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questions about rustys 3'' sp

jeepinairman

NAXJA Forum User
Location
wichita, kansas
well its here...i just got my Rustys Off Road 3'' Spring Pack kit.....i was wondering if anyone could offer any advice before i venture into this...keep in mind....i am pretty mechanically inclined but have NEVER worked with suspension stuff before.....neither has my help..so it should be an interesting install to say the least.....haha.....i have started to soak all the bolts in PB blaster and will continue to do so until saturday when we install it.....i am just nervous about it and was wondering if you guys have any advice it would be MUCH MUCH appreicated...thanks... :wave:
 
go get urself some good drill bits and a tap for when you break your rear upper shock mount bolts, remember you can never have to many jackstands, if you dont have a good quality jack go and either rent one or buy one, your oem bottle jack will work but it is gunna become alot of work raising and lowering it, a good breaker bar or air tools will help, plus a torque wrench and a service manual so that you can get the bolt torque specs, beer or soda if ur underage help alot
 
yeah i have heard alot about people breaking those bolts in the back...should i go ahead and get some new bolts to be ready for this....what size should i get..???..i have all the tap sets and tools i need availible....do the bolts have nuts on them??..i went out to look and i dont see how they could......
i guess i could drill and tap them to be whatever size i wanted right?

i am going to be using the lift and the auto hobby shop on base so we dont have to worry about jack stands......haha....and yeah i am of course legal to drink BUT we cant have beer over there.....SO....im sure we will all be cusing alot before its done...lol
 
I have lucked out on those bolts, i have done 2 xj lifts that were immediate to me, both extremely rusty heeps. The ones on my jeep, actually had the threads rusted out of them, the ones on my girls jeep just came right off.

When they broke off on my neighbors jeep we just pulled the carpet back and made access panels so he could use a regular nut and bolt as they will break off again. Tapping them sucks cuz its just pushed up sheetmetal
 
Oh and hope your front spring eye bolts didnt rust to the sleeve in the spring packs, that was a bitch and a half...
 
how did you make this "access panel"...just cut a hole in the floor???.....

what did you do to fix the front spring eye bolts ?????
 
i sure am....ive been trying to put this xj together for the past year and a half but with deployments and stuff i havent been able too...she sure is UGLY right now....i was in the middle of painting *spraybomb* it and had to go to mississippi for this past week and while i was gone it got cold...now i dont have a garage to paint it..sheeze......

thanks for the site..i have been there for some other stuff......i am pretty sure i am going to do that.....i am going to make 1'' spacers for the front too but i dont knwo anyone who welds *spacers ala madxj.com*...i am gettin some stuff like that together for this weekend to put the lift on....NOW i need to go get some bolts for the rear shocks i guess....thanks for the site...
 
OH and the lift didnt come with new U-Bolts.....is it a good suggestion to get news ones before i lift???? instead of using the old ones again?
 
I would definately get some new UBolts, because the old ones are probably stretched. What year is your XJ? Do you know what rear axle you have? If you need new UBolts, run down to Derby and hit the Atwoods for UBolts. They are around $7 each. About the only place in town that I have found that are reasonably priced. Atwoods is right off K15 across the street from WalMart. Give me a holler if you need some pointers. I was Security Forces at McConnell. I live just down the road in Rose Hill now. We'll have to get together afterward and run over to Dirk's (www.dpgoffroad.com) backyard and try to tear the new lift up.

You know you can rent the spray booth at the auto hobby shop for real cheap, you just have to get on the waiting list.
 
yeah i know where atwoods is.....i have the limited slip D35 in the rear...its an 89 too...what size do you suggest..i willl go tommorrow and get the ubolts....i am going to get the pipe i need for the spaces (madxj.com) when i go there too....and maybe the bolts i need for the rear shocks cause i am sure those suckers are going to break.....

yeah i have talked to dirk a few times...if he ever gets those new snorkles ready to sell i might get one.....i was going to rent the spray booth but i have a buddy who painted his truck over there and he said that where they use it for the wood shop to paint stuff in there......the air from the fans got wood crap all over his new paint so he had to sand it and repaint it somewhere else.....

yeah i have alot of stuff i want to do to the ol jeep, heep, cheap whatever you want to call it..haha....i just need the time to do it ya know... :wave:
 
For the UBolts, I would get 2 7/8" (2 3/4"?) spread x 9/16" (or 1/2") diameter x 7" (8 or 9) Long. I put the (#'s) incase they don't have exactly those dimensions. Sometimes they don't have enough or not at all.

Have fun. And if your shock bolts break, don't waste time drilling, just punch out the weld nuts like in my site.
 
don't go cutting access holesin your floor, it is unnecessary. when the bolts for the rear shocks snap just grab the puch and hammer out of your toolbox and go at them from the bottom side. they will eventually "pop" off leaving you nice holes to drop some new bolts through. before you go mounting up those shocks try this... if you have a rear sway bar, which more than likely you will not reuse, take the sway bar brackets off the top of the spring packs, flip them over and mount them up in place where the shock would mount. now you can eliminate that ridiculous "bayonnet" style mounting pin and just run a bolt through the old swaybar mount/ new shock mount. this way when you go to change out the shocks for bigger ones when you decise to install a bigger lift in like 3 months you will only have to undo the one upper bolt on each shock. there is no need to go butting the floor. this is a frustrating job but you can get r done with a little patience. plus if one of your helpers has small hand, this is the job for him/her. the acces areas to get to the back side of the bolts is quite small up in the uniframe but accessable. one more thought, when replacing the 4 bolts, 2 per upper shock mount, drop the bolts down from the unibody, they are easier to hold onto with a wrench than positioning a nut up there where you cannot see. good luck!
 
jeepinairman said:
how did you make this "access panel"...just cut a hole in the floor???.....

what did you do to fix the front spring eye bolts ?????

just cut a hole, it worked, the carpet covers it

For the hanger bolts, if you keep backin them out they will push the edge of the hanger out as its just stamped sheetmetal, as it bends it will eventually dislodge the bolt entirely than just cut the head off the bolt and beat the spring down
 
SNOWBLIND said:
don't go cutting access holesin your floor, it is unnecessary. when the bolts for the rear shocks snap just grab the puch and hammer out of your toolbox and go at them from the bottom side. they will eventually "pop" off leaving you nice holes to drop some new bolts through. before you go mounting up those shocks try this... if you have a rear sway bar, which more than likely you will not reuse, take the sway bar brackets off the top of the spring packs, flip them over and mount them up in place where the shock would mount. now you can eliminate that ridiculous "bayonnet" style mounting pin and just run a bolt through the old swaybar mount/ new shock mount. this way when you go to change out the shocks for bigger ones when you decise to install a bigger lift in like 3 months you will only have to undo the one upper bolt on each shock. there is no need to go butting the floor. this is a frustrating job but you can get r done with a little patience. plus if one of your helpers has small hand, this is the job for him/her. the acces areas to get to the back side of the bolts is quite small up in the uniframe but accessable. one more thought, when replacing the 4 bolts, 2 per upper shock mount, drop the bolts down from the unibody, they are easier to hold onto with a wrench than positioning a nut up there where you cannot see. good luck!


using the swaybar mounts causes alot of stress on the shocks as they bind alot from being 90 degrees from where the eye should sit. This will bend shocks faster... this is experience talking
 
good to know....
i will have to take a look under mine to see what they look like prior to heading home tonight.

when doing it, i thought it was too good to be true to have such a simple solution, but i know a few others on here have done this and had good luck. oh well, just have to change themout when the itch to go higher get to much to bare.

thanks.
 
thanks for all the help guys....i am going to try and get those ubolts....do they have to mount COMPLETELY flush when i get them.....cause i know you mentioned 2 different sizes.....just didnt know...

im not sure yet if i am going to just drop the bolts in from the top of that thing or cut the floor...that is to be seen.......both seem equally easy to do.....time consuming yes....but i think they will both work.....i am goin to try and just drop a bolt into the top before cutting and if i cant get a wrench on there.....out comes the grinder..lol....
 
one more question

hey when i install this lift tommorrow..i am doing a home brew 1 1/2 inch spacer in the front....just wondering if the stock sway bar links will handle the 3'' springs + the 1.5 inch spacers until i can get a set of adjustable discos..... :spin1:
 
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