Problem with RE6300 Long Arm install that the shop wont fix

I had a local shop, which I had thought was reputable, install a lift kit on my '96 XJ AW4.

For $6450, they did the following things:

RE6300 5.5" Long Arm Kit
33x12.5 Truxs MTs on AR767s
Regeared D30 and 8.25 to 4:56
Track-lok rear
ARB air locker front
Slip yoke eliminator
Rear bumper install
Rock rail install

I put a $3k deposit down, and it took them three weeks to get the parts ordered in. They have given me a lot of BS and told outright lies during the install process. For example, they "lost" some of the bolts I supplied. The shop told me things were done that actually weren't (I came down for a progress check unannounced). Progress was delayed for two days because they had to order a 45 degree angled zerk fitting. Nevermind every single auto parts store in town carries them.

They scraped up my steering wheel and put a couple gouges in my dash during the installation.

OK, now to the real problem. While driving this thing, when the passenger side of the XJ goes over a bump, or more specifically, a dip in the road, you can hear a loud popping noise. It's quite loud, and obviously not supposed to be there, sort of metal-to-metal sounding. From the driver's seat, it sounds like the noise originates in the area under the passenger seat. Going over a gravel road is HELL. It sounds like the damn thing is going to fall apart.

My jeep has been back into this shop twice now for this problem. They had told me everything is tight, and they don't know what it is. They've already tried to pass it off to me as normal, but there is no possible way it can be. The shop doesn't know how to fix it, and they don't want to bother trying to figure out what it actually is either.

Does anybody have any idea what this sound may be?

Is it coming from underneath your jeep or inside the cabin? If it's inside, it could vary well be a loose bolt on the seat mounts. If it's underneath, possibly the coil spring retainer clips may not be bolted down.

ok i don,t have long arms but i know that my jeep makes that same sound and it is the coil catching on the bumpstop holder lip.if your coil is slightly curld back then that is in my opion thas it

check the control arm mounts. my driverside upper mount was making the noise. feels like a pop under your feet loud noise.

well my problem was that my exhaust was hitting my transfer case x-member and every time i would hit a bump the exhaust would slam the x-member and it sounded like the whole jeep was collapsing...

I checked the exhaust last night and didnt see any immediate evidence of it smacking the crossmember, but I'll double check again tonight.

I'll take a look at this coils and see if anything looks like out of place.

The noise is definately coming from under the jeep.

Happens with swaybars connected and disconnected.

Where are you at? It might be a good idea to have someone else take a ride with you and listen for the noises. Depending on where you're (if in SoCal area) I could take a look at it (maybe I'll get lucky and spot that loose bolt ).

Look for shiny spots on anything that moves: you might be binding someplace or maybe you're hitting something.

Thanks for the offer but I'm up in Oregon. I convienced the shop to look at it again, but I doubt they are going to do anything. If they return it to me with the same problem, I'll just take it into another shop and send this one the bill. If the original shop doesnt want to reimburse me, then small claims court here I come. But I really hope it doesnt have to come to that.

You would think that after spending $6500 the shop would cater to your every need to make sure you come back in the future. Sounds like bad buisness to me.

just my $.02

Check the bushings on the top of your shocks. I forgot to install the top bushing on my friends ZJ and that thing rattled like crazy. We thought it was the sway bar links for a while, but it was the bushing. Also check your jam nuts (track bar and lower control arms)... I also had an oxygen sensor come loose in my exhaust once that rattled like hell....Could be lotsa stuff

things you prob already have done but i may as well say them
make sure your talk to the owner of the shop personally and let him know what you beef is. A lot of time the wrench monkeys outstep there bounds and give customers the wrong impression

double check to see if everything is infact tight if they told ya that that is the way it si supposed to sound they have alread proven there unworth. look around joints for scuffed/chipped paint that shows movement in the joint.

Grab everything under there and yank on it with all ya got and see what is loose. (don't do this to brake lines you won't like the result )

I live in Sandy, If your anywhere close I might be able to give you a hand in pinpointing the noise.

yea i put the re long arms on my jeep.....I herd the same sound i was like wtf..........i finaly figured it was the exhaust hitting the skid...... So i headed up the pipe with a torch and jacked it up with a jack to clear the skid.

I know this may sound crazy but idepending on the milage, check your axle u-joints, front DS joints and hubs. They may have already been going and now running 33s it could really bring the issues to light. Im guessing you were running stock prior since the list of mods is quite big. Would like to see pics of said rig though just for drool factor.

I was running a RE6160 budget boost and 235s prior to the lift. Front axel u joints and hubs are less than three weeks old. I'll see what BS the shop tells me tomorrow and go from there.

I'll try and get some pics up in a couple days. I still need to trim the finders though.

This might sound REAL dumb, but have you checked to see if the RE super-flex joints are both tight, and lubricated? You need a special spanner wrench to do this. Instuctions are available from RE's website.

Well the problem is finally solved!!!! Their tail went between their legs when I threated small claims court. They finally spent some real time on the jeep and fixed the problem.

The culprit was a couple of things.The passanger side long arm (where it meets the cross member) was installed backwards, and they failed to put grease zerks in them. Also there was a loose self tapping bolt on the crossmember/skidplate.

There is a night and day difference driving the thing now. Pics to come soon

Glad you got everything straightened out. I'm installing a lift on mine in a few days hope I don't have the same problems.

wow. i say there is one thing to learn about this mess. do your own work on your own jeep. hell, do your own work on everything you own. i only have shops do what i dont have to tools for. press bearings, plane heads, ect. the stuff that isnt worth spending $200 on the tool to do the job, when it will cost me under 30 mins of laber to just bring it in and have it done. its better to have yourself mess your stuff up then some idiot in a shop. and how can you possibly skip out on all that exeriance? experiance is knowlege.

I'll tell you what man. I would be cutting that shop NO SLACK. I'm sure there is not 100 4x4 shops in your town and word of mouth goes along way. I would still want to talk to the owner about the retard who put one of my arms on backwards. Letting him know that I would expect more from a shop that should 'specialize' in something like that. If the owner is worth a turd, he should be kissing your behind since if something had happened to your rig they would have been very liable. That's just my thoughts.