Install Day Is Here

Tomorrow I start the install of my DPG/RE 5" kit. Everything has been PB Blasted more than once and the vehicle is pretty clean and rust free. Here's to hoping nothing goes wrong and the parts go in smoothly. Wish me luck.

Good luck with that.

Go get 'em kid.

Win one for the skipper

It's a jeep. If everything goes in smoothly, then you start to worry.
Good luck.

99greenjeeper said:

It's a jeep. If everything goes in smoothly, then you start to worry.
Good luck.

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I couldn't agree more!

plan for the worst hope for the best

WATCH THOSE REAR SHOCK BOLTS THEY SUCK

Good Luck... I got all my parts in for the same lift yesterday. I went through them all... sooo much stuff it boggles the mind. Mine is going on Monday and Tuesday.

Let me know how it goes and give me some tips. I'm PB Blasting right now. I have pre loosened some of the bolts already too, to see which ones are going to be a pain.

Later

Make sure you got all of the right parts.rubicon sent me 2 pass side drop bracket braces(still waiting on ups to pick up the spare bracket)but they promptly sent the drivers side in a few days.I still can't figure out how a 5 inch kit can be so much better than the 5.5 inch kit I got.Does it really give the vehicle that much of a lower center of gravity?

jeepdeepfreak said:

Make sure you got all of the right parts.rubicon sent me 2 pass side drop bracket braces(still waiting on ups to pick up the spare bracket)but they promptly sent the drivers side in a few days.I still can't figure out how a 5 inch kit can be so much better than the 5.5 inch kit I got.Does it really give the vehicle that much of a lower center of gravity?

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Most RE lifts end up coming out a little taller than the advertised height. The DPG/RE 5" is just the 5.5" RE6200 kit with springs for a 4.5" lift height(3.5"ZJ Front Coil/3.5"XJ Rear Leaf). They say 5" because that is what it should end up being in actual lift height.

Greg

Day 1 has come to an end. Everything unbolted fine and the driver side t-case stud came out with simply double nutting them. No links or springs are installed and the track bar just has to be bolted in. Auto hobby shop closed at 9:00 PM and I was finishing up with the driver side drop bracket and brace. No matter how much I studied and prep'd for the DB and brace install it was still such a frigin pain. About 2 hours just to get all the bolts to line up and start tightening down. I will start the passenger side brace tommorow morning and then hopefully bolt everything in and the front will be done by early afternoon leaving plenty of time for rear install.

Check out my progess with a few pics that were taken by my fellow bud "JEEPNUT". Well, he was my bud until I decided to drop a 1/2" rachet on his face. Ouch.

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/740330/2

So you installed the DB's first? I read on one site that it was easier to install the braces first. Did you have a huge gap between the DB and the brace when you got them both on? I also read that it's hard to close that gap. How did that part of it work out for you?

I've been getting ready for my install Monday. I tried to go ahead and change the track bar mount yesterday, but the back-bottom bolt was a Booger. Looks like I'll need an impact with a swivel to get to it.

Keep us posted on how today goes.

HarveOut-

Please excuse my ignorance but what does a DPG/RE 5" kit have in it? Who offers it? How much?

www.dpgoffroad.com

It's one of the RE/DPG Hybrid Suspension kits mentioned on the front page under "Current Specials".

Harvo said:

So you installed the DB's first? I read on one site that it was easier to install the braces first. Did you have a huge gap between the DB and the brace when you got them both on? I also read that it's hard to close that gap. How did that part of it work out for you?

I've been getting ready for my install Monday. I tried to go ahead and change the track bar mount yesterday, but the back-bottom bolt was a Booger. Looks like I'll need an impact with a swivel to get to it.

Keep us posted on how today goes.

HarveOut-

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In regards to the DB/Brace install steps I used the following and then some:

http://www.yuccaman.com/jeep/re_db.html

http://www.ilovejeeps.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=69094

http://www.jeepin.com/features/rexd/page2.asp

I also initially had a gap but as you go around tightening everything it will close up. I will then bolt the springs and links in and get some weight on everything and then torque them all down which hopefully will close the last little bit of the gap. I'll let you know how that works out. One thing that was handy for me to have was some c-clamps to assist the bolts so the bolts don't have to do all the pulling to close the gap.

XJCRAWLER said:

Please excuse my ignorance but what does a DPG/RE 5" kit have in it? Who offers it? How much?

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It starts with the RE6200 Extreme Duty 5.5" lift kit. It then swaps out the 4.5"ZJ front springs for 3.5"ZJ springs and swaps out the 4.5" leaf pack for a 3.5" leaf pack. You also get JKS Discos and DPG bumpstop plates. Since I bought mine before the new year I also got some sway-bar disco cables for free. All for less than what the RE6200 kit costs at Rubicon Express. I also ordered the OME Long Travels for $60 each which is quite a bit cheaper than normal. All in all DPG has great prices on all there stuff and if you wanted i'm sure you can have him get to swap what ever springs you wanted in the kit.

Day 2 is now over. Front: Got the second drop bracket/brace installed. Springs, links, shocks w/ JKS BPE's, JKS discos, and track bar installed. Used the original lower track bar capture nut with the new bolt that came with the track bar. Don't know how they expect just a bolt, washer, and nut to work down there. I could get the box end of a combo wrench to fit in there but once you tighten the bolt, it goes thru the box end and then its stuck there, maybe I missed something, but our solution seemed to be good. Lower links were harder to install than I thought they would be, tight fit. With the caster shoe pre-installed in the pocket the bushing seemed to be a bit fat. Ended up putting caster shoe over bushing and inserted the bolt, and then worked it into the pocket part way until we had to remove the bolt again. This helped keep the bushing and caster shoe holes in close contact for future re-insertion of the bolt. We then worked to get the caster shoe bolts to come thru the bracket and brace holes. Rear: The rear couldn't have gone any smoother. We didn't bust a single bar pin bolt. The JKS BPE's went in stiff but weren't a problem, I was really nervous about busting off the captured nuts. Tossed the rear sway bar. Installed the new leafs with the 4* shims installed. Bolted it all back up with the DPG bump-stop plates and we were done. Bolted up my 32-11.50/15 Pro-Comp Mud Terrains that I already had on my new 15x8 Pro-Comp black steelies that I got for $36ea, that included them removing the tires from 15x8/6x5.5 Bajas and mouting/balancing them on the new wheels. Tommorow we will just do a final torque on the front end, and then its done.

New pics on my cardomain web page:

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/740330/2

Greg

That looks real clean. I like it.

Awesome! I'm jazzed to think mine is going to like like that by the end of the week! It sit's nicely. Looks like the 32's are a perfect fit for no fender trimming huh?

2 Questions: Would you explain a little more about the Caster shoes? I see them in there, but I don't get what you are saying about fitting them to the bushing. The bushing was too close to the caster shoes for the holes for the bushing to line up?

Also what is the backspacing on your wheels?

Tell us how it drives when you get it out. Again... Looks great man!

HarveOut-

My '92 was a pain in the azz when it came to removing the front leaf bolts...what did you do?

Harvo said:

Awesome! I'm jazzed to think mine is going to like like that by the end of the week! It sit's nicely. Looks like the 32's are a perfect fit for no fender trimming huh?

2 Questions: Would you explain a little more about the Caster shoes? I see them in there, but I don't get what you are saying about fitting them to the bushing. The bushing was too close to the caster shoes for the holes for the bushing to line up?

Also what is the backspacing on your wheels?

Tell us how it drives when you get it out. Again... Looks great man!

HarveOut-

Click to expand...

I rub the front bumper end caps when turning, but they are going to be removed.

With the caster shoe bolted into the drop bracket/brace, when we tried to get the lower link up in there it just pushed the shoe up and just jammed up the whole works. It was surely putting stress on the caster shoe studs going into the brace and it didn't look like the holes in the link and caster shoe would ever line up. To make things easier we put the caster shoe on the end of the link with the factory bolt to secure it in location. Then we slid the link into the drop bracket feeding the caster shoe bolts thru their holes. You eventually have to remove the bolt of course so you can get the link all the way in, but by that point the pieces should all end up where the are supposed to.

My wheels are the Pro-Comp version of the Crager Soft 8 which are 4"BS. I guess they are the same.

Some of the bolts that come with the kit from RE are crap metal. I snapped the upper link frame bolt on one link trying to get to the factory spec of 66 ft/lbs. Very sad, and it really pissed me off. I got a new bolt from ACE that was supposed to be the same size but it would not fit through the spherical joint. I currently have the factory upper link frame bolt in there but will replace it with the right stuff soon.

Greg