3.5" RE lift is going on - my installer has a couple questions

[Trailbst]

i used both, 4 degree shims (do a search and you can get Napa part numbers) and a 1" tcase drop i made myself. Works great
(i dont know what the letter thing means....but i get the idea of blowing smoke out the butt.....join naxja first bud)

Let's dissect this! If he is using the stock driveshaft, he doesn't want shims, they will induce a vibration. He wants the output of the t-case and the pinion to be on a parallel plane. If he switches to a double cardan shaft, he will want to use shims to point the pinion to be inline with the driveshaft.

As for joining , it's A$$HOLES like you, who throw it in others faces, that sometimes make me wish I werent' part of it, so that I wouldn't be associated with the likes of you. Whether or not someone is a paying member of , doesn't make them know anymore or any less. Take this kind of crap talk to some other sites, and see how fast you get flamed and chased away. I straight up dare you to take this SPOBI over to Pirate, and see how fast you get laughed at. Even if Bob were a member, you'd still discount his experience, cause you think you know better. Grow up kid, don't talk about stuff you don't know.

 

[Trailbst]

My professional mechanic did it in two....sorry you didnt have the same experience (if you even have a lifted jeep) or your competence level requires you to budget more time.
http://www.naxja.org/forum/payments.php
id love to continue this debate with you

More A$$hole BS. You can continue it with me, I'm RED, and more than capable of handling you!

He's got 2 lifted jeeps, and the 3rd is getting 35s soon. Not puny little 31 like yours, which look silly by the way!

His competence level, let's see, he just moved his SHOP! What was yours again, that's right, you paid someone to install your lift!

 

[StylerG]

Thanks! My lift was put on in 2 hours, im sorry if that doesnt work for you. I never claimed i knew everything, in fact i never claimed that this guys lift should go on in two hours. Just offered my experience...which was asked. Didnt flame anyone, except when flamed for posting my experience. I think its great the boob has several lifted jeeps, i think its great he has a shop that provides that service for others. Im not ok with you telling me my experience, which you had no part in, is not possible. I would also like to thank you for telling me my jeep sucks, and that my driveline doesnt work. Next time you ride in it let me know how great it rides, even with those puny 31's. Anything else usefull you have to say?
I dont make it a habit of pushing membership in the forum, but dont come to my forum and tell me im wrong.
I hope he is busier in his shop tommorrow than he has been today!

 

[jeeperz]

Soooooooo..... did anyone answer BigOrangeXj's Questions?

 

[Trailbst]

Soooooooo..... did anyone answer BigOrangeXj's Questions?

I did!

 

[Trailbst]

Thanks! My lift was put on in 2 hours, im sorry if that doesnt work for you. I never claimed i knew everything, in fact i never claimed that this guys lift should go on in two hours. Just offered my experience...which was asked. Didnt flame anyone, except when flamed for posting my experience. I think its great the boob has several lifted jeeps, i think its great he has a shop that provides that service for others. Im not ok with you telling me my experience, which you had no part in, is not possible. I would also like to thank you for telling me my jeep sucks, and that my driveline doesnt work. Next time you ride in it let me know how great it rides, even with those puny 31's. Anything else usefull you have to say?
I dont make it a habit of pushing membership in the forum, but dont come to my forum and tell me im wrong.
I hope he is busier in his shop tommorrow than he has been today!

Let's start again. I didn't say your Jeep sucked! I said it looked silly! Learn to read, junior. I didn't tell you that your driveline sucked, nor did anyone else, again, take time to read. I didn't say that it didn't ride nice, in fact, noone did in this thread. You're making stuff up to make us sound like bad guys.

If you look, you registered on this board 19 days before Bob, so how is it your forum. I was registered 2 years before you, but I don't call it my forum. H3LL, Bob has almost as many posts as you. It's "YOUR" forum because your name is in RED, are you fawking kidding me?

So tell me, when your Jeep was on the lift, was the old suspension in it? Did you include the removal time? Or is the 2 hours straight install time? Were the lower control arms replaced, or just new springs slid into place? You only gave half of the info necessary, so we called BULLSH!T on it. Go into some more detail about what your mechanic did in the 2 hours.

 

[M4Madness]

I guess it's safe to assume that a local 4X4/racecar shop that does quality work quoting me $200 to install a RE 3.5" kit is an excellent deal?

 

[WTF]

To PROPERLY install the RE3.5 kit should take between 4 and 12 hours for a competent mechanic with the proper tools.

4 hours is probably what it would take for someone with the right tools and prior experience installing lifts on an XJ to do the job right; 12 hours for a first timer and a jeep that puts up a little bit of a fight.

Even with a shop lift, air tools and bolts that all come out like greased lightning; if you remove and replace all the parts that RE includes in this kit to take a stock vehicle to 3.5 inches in 2 hours, you probably didnt do it right and deffinitely didnt do it carefully(read 'rushed it').

If you paid a mechanic 4-bills to put a lift on and he came back to you 2 hours later claiming he was done, You should: 1st, go get some KY lube. 2nd, go jump under that vehicle and check/ retorque EVERYTHING. 3rd, think about turning your own wrenches in the future b/c you have the most cooperative JEEP manufactured vehicle ever to roll off the production line.

:conceited

 

[Trailbst]

I guess it's safe to assume that a local 4X4/racecar shop that does quality work quoting me $200 to install a RE 3.5" kit is an excellent deal?

YES!, it is an excellent deal. A flat $200 to have it installed is a good deal.

 

[uncc civilengineer]

BigOrangeXJ... In order to offer some better info I think we really need to know just how old your jeep is? Seeing that you're from way up North on the Atlantic you could have some seriously difficult time getting bolts to break loose w/o breaking...

If you jeep has much age or rust on it you need to really take your time! I would suggest heating up every bolt you can before breaking it loose. I DEFINETLY WOULD NOT use air tools if it looks the least bit rusty. You can real easily turn this job into a week ordeal if you have to start torching off or extracting broken bolts.

So before everyone on here offers you advice on how long it should/could/will take, let us know the condition of you jeep. To be honest with you $200.00 seems really cheap at any rate. Do you trust the mechanic?

As for installing the RE3.5" superflex kit... Its a fairly straight forward install just remove and replace. I would highly recommend getting a SYE (even Hack & Tap) and rear shaft(xj front or after market) and adjustable trackbar. There really isnt any point in lifting your jeep and then dropping the transfer case down like a shovel and having the tire stick out further on the pass. side...

As for install time... if it were a newer jeep, no rust, and everything breaks loose easily, I would say you could install it in around 4 hours. Thats just the lift, bleeding the breaks, adjusting the trackbar, pinion, etc. all take more time.

Take it for what its worth... but I would just be very cautious and dont go for any speed records on this one. Start breaking off rear upper shock bolts, or rounding off the brake lines, or even breaking off the inner frame nut welded where the leafs attach and you are going to not only add a lot of time but a lot of extra holes to the jeep..... just my 0.02

And can all the naxja member on member "web-fighting" stop? lol


EDIT: as for trimming.. that's a whole different animal. You may not have to trim at all if you have a proper back spacing/bump stopping combo. Just search and ask questions. Once you cut it that's it...

 

[M4Madness]

To be honest with you $200.00 seems really cheap at any rate. Do you trust the mechanic?

Yes. It seems like when I ask someone locally who lifted their 4X4 (all brands), they name this shop. My brother is friends with the owner, so we went to check it out. I found that they were extremely knowledgeable. The other 4X4 shop that's sometimes named (25 miles north) also charges $200 per lift. We must just have cheap rates in this area. I've also heard of a reputable local builder who sets up differential gears for $100 an axle. :laugh3:

 

[Brian Strickland]

my first ever attempted 3 inch skycraper lift took all night from 10 pm to about 6 am by the time i finally finished cleaning the tools. it was a night of hell, but i learned valuable lessons.

 

[BigOrangeXJ]

well, it's an '88 and being a CT jeep I'm sure it's seen a lot of snowy salty winters. I would say there is a pretty good amount of surface rust under the jeep, but nothing of major concern. My dad and I put in rear shocks a while back and I know the rear left shock upper bolt location needed to be retapped or something. I could see my Jeep being a b*tch

 

[PlainWhiteXJ]

I am finally getting lifted. RE 3.5" superflex will be here within 5 days. My friend's uncle is a good mechanic and is going to install the lift for me. I was wondering if anyone can tell me how long this should take to install with the proper tools. Does it come with instructions. Also what tools (or abnormal tools) will be required? Also, I should be fine w/ out trimming for now, so long as I don't wheel it until I trim right (32's). Thanks, can't wait

Had the same kit done on my 96 about 6 weeks ago.

Took the shop 8 hours.
I looked through the kit before I took it in (the shop I used did not carry RE) and the instructions looked pretty good.

Mine did have the typical stuck nut in the 'frame' problem. The cure for that is probably the only abnormal tool.

I put 32 BFG KMs on it even though the prevailing wisdom was that it would rub....it does, even on the street. Steering angle is somewhat limited by the lower control arm and the sway bar disconnect attachment point, but not terrible unless you really need to turn tight. Also rubbed on front and rear corners of the fender lips and trim as well as the shock tower on one side at full stuff. I'm working on that. If I had it to do again, I'd go 31.

 

[TRCM]

....Start breaking off rear upper shock bolts..........

I just put a rusty's 3" kit on a friends jeep yesterday. I had told him to spray every nut & bolt on the front & rear axles at least every other day, as well as shocks with wd-40 or similar a week ago.

Luckily, the only issue we had was the pass side upper shock bolts, which he broke off. We lost about 2 hrs total between getting the tools & trying to remove them, then I decided to just weld 2 nuts to the panel the broke bolts were in, and just use some shorter bolts.

I was afraid we'd have issues with the front leaf spring mounts, but they came out fine. Actually, the rear shackles gave us more trouble, mainly on the re-install.

No issues with brakes, as we didn't have to break any connections. We did have to reroute the abs sensor lines.

We actually got started about 9 am, took ~ an hr for lunch, about an hr getting an easy out set (mine were all toast), lost about an hr from BS'ing, and he drove off in the truck at ~ 7 pm. We also lost about an hr from the repairs to the busted bolts (tried easy out, then ended up welding)

I have no lift, but do have air tools. We had to struggle with jack & jackstands.

So, with me being no professional, and we did not rush (read took more than 'our time' since I was teaching him), we had the lift on and driveable in a little under 6 hrs. My hip & lower back causing me pain didn't help either. I simply had to sit down more than once to take a break.

Had we not worked really slow, and not had the broken shock bolts to deal with, I estimate it would have taken about 4 hrs.

Thats new coils, rear springs (not AAL), shocks, and rerouting of brake lines/sensor lines.

Now, having installed this lift and numerous others, on many different make vehicles, I see no way for 1 man to do a full kit in 2 hrs - unless he has 3 or 4 clones to help out.

 

[M4Madness]

I put 32 BFG KMs on it even though the prevailing wisdom was that it would rub....it does, even on the street. Steering angle is somewhat limited by the lower control arm and the sway bar disconnect attachment point, but not terrible unless you really need to turn tight. Also rubbed on front and rear corners of the fender lips and trim as well as the shock tower on one side at full stuff. I'm working on that. If I had it to do again, I'd go 31.

Thanks for the above advice, as I'm planning on a RE 3.5" lift in the next couple of weeks and was doing some serious debating on 31" VS. 32" tires. It sounds like it will definitely be 31" for me.

 

[PlainWhiteXJ]

Thanks for the above advice, as I'm planning on a RE 3.5" lift in the next couple of weeks and was doing some serious debating on 31" VS. 32" tires. It sounds like it will definitely be 31" for me.

No sweat. Reading my post again, I'll offer one clarification. On the street going straight ahead it does not rub at all unless you disconnect the swaybar and really rock the body. Hard turns rub on the street. Flex, especially with turns, rubs the fenders.

 

[XJCreeper]

Real curious. Why the transfer case drop too. There is no way I'd go with a transfercase drop and a shim. If you use an anglefinder and spend a little time just a shim should be sufficient. No need to lift the jeep and then give up clearance at the transfercase.

Also does that 2 or 4 hour install include installing and bleeding longer brake lines and measuring and dialing in the pinion angles? Sound like you are trying the portray a partial install as a full installation here which would be SPOBI. Finding the correct shim can sometime take a couple tries. Installing the recommended SYE adds even more time to this job. Not surprised everyone jumped on this line of BS. Alot of members do here do there own work and know what it takes to put on a dialed in lift kit with plenty of clearance and no rubbing. If you gonna brag have you story straight.:lecture:

 

[BigOrangeXJ]

No sweat. Reading my post again, I'll offer one clarification. On the street going straight ahead it does not rub at all unless you disconnect the swaybar and really rock the body. Hard turns rub on the street. Flex, especially with turns, rubs the fenders.

shouldn't it not rub w/ correct bumpstopping and trimming though? also isn'y backspacing a factor?

 

[PosiDave]

you guys are being pretty silly argueing over whos more important because of memberships and number of posts. no matter who the person is asshole or not. we are all supporting XJ and XJ aftermarket parts as well as share a common interest. Hate on the person after you meet them in person or know they are an ass. anyways. As for the RE lift I ran a homemade leaf pack that was 3" and old coils up front in my 88. I am in the process of getitn my kit all here and I plan on trimming the fenders. I have a set of AR-23 that i will be buying off a friend. will 32's fit. I am gettin new LCA's and UCA's. any idea on a brand of control arms. I am a college kid now with a part time job so cheap is good.