[boozzer]

I am installing a Rustys 3" lift on my 97 xj. My problem is I took the passengers UCA front bolt out to install the coil spring and now no matter what I do I cant get it to line back up. It seems like the axle twisted as soon as the bolt came out. Ive searched for other posts but nothing I find is working. Any ideas would be much appreciated.

[bryans98tj]

Ok,first of all you shouldn't of disconnected the UCAs. Instead you should of done the LCAs.

Anyways, take your bottle jack and position it between the mount on the frame (uni-body) and against the axle. You can crank it out to align the bolt hole. I have done this quite a fe times to align the bolt holes. A good trick to making it go faster is if you have a cordless drill, but a cheap big flat tip screw driver and smash the handle off of it. Then put it in the drill and use it to crank the jack up and down.

[boozzer]

I realize now that I did not need to take apart the uca, but I was following what the instructions from rustys said to do. This is my first attempt at installing a lift on a jeep. I have tried using the jack, but the axle is shifted towards the front and is twisted to the front. Should I take out the rear uca bolt and start with the front bolt in? I thought this was going to go a lot smoother than it is.

[tweekedknee]

maybe a dumb suggestion but is the axle sitting level compared to the body of the jeep. I actually bought my jeep with the lift on it (no comments please) but if one side of the axle is higher than the other it could cause one arm to effectivly be shorter than the other.

[boozzer]

Yes I tried it with the axle level, but still no luck. I spent a good 1 and 1/2 hours trying to jack it and pull it into place tonite, but I cant get it even close enough to see the holes. I think I'm gonna borrow a come along tommorrow. My ratchet straps just aren't strong enough. I'm still open to any other ideas. Thanks.