what broke when you did your lift?

[terryd]

Only thing I've broke so far is one bumpstop bolt. I had taken the other three out, on the last one, thinking I'm in the clear and *snap* *expletive* *expletive* *wrench hitting axle tube*

 

[JNickel101]

Buy your next XJ from southern New Mexico.

We rarely see snow....salt goes on french fries....and I didnt break anything doing my lift.

 

[asp]

must be nice. cross country shipping is what... like a grand or so? maybe someday. breaking things is not even a question up here.

 

[Darky]

hey i just got a 89 xj a couple days ago and it has a 4.5" lift and i was wondering if anyone knew if i needed to make the rear driveshaft longer? can someone help me if so how much longer Thanks!!!

Wrong thread, start your own. Search. Ask the previous owner if he installed a new shaft with the lift. If it's got 4.5" on stock driveshaft, yes it needs a longer one. That is, if you plan on wheeling it.

 

[MrShaft696]

My wallet.

haha yes ive broke every bolt including what you said

 

[fubar XJ]

Nothing, not a darn thing. I PB'd all of the hardware several times over a couple of weeks prior to tear-down, it all came out fine, the new lift went in relatively well with a standard amount of cussing. We don't salt roads out here, although it does rain a lot. Surprisingly though, my XJ is rust-free.

 

[rag]

remember, if a bolt is not budging break out the torch and massage it out, be careful of the pools of PBblaster and rubber/polyurathane components!

it sure beats fixing a broken bolt!

remember to clean heated areas, scuff surface and apply some spraypaint to be ultra anal about rust.

 

[yossarian19]

Lifted my 98, broke a swaybar link. Luckily it broke cleanly enough and in the right place.. I just found a new nut and it worked anyway.
Wouldn't have thought the LINK would break but hey - its a Heep.

 

[97Jeepers]

I definately snapped the front leaf springpack bolts, as well as the weld nuts decided to drop off too. I had to design a new weld nut reinforcement plate and do a bit of surgery to the bottom of the spring bracket, remove the old weld nut, install the new one and close up the pocket I cut open to get to the damn thing.

 

[90Blue_XJ]

Just like Fubar above, I PB Blasted it religiously twice a day for about ten days. Everything came off easily without breaking.

Later when I decided to change to an adjustable trackbar is when the fun began. First on the drivers side the drill bit broke within the first 10 seconds of the ream job. Then when I got that side done the bolt on the axle end broke in three places. First the head twisted off leaving the bolts shaft and nut in place. Then the captured nut twisted off and was a bear to get out. Then the bolts shaft had to be pulled out with a torch and a slide hammer. I welded a ring on the front of the shaft and heated it with a torch then slide hammed it out. Took half a day and there are only two fawking bolts. WTF!!

 

[MoparManiac]

Maybe I'm really lucky or really patient...I always use heat on bolts I think are going to be a problem and I didn't PB blast anything in advance on my new jeep.

Just swapped over my 3.5" SR from my old jeep and didn't break a bolt. Took a whole day to swap the front axle out, put the lift on, swap t-cases, driveshafts, swap steering, align it.

Am I missing something? Oh yeah, thats without using an air gun on everything.

 

[89xj]

Am I missing something? Oh yeah, thats without using an air gun on everything.

it depends on the climate you live in and what is used on the roads to clear the snow. here in PA, most evry bolt on my 89 is rusted really bad. most times i just snap the bolts with the intent of using a new nut/bolt.

 

[MoparManiac]

Yeah I'm not sure what they use on the roads up here but if you have any unprotected metal...you can kiss it goodbye in 1 winter...

 

[rooneypower]

I was lucky, nothing STOCK broke. Took me a day and a half to lift mine. The only thing I broke was the aftermarket bolt for the upper control arm on the driver side. It was wierd. A stronger bolt than stock broke? It broke when I was tightening everything down. Had to go to the hardware shop and get another..

 

[IslanderOffRoad]

I didn't break anything when I did my lift.

Of coures I'm in rust free Ca.

 

[mscans]

i unbolted my back wheels, and they wouldn't come off, so i aired them down, wouldn't come off, put the impact hammer on them, wouldnt come off.

so i said fuck this, i aired down the tires, put my buddies winch on one rim and tried to pull it off, no good.

so i dropped the rear axle and beat the rim with a sledge hammer, and no good. i said fuck that and just went to the junk yard and bought a new 8.25 chyrsler. damn salt truck. : )

 

[BarracudaBlueXJ]

I got lucky, i did 7 inches of lift on an '85 cherokee that had never been apart and i broke nothing. Not even center pin bolts ont the leaf springs. And this was a jeep with 200,000+ miles on it.

But then i did a lift on a low mileage 2001 and the bolts for the rear shock bar pins all broke, which seems to be a common problem.

 

[Blaine B.]

i unbolted my back wheels, and they wouldn't come off, so i aired them down, wouldn't come off, put the impact hammer on them, wouldnt come off.

so i said fuck this, i aired down the tires, put my buddies winch on one rim and tried to pull it off, no good.

so i dropped the rear axle and beat the rim with a sledge hammer, and no good. i said fuck that and just went to the junk yard and bought a new 8.25 chyrsler. damn salt truck. : )

Did you try driving around with the lugnuts removed?

I'm sure it would have came off then.

 

[mscans]

Did you try driving around with the lugnuts removed?

I'm sure it would have came off then.

i dont know if you are kidding, but i seriously considered this. but i didn't want to fuck up my threads if it started coming undone, and i didn't notice.or whatever else i could ruin..

 

[RCP Phx]

i unbolted my back wheels, and they wouldn't come off, so i aired them down, wouldn't come off, put the impact hammer on them, wouldnt come off.

so i said fuck this, i aired down the tires, put my buddies winch on one rim and tried to pull it off, no good.

so i dropped the rear axle and beat the rim with a sledge hammer, and no good. i said fuck that and just went to the junk yard and bought a new 8.25 chyrsler. damn salt truck. : )

How about going to the tire store and telling them to balance the tires!