Trouble in Paradise, rusty's 4.5 XJ lift

Ok so I got my sweet 99 XJ and I finally save up for a real lift, and tire package, so I go with the rusty’s 4.5 XJ and im totally excited.

But when im with my buddy at his shop starting to put that stuff on(last sat) we notice parts are missing. so its like I had to call the guys and get them to send the new parts and I get them today (Friday) and it looks like they wont be done with it until tomorrow (a week later) so its like ive had a dead jeep for like a week, and possibly more…

So in regards to the front suspension I had to get them to send me the adjustable trak bar that was supposed to come with the kit. … but did not . so my mechanic is looking at this front and the springs just wont go on, nor the shocks, the axle is just twisted too far back because the new lower control arms are longer then the top. so the axle is twisted so that its like the top is facing one oclock instead of twelve. So I call the rustys guys, and they treat me like im some sort of an idiot, and that I should just do it, and compress my driveshaft even more. Than I already have, and that once the thing sits on the ground, that it will all even out, but im like well shit. That’s gona stress all the parts.

So its like I wana know has anyone else done this lift, and have better instructions than these given to me or at least advice on why it looks like the spring will fly out into my face?

Cuz im just a little annoyed that I might have pissed away a half a year of my paychecks for a faulty system that is turning into one big nightmare. Im a college student so money is rare for me and to waste 1500 of it would just suck, also what append to the love here?

Sorry to sound angry, im just. Disappointed.


So long story short, im looking for help/suggestions as what to do next. I dot want to ruin either the jeep or the lift. And im totally at a dead end and the end of my rope here.
and damm im sorry for being so long winded...

i installed rustys 4.5 on my 95. the only problems i had was broken bolts (never had to deal with rust back when i lived in Az) and the instructions were a little vague. they realy could have used illistrations or pictures to clarify some aspects. the front went on fairly easily for me. i had to compress the springs to get the control arms to line up properly. if your having problems getting results via telephone, see if they have a tech support email address and send them some pictures see if they can straighten you out.

If you can shoot some pics, we may be able to help you figure it out.

You actually typed the word 'like' throughout your first post. Like, who does that duuuude??

Sorry, back on topic.

like its fairly straight forward.
Like take out the old springs and uhh like put the new ones in, and like force them.
If that doesnt work like unbolt the upper arms and the shocks and stuff.
Like whatever makes it like not come down just like unbolt it.
with like 4.5 inch lifts and stuff you like have to man handle the spring to get it into place and stuff.
throw like some muscle into it, you wont break anything besides brake lines if they arent disconnected and stuff.

Do a search for a 4.5 lift Rustys (short arm I imagine) and see what problems others ran into and how they solved them.

Next search for LCA/UCA lenghts that fit diffrent lift hights. Measure what you have and see if it is close. Most numbers are estimates anyways. Also if I read correctly your coils are not level. That might be caused by the TB being way out of wack or maybe the Swaybar links (not sure about that one).

Take stewie's advice and send them some pictures of your problem too. This might clear up any verbal confusion that you might have encountered on the phone.

Always plan for the worst and you will never be like "disappointed".

wil4thril said:

Always plan for the worst and you will never be like "disappointed".

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and i forgot to mention it took me a week to do mine (after work until 12am in the snowstorms on an uncovered drive way). then again it was the first time for me doing alot of what was entailed in the project. thankfully i have 2 DDs. im sure next time it will take me at least 12 hours less.

if you unhooked the old lowers and swaybar on a vehicle lift and it was suspended only by the uppers the axle will drop TOO far into the position you are talking about. the kit is right your just doing it in the wrong order, with arms in and swaybar off you can dop the axle far enough so you can compress the spring (yes it does need to be compressed to get it in a short arm lift) and get it where it needs to go. pics would also help as i am going off of your description only. control arms are easiest while the truck is on the ground, it took me 10 minutes to swap in rustys 4.5 lowers

creeperjeep said:

like its fairly straight forward.
Like take out the old springs and uhh like put the new ones in, and like force them.
If that doesnt work like unbolt the upper arms and the shocks and stuff.
Like whatever makes it like not come down just like unbolt it.
with like 4.5 inch lifts and stuff you like have to man handle the spring to get it into place and stuff.
throw like some muscle into it, you wont break anything besides brake lines if they arent disconnected and stuff.

Click to expand...

Like leave him alone. He is frustrated enough with out being F***ed with. Think of how you feel when things aren't working out well and remember these are his wheels and he isn't able to even use them.
Sounds like you may need adjustable LCAs at some point. They will help with the harsh ride you are going to experiance also. You should still be able to run it until then though.

i only used like , 9 times haha,, anway that makes sense, if this lift is a short arm, then i woudent need to get longer uppers, so im geussing the rusty's 4.5 is this said short arm lift and with compressors the lift would fit in correctley? see my mechanic was worried that once it was all in ther it would stress the drive shaft and try to turn the axle backwards again, but this stress is a small stress im geussing?

The Adjustable LCAs actually will help with bind and postioning of the axle. They also take side to side stress off the brackets. The stock LCAs actually flex some what, but the fixed HD LCAs have no flex so all the torque is transfered to the brackets. The brackets have some really sorry factory welds on them too. It is just something to keep in mind for the future. Helps in articulation also.
Good luck, let us know when you get it back on the road. You will be Happy with the off-road difference.
Cyuh ~

I've had their 4.5 lift on for over a year. Fairly easy to install, though I found better instructions online through researching, but has been a great product overall.

I have 4.5 lift on my 2000, took some pry bars, BFH, and a little foul language but all went on and still drives straight with no vibes. I have a rough country short arm 4.5. kit. Just push a little harder next time. Is this the first lift installed by the mechanic? honest question.

creeperjeep said:

like its fairly straight forward.
Like take out the old springs and uhh like put the new ones in, and like force them.
If that doesnt work like unbolt the upper arms and the shocks and stuff.
Like whatever makes it like not come down just like unbolt it.
with like 4.5 inch lifts and stuff you like have to man handle the spring to get it into place and stuff.
throw like some muscle into it, you wont break anything besides brake lines if they arent disconnected and stuff.

Click to expand...

Well said Matt.
It's not and easy MOD, but fairly straight foward.
I have the 4.5 full spring kit. Like said in an earlier post. Broke bolts was the only problem.
Took me approx. 12 hours to put the lift on. Very well pleased.

Rustys 4.5 inch lift was the first one I put on my XJ. Took me 2 full days. By myself. My advise is fire the mechanic who is/was working on it and do it yourself. You will acquire the tools you will need in the future and will also know how it fits together and how to correct issues in the future. That way when you are on the trail and something fails (eventually something WILL fail) We (the others that are with you) will not have to work on your broken Junk, because you will know how it was put together and how to fix it!!!
This is my XJ 3 years ago on Rustys 4.5 inch lift with 32's

This is my XJ now with Rustys 6.5 inch long arm/38's and a modest amount of custom mods to make it work.


The point here is asking questions is fine in my opinion, asking them because the person you hired to work for you is unknowledgeable is as lame as hiring a person to do the work for you...
Lifts on an XJ are the easiest thing you will come across, wait till you get to suspension tuning, flex maximization, gears/lockers, steering tuning, crawl ratios, etc. etc. Jump in, learn it yourself, Folks will have MUCH more respect for you, even if it's a grocery getter, if you did it yourself....
Sorry to come across hard, but just because the guy you hired doesn't know what to do, isn't an issue we should spend our time on. If that's the point he should buy an XJ and post up....

haha, dude that jeep is lookin sexy and jsut might have restored my faith in the XJ , it was never gone but jsut dimmed.
anway it had started out that i was working on the jeep my self the mechanic is a buddy of mine who was letting me use a lift in his shop for free, however once the parts went missing, and the time on my weekend ran out i was distressed and had to get back to work, so i left it with him to finish. so its like a learning experince for all, and im still looking forward to it all.

i had a few problems with rustys also. i ordered an adjustable track bar and when i got it in the mail it had the wrong bushing on the frame end. had to send that back and wait 2 days for the TRE to come in. the i found out the threads were f***ed up and called and spoke to some guy (not rusty) and he said i should just go buy a thread chaser and fix it myself....wtf? i went all around town and nobody had a chaser that big. so i finally shipped it back (at my expence) and was just going to get store credit. but rusty said he wouldnt take it back for credit because i had obviously installed it(which i hadnt i couldnt get it down to the right size) and had put atleast 10K miles on it. WTF i only had it for a week thats stupid to say even if i got it installed. just my .02

ok so heres the latest update, all the parts that i have are on, however two problems remain.
first the front swaybar is missing its end drops so that it can be connected back to the frame this is something i might need,

second the front driveshaft is compresse fully and has no play whatsoever left for the suspension to drop, if it were to drop the driveshaft would buckle or the transfer case would be dammaged, anyone run into this problem also? i pics of the driveshaft would be good so i could compare it to mine, i need to call rustys tomrow and ask about all this also,,

ps. what ammout of time did you all take to put theese lifts on your cars? im looking to know what an resonable ammmount of time would have been for this lift.
thanks -wilt

ok well the lift is done. phew. and aside from really REALLY stiff rear springs im totaly in love with the thing, its like when i go over speed bumps i can get upwads of 6 inches of air from the tires... is this normal?

i also need an alignment badly as when i drive straight my steering wheel is upsideown,

but whatever, here are the sexy pics.

before
http://www.wiltj.com/lift/100_3007a.jpg

after
http://www.wiltj.com/lift/100_3035a.jpg

or www.wiltj.com/lift

well until you get your alignment done you can fix the steering wheel yourself
on your draglink near the pitman arm you'll see the steering sleeve (looks like piece of metal wrapped around the drag link with a clamp on each end)
undo the nuts that tighten it down and turn it until the steering wheel is straight again. you'll want to have the wheels as straight as possible, so along a curb or in a parking lots with lines (thats what I did). Keep in mind the wheel turned counterclockwise to go upside down so you'll want to go clockwise to return it to normal. turn the steering sleeve once around, check wheel, and continue till back to normal. re-tighten nuts and your done.
hopefully someone will read this and correct any mistakes I may have made giving that advice. if its all good, great hope it helps.