.

I say if you have a decent set of tools go for it.

Also are the shops quoting 8 labor hours or just saying they will need it for 8 hours. If the lift calls for 8 hours we will charge for 6 or so and tell them we need the vehicle for a day and a half just to be safe then if every thing goes well then we call and say come get your vehicle it done the same day.

i installed a 4.5inch lift and it turned from a "we can do this in a night project" to " its monday and i have to go to work wednesday who wants to take me"...My rear shock studs gave me problems and broke off, Play it safe and do it on a weekend

well, I did a 3.5" RE lift on my heep last year. Took two evenings (4-5 hrs each) to do each side. Had no broken bolts no major rust, just took a while

even if you dont have any rust, go buy some good penetrating lubricant and start soaking all the bolts a few days ahead of time. thatll help make your install go a little smoother.

I agree it took me and a buddyforever to do lift seemed worst part was brake lines and switching out for front adjusters..

your in Canada Correct?? Yea....it'll be a while. RUST!!!!

We even soaked all bolts for about 3 weeks prior to instalattion lubed them about 3 times a week for 3 weels some were still tough..

On a rust-free vehicle, with one other person helping, and using air tools it took me ~12 hours to do the SYE and install the RE3.5 lift.

part of the reason the shop seems long is that they're not quoting you actual time it takes to install, they're quoting labor hours as in how many labor hours you'll pay them for wether it takes them 6 hours or a week

Wow, thanks for the heads up! Maybe over a long weekend or something.

ive done 4-5 jeep lifts the first took about a day the last i did between lunch and bbq steaks..... a 3inch lift will take average 4-8 hours make sure you have a air tools available (impact, air ratchet) a larger breaker bar a ratchet strap (or come along) two different breaker bars one about 3ft one about a foot pb blaster a decent impact socket set two good cresent wrenches and a decent sets of wrenches if you have all that not counting two sets of jackstands one tall (for frame) and one short (for axle) you will be much faster than not having said tools.

word to the wise having a good map gas torch for those rusted bolts will help heat the crap out of them and let them cool usually breaks the rust free! (its really bad for bushings you plan to reuse)

took me about 12 hours to do my RE 4.5" lift by myself. no bolts broke or anything. i also didnt use air tools or have a fancy lift. simple hand tools. and i bet the shop will say 7-8 because they would rather give a longer time frame and give it back early than say they can do it in five and give it back late and charge more.

There really is no better feeling than accomplishing your lift on your own. Do it, you'll have bragging rights and you'll bond with your Jeep.

There really is no better feeling than accomplishing your lift on your own. Do it, you'll have bragging rights and you'll bond with your Jeep.

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yeah or you'll get busted knuckles and want to burn your jeep. go for it

Deadwood said:

Play it safe and figure on two days - especially if there's any rust. Took me over a day for the rear while the front went quick and easy.

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Same here. My rear shocks had already taken me 9 hours earlier in the year (before I realized I could search for stuff like this on the net - I ended up coming up with the rock lizard method on my own, but it sucked), I soaked my bolts in pb blaster twice a day for 2 weeks before I did the lift, and it was hell. It took me four or five hours to get one leaf spring done, I said screw it and went to sleep, did the next in four hours the next day. Drove it around looking like a funny car for about a week while I waited for my coils to come in the mail (I never planned on lifting it for real, I bought 2 inch OME leafs because I figured they'd sag to stock height as they broke in/I carried stupid heavy stuff in the back, they started at 3.5" and have barely hit 3" or so now.) Coils took me all of maybe 3 hours to do both. I'm running stock size, ultra cheap shocks till I blow them up though, which, based on the fact that my XJ is slowly turning into Tigger, will be fairly soon.

mbennett said:

yeah or you'll get busted knuckles and want to burn your jeep. go for it

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Yeah... watch out for the pinch seam along the bottom of the rockers. I got myself good on that one while pulling a leaf eye bolt (breaker bar slipped off), I still have a very visible scar across the knuckle of my middle finger ~5 months later.

X2 on the brake lines and rust and such, my brake lines were in horrible shape. Do yourself a favor and get all the materials to replace all the hardlines and all the soft lines, do that while you've got it up on jackstands.

i guess we are some of the luckier ones ahah... to lift shea454's jeep with a AAL and coils and whatnot, took bout 6 hours....