evilpresence
NAXJA Member #983
- Location
- Arnold, MD
Alright so this past weekend, actually the 21st, 22nd and the morning of the 23rd, a buddy of mine and I installed a few items on the XJ. Here are a few pictures. More will come as for webshots only lets me upload 5 a day.
A buddy in my club asked me a few questions and this is sort of what I replied to him:
Problems... where do I start? Well, it actually wasn't that bad and the more I think about it, I want to do it again. Just a few things didn't go the way I would have liked it to go. I'm going to be doing a small write-up since no forums really have info that I was looking for including put not limited to: Creepers, NOVA,
, JU and Pirates. I don't know if you have heard of Yucca-Man before but his site is a little useful.
To the bad things - you are going to break all of your rear shock bolts, it happened in a '98 and a '00 and it happened in my '99. There will be 4 bolts that you break and you will have to drill them out and then re-thread the holes. I PB Blasted my XJ for about 2 months before putting my lift on so don't think that PB will make a difference. You could try another penatrating lube, but I would just assume you are going to break them. Drilling them out by yourself and re-threading will take between 1.5 to 2.5 hours, or at least that is how long it took us, that would be 2 guys but occansionally up to 6.
Second, make sure your U-Bolts fit your axle. Mine were drop shipped from RE in the RE6130 kit that is for the Dana 35 and did not fit my D35 and no, i don't have the 8.25. A little disappointing and then on top of that, many places are closed on Sunday around 2:30PM. I got mine from Advanced on Sunday and they were in a pack for lifting or lowing a truck with blocks. I put 4 degree shims under my rear leafs. If you are doing that, you will probably need new U-Bolts anyways.
Are you installing an SYE? I put in the JB Conversions Super Short and had no trouble at all. I ordered my driveshaft from A1 in Baltimore and they had it ready in about 2.5 hours. After looking at how well this shaft was made, I think I would consider getting a spare by A1 rather than getting one from TWs since they are local. A1 has the lifetime warranty just as TWs has. Just my 2cents though.
As for the front, I put in a new track bar. Drilling out the 5/8" hole was a PITA and you can see the simple way we did it with a jack and the drill. Make sure you have a blow-torch around because heating up some bolts and then hitting them out with a hammer is very helpful and time well spent. However, after hitting them out while the metal was hot, you will need to hit them back in to get the sway bar disconnects to fit.
Most importantly start with the rear and then do the front. Worst comes to worst you are still able to drive if the rear has only been changed. That 35 hours that we spent was pretty much non-stop with a garage that had everything from air-tools to the blow torch and every socket and wrench size we needed.
Another thing I should add is make sure your leafs packets have all the correct leafs and proper amount of leafs in them. Currently I'm running 5 leafs on the driver's side and 6 leafs on the passenger's side in the rear. Currently this isn't a problem since Jeeps torque to the right, but might cause problems in the future.
There have been questions about the SYE and how hard the installation is. Personally I think the installation was VERY VERY easy with the exception of an upper t-case bolt that would not come out at all. You will need a 10mm 12-sided socket. I left the case in which might have caused the problem, but other than that one bolt, the instructions really aren't needed.
For a few good things. First, I love it. Second, it looks good as shit. Third, it's only one of a few in Naptown. Now I can go wheel and not worry as much considering I have no skids. And lastly, time to get skids, rockrails and a rear-bumper. Just Eatting Every Penny.
http://community.webshots.com/user/xjdriver21
We installed:
RE6130 4.5" Super-Flex w/ Rear Leafs
OME Nitrocharged shocks
JB Conversions Super Short SYE
A1 Driveshaft CV shaft
RE 4 degree shims
31x10.5 Interco TrXuS tires
Nice Poser Pic
Drilling out the 5/8" Hole
Passenger LCA/UCA on put not the Drivers Side
A buddy in my club asked me a few questions and this is sort of what I replied to him:
Problems... where do I start? Well, it actually wasn't that bad and the more I think about it, I want to do it again. Just a few things didn't go the way I would have liked it to go. I'm going to be doing a small write-up since no forums really have info that I was looking for including put not limited to: Creepers, NOVA,
, JU and Pirates. I don't know if you have heard of Yucca-Man before but his site is a little useful. To the bad things - you are going to break all of your rear shock bolts, it happened in a '98 and a '00 and it happened in my '99. There will be 4 bolts that you break and you will have to drill them out and then re-thread the holes. I PB Blasted my XJ for about 2 months before putting my lift on so don't think that PB will make a difference. You could try another penatrating lube, but I would just assume you are going to break them. Drilling them out by yourself and re-threading will take between 1.5 to 2.5 hours, or at least that is how long it took us, that would be 2 guys but occansionally up to 6.
Second, make sure your U-Bolts fit your axle. Mine were drop shipped from RE in the RE6130 kit that is for the Dana 35 and did not fit my D35 and no, i don't have the 8.25. A little disappointing and then on top of that, many places are closed on Sunday around 2:30PM. I got mine from Advanced on Sunday and they were in a pack for lifting or lowing a truck with blocks. I put 4 degree shims under my rear leafs. If you are doing that, you will probably need new U-Bolts anyways.
Are you installing an SYE? I put in the JB Conversions Super Short and had no trouble at all. I ordered my driveshaft from A1 in Baltimore and they had it ready in about 2.5 hours. After looking at how well this shaft was made, I think I would consider getting a spare by A1 rather than getting one from TWs since they are local. A1 has the lifetime warranty just as TWs has. Just my 2cents though.
As for the front, I put in a new track bar. Drilling out the 5/8" hole was a PITA and you can see the simple way we did it with a jack and the drill. Make sure you have a blow-torch around because heating up some bolts and then hitting them out with a hammer is very helpful and time well spent. However, after hitting them out while the metal was hot, you will need to hit them back in to get the sway bar disconnects to fit.
Most importantly start with the rear and then do the front. Worst comes to worst you are still able to drive if the rear has only been changed. That 35 hours that we spent was pretty much non-stop with a garage that had everything from air-tools to the blow torch and every socket and wrench size we needed.
Another thing I should add is make sure your leafs packets have all the correct leafs and proper amount of leafs in them. Currently I'm running 5 leafs on the driver's side and 6 leafs on the passenger's side in the rear. Currently this isn't a problem since Jeeps torque to the right, but might cause problems in the future.
There have been questions about the SYE and how hard the installation is. Personally I think the installation was VERY VERY easy with the exception of an upper t-case bolt that would not come out at all. You will need a 10mm 12-sided socket. I left the case in which might have caused the problem, but other than that one bolt, the instructions really aren't needed.
For a few good things. First, I love it. Second, it looks good as shit. Third, it's only one of a few in Naptown. Now I can go wheel and not worry as much considering I have no skids. And lastly, time to get skids, rockrails and a rear-bumper. Just Eatting Every Penny.
http://community.webshots.com/user/xjdriver21
We installed:
RE6130 4.5" Super-Flex w/ Rear Leafs
OME Nitrocharged shocks
JB Conversions Super Short SYE
A1 Driveshaft CV shaft
RE 4 degree shims
31x10.5 Interco TrXuS tires
Nice Poser Pic
Drilling out the 5/8" Hole
Passenger LCA/UCA on put not the Drivers Side
