Removing spacers

[XJ-Mayhem]

I don't care if they're the best ratchet straps on the planet. Its still a bad idea. And that should mean something coming from me :jester:

As for how I did it... remove both the wheels so you have more room to work with. Put the jeep on jackstands right behind the LCA mounts. Remove the tires and let the axle drop. Put the jack under one side of the axle, right next to the knuckle, and jack up the axle until the suspension is compressed as far as it will go and the entire jeep starts moving up too. Then go to the other side and the coil should be loose enough to move up and down... move it up as far as you can, pull the bottom out, and pull it down off the tower. I had to have a buddy stand on the knuckle on the side I was working on to help bring that end down enough to get the coil off. Then switch sides and repeat.
And again, this is with short arms and a 4.5" lift that sat closer to 5", no ratchet straps or coil compressors necessary.

Sounds easy enough, I should be able to replicate that with relative ease this weekend.

Thanks.

Hmmm, I like that idea. Never thought of that. That'd be simple.

What happens when the spacer finally comes out and the spring shoots to meet the top? Hope your finger or tool isn't in the way.

All I unbolted was the shocks. I left the trackbar, control arms, etc solidly attached. Jack the Jeep up, put it on jackstands. Put the jack under the axle. Break loose the lugnuts, unbolt the shocks at the axle end, jack the axle enough to remove the tires. Now move the jack to one side of the axle, and jack it up. You may have to put some pressure on the side you're working on - have a buddy stand on it like mcantar said. Pull the bottom of the coil out, remove the spacers, replace the coil. It'll go in easier now. Repeat on the other side.



Done it once using a ratchet strap on an RE 4.5" coil. Strap let go, spring shot through the roof of the work area. Never gonna do that again. We got lucky on that one.

Sweet, sounds easy enough. I've been stacking my jacks on my spare tire rim and boat trailer rim...was fine both times I did that for the rear leafs...this okay?

Damn, yeah I don't want to mess with that at all haha I gave up the ratchet idea fast.

 

[Lowrange2]

Sounds easy enough, I should be able to replicate that with relative ease this weekend.

Thanks.



What happens when the spacer finally comes out and the spring shoots to meet the top? Hope your finger or tool isn't in the way.



Sweet, sounds easy enough. I've been stacking my jacks on my spare tire rim and boat trailer rim...was fine both times I did that for the rear leafs...this okay?

Damn, yeah I don't want to mess with that at all haha I gave up the ratchet idea fast.

You have to get the load off of the spring first!!!

This isn't the best picture but do you see how the passenger side spring is unloaded? With the spring unloaded like that you should be able to cut the spacer out of the way. Then do the same thing on the other side. If you've got a 5" spring and a 2" spacer you should be able to flex enough to unload the spring...

Dude, it's really not that difficult.

 

[94xjstud]

OMG why is this three pages long?

It is easy, take tires off, unbolt stuff limiting droop, drop one side of the axle low enough to take the spring out, if it does drop low enough, unbolt more stuff and re-droop axle.

Might take you an hour or two.

 

[Lowrange2]

OMG why is this three pages long?

That's what I'm saying! I've resorted to pictures!

 

[xcm]

OMG why is this three pages long?

It is easy, take tires off, unbolt stuff limiting droop, drop one side of the axle low enough to take the spring out, if it does drop low enough, unbolt more stuff and re-droop axle.

Might take you an hour or two.

we had to make sure he knows he's inline for a darwin award on the ratchet strap thing. i agree though, if he went outside and started fallowing suggestions, he'd find 3 methods that work, and 1 that'll get you an award. ONTO PAGE 3! (my site options have it as only 2)

 

[Lowrange2]

we had to make sure he knows he's inline for a darwin award on the ratchet strap thing. i agree though, if he went outside and started fallowing suggestions, he'd find 3 methods that work, and 1 that'll get you an award. ONTO PAGE 3! (my site options have it as only 2)

Mine too. I still haven't figured out why people don't set it to the highest amount of posts per page... unless they're still on 256k.

 

[Lowrange2]

Did they come off?

 

[XJ-Mayhem]

Yes sir, sorry to bump the old thread.

Removed wheels, jacked up one side of the axle, and took a lot of crow bar to get the first one out then back in. Second side went easier because it didn't have the spacer fighting it on the other side.

 

[muddeprived]

:rattle: but I wana flex!

Haha. How should I remove the spacer first then?

Yeah, I took the very bottom shortest one out...when I was on the phone with Rusty's talking to them about it the guy told me to remove the very last one haha. It's about 14 inches long not accounting for the curve.
So I should put that one back, and take out the one right above that? Probably double its length.

I also found that the driver side pin that holds the pack together/centered in the perch had snapped, so I replaced it with a same thread/length/head size allen bolt and it seems to work fine.

I've played with leaf packs so much that I can add and remove leaves blind folded lol. I've also learned that you must have an overload leaf at the bottom to support the middle of the pack. Failure to have an overload or short leaf under there will sag the pack rather quickly. I've also learned that the main top leaf has to have a long but slightly shorter leaf under it to support it or otherwise it will sag and bend at the ends. Play with the middle leaves to get your desired height.