Lift problems

I installed a Rusty’s Offroad 3” lift about 18 months ago, and I believe it has never been right.

1)The rear springs have always has the rear about 1” higher than the front. Rear sits around 4” and the front is at 3.5”. Rusty sent me a set of .75” coil spacer, but I have never installed them.

2)The left rear is higher than the right by about .5” so it looks titled.

3)The rear springs make a terrible squeaking noise when rocked side to side.

4)I have a rattling noise coming from the front left somewhere, while driving.

5)I never have had much flex in the rear.

I have bought new shocks (Old Man Emu long travel) thinking that the shock that came with the lift had gone bad, but have only installed the rear set, I haven’t really notice any difference in any of the above problems. So should I reinstall my lift or is there a better approach?

I am also running BFR 32 / 10.5 that rub my stock LCAs, and was wondering if I needed to get aftermarket LCAs or some differently backspaced rims?

Lastly, I need to add brakeline extensions, but I have never done a brake line bleed, so I am a little wary.

If anyone could give me a headups on any or all of these problems, I would appreciate it.

woah that's a lot to discuss. First did you remove the rear tracbar? if yes and you still don't have much flex then I would remove my shocks and try it then. If it stil doesn't flex then your springs or shackles are binding somewhere. Did you grease your bushings when you put the new springs on? Dry bushings especially polyurethane will squeak badly. Also did you retighten your Ubolts after the suspension was on for awhile? Rattling from the front end might be bad swaybar bushings or if you have quick disconnects for the sway bar they tend to make some noise. Also make sure your shocks and all mounting bolts are tight and haven't worked themselves loose.

That's about the best I can do for you. it's basically one of those things that you have to go and recheck everything to make sure it is still right.

Yes, I removed my rear tracbar, I removed my shocks and still doesn't flex. I guess I will check my springs and /or my shackles for binding. I didn't grease my bushings when I put the new springs on, so I will remove the bolts and grease them. I will also retighten my Ubolts I will check the swaybar bushings and the quick disconnects. I know my shocks and all mounting bolts are tight.

Thanks for the information

First off it isn't a rear Track Bar, it's an antisway bar.

The rubbing of the LCA's is normal, to fix it get a set of 15 x 8 with BS for 4.75"- 3.75". Aftermarket LCA's may help only by giving the tire to rub on a smoother surface.

Brake lines, the front all you need to do is relocate the mounting point, and straighten out the steel line. No bleeding reguired

The rear, cheapest is to get a YJ brake line, change it then bleed the system. Get a Chiltens/Haynes, maybe a one man bleeder kit ($10) or a buddy with glass jar and a hose.

The rear sounds bad, Call Rusty and really complain or maybe try rotating the springs, maybe on broke in faster that the other.

The front to rear isn't really a big deal, actually when loaded up and on the trail you'll sit level.

That's all I have, you do have a lot of issues The key to getting help from Rusty is to keep calling him at least once a week. He works on the squeeky wheel theory.

Do you ever wheel your XJ? I'm shocked and amazed to hear of a set of Rusty's leaf's that haven't sagged after 18month's. Hose your shackles down with some spray grease(between the bushing and the shackle), pull the bolts and hose them down and reinstall, then throw about 200-250 lbs in the back and bring it out and flex the snot out of the leafs, this should break the pack free of whatever is stopping it from working(probably rust). The difference you're seeing side to side in the back could be partially due to the leaf packs not moving(one's stuck in a different position than the other) or more likely, they are breaking in differently(all metal is different, you can't perfectly match pack's, some come closer than others). Which side is lower? could it be your spare that is throwing it off? And lastly, you have to install the spacers for them to work. HTH

goldxj

XJCHUCK72 > First off it isn't a rear Track Bar, it's an antisway bar.

You are right what was I thinking. Yes Rusty is a hard man to catch. I will keep trying.

goldxj > Do you ever wheel your XJ?

Is much as my wife and kids will allow me, which is about once every other month or so.

lift problems

A quick fix that a owner of a GTO showed me was to spray silicone spray on anything rubber/poly. Bushings in the rear is something that this works great on and the coil iso and any spacers, mine squick after they get wet and a little spray, done. Good as now. Lose the rear sway bar, I have had Rubicon 4.5" leafs for over 2years and the thing still sits at 6" of lift. The only time I have had it level is when I placed 1600 pounds of sand bags in the back. Rusty's is a hard place to get quick answers from. I have had a few problems from him in the past. He will fix it, just on his time.

Wow, this sounds like he's got my XJ. Granted, I've only had the lift on for 3 months, but most of these things are the same on mine with a 3" full spring pack from Rusty. The rear squeaks, and the left is about a half inch lower than the right, and I have the same "bumping" noise occaisionally. I have not removed the anti-sway bar, I'll try that. Thanks for the tips, even though I did not ask the questions...

Thanks for all the tips, I am going to work on the rear springs this weekend. Anyone have a torque wrench?

I am not surprised at all, of the problems with Rusty's leaves.

I had mine installed last October, so it is about 6 months ago. Problems? Here we go:

Since day one, the shackles were all the way to the front, touching their mounts.



That picture was taken about 5 months after the installation. Rusty send me some .75" extended shackles to correct the problem.

Then, probably due to the shackle problem, the springs moved around their front bushings, so much that they ended up touching the right side of their front mount.


Again, Rusty send me some different front bushings to correct the problem.

One day, I smelled something from the back. Got out and found that one of the friction pads at the rear of the right spring has broken its holding studs and moved to the left, enough to touch the exhaust and melt! I am still waiting for Rusty to send me new friction pads.

The springs were really harsh, too stiff for my liking. Since I was installing the extended shackles, I also grab the opportunity to remove the lower leaf. Quite a difference, no my kidneys do not travel up and down every time I hit a speed bump.

Still, the flex at the rear is limited. See picture below.



I wish I've listened to people telling me to get the Rubicon Express kit. The money I've paid to have all these parts replaced on my truck, plus the money I've spend trying to solve my steering problems, which were mostly due to Rusty's TRE track bar end, were enough to cover the price difference between Rusty's and RE's lift kit.

Rgds