[Emdot]

Hey All,

So I just spent the past few days installing my 4" RC kit and thought I'd share my experience/pitfalls etc. for those that may be attempting this in the future. The instrux in my opinion were vague in some areas so I wanted to put any helpful info out there that I could.

Let me start by saying I've never done a suspension mod before. This was the first bigger mod I've done to my Jeep and I'm here to tell you now that I accomplished my lift solo with nothing more than common hand tools, pb blaster, and a cheap torch/pitman arm puller from advance auto. I did also buy a torque wrench which I got a killer deal on as I'm anal about torque specs.

I do not have any air tools or impact tools or grinders and cutting wheels and in my opinion they are not needed as some people say unless you have a rust bucket of a Jeep. Sure they may make the job faster but man up and use some elbow grease!

I also did not soak my bolts for 3 weeks every day, twice a day with 10 cans of PB Blaster as some people say. I sprayed them one time the day before I started.

I started with the front as the directions stated to do and went at the front shocks. The top nut was in place pretty solid and twisted the whole upper shock with it when I tried to remove. I used some pliers here to hold the shock in place while I broke the nut free.

Next I went on to the sway bar links, I'd heard these were a PITA to get out, so I just took off the entire sway bar and smacked them with a BFH and they popped right off. The sway bar is only 4 more bolts so its quick to get off. Put the bar back on.

Took off the track bar next. I didn't worry about the relocation brackets as I wasn't putting it back on so I don't have any helpful info here other than just leave it off.

I also didn't use the brake line relocation brackets but rather just rerouted my lines a bit to provide some extra slack.

U bolts came next and gave my arms a good workout but they came off no problem, then the springs. I did mine one side at a time as the axle was only being supported with a floor jack at this point and I was trying hard not to stretch the brake lines.

Now you may think you only have to undo the bottom shackle bolt but you would be wrong. The top one needs to be loosened as well so the shackle can move to fit the new spring.

Installation of the new springs: A note here. The crush sleeves that come with this kit are different sizes. You may be excited to get your new spring in and just glance at the sleeves thinking they are all the same size. WRONG. The small crush sleeves go in the shackle spring eyes and the larger ones go in the frame mount. Don't mess this up and it will save you a ton of time later when the rear end is all apart being put back together and you realize the bolt doesn't fit in the crush sleeve.

Installation of new shocks: Leave the securing strap on the shock until the bottom is mounted loosely. Then take the strap off and as the shock expands, guide it into the upper perch. If you take the strap off before hand, its really tough to compress the shock so that it will fit in the perch.

Also - The bushings are a PITA to get into the bottom part of the front shocks and the top and bottom of the rear shocks. I had to use my homemade vice to press the bushings in.

The rear was pretty straight forward and went much faster after my lessons learned from the front with the exception of the before mentioned crush sleeve.

After the actual lift it was time for the steering stabalizer, pitman arm, and transfer case drop.

The steering stab was not too difficult to take out, I did have to bang it with a BFH on the end where it meets the tie rod.

The transfer case shifted forward on me when I pulled the bolts out of one side so I had to pry it back while trying to screw a new bolt in and keep everything lined up. It took a few tries but got it eventually. This happened for both sides.

Ah the pitman arm. I did not have nearly as hard a time as I hear about on here. That said, I did do some research before hand and tried what I heard most commonly worked. I used a 1 5/16" socked for the pitman nut.

**NOTE** DO NOT buy and pitman arm puller from Pep Boys, that POS did not fit at all, so irritating. I got a good one from advance auto, cheaper in price too.

So here was my sequence. I put the puller on, cranked it nice and tight, heated the pitman arm with a torch for awhile, gave it a couple smacks with a hammer, tightened the puller a little more and BANG it popped loose.

Once it was loose i banged the drag link end out with a BFH.

Install drop pitman note: My steering wheel is now off center with the new arm. I've read that you can adjust the drag link to correct this but I haven't done it yet, probably this weekend.

All in all I probably put 12-15 hours into the lift, but as I said I worked slow and only used hand tools. I enjoy doing the work as much as the end result.

I really like my RC kit so far, here are some pics:



The leftovers:



Thanks for reading!

[Shock96]

Thanks for the write up!

[Emdot]

Originally Posted by Shock96

Thanks for the write up!

No Prob - although not really a "write up" I hop it helps some folks out in the future.

[nj95yj]

i absolutly love my rc lift dispite all the negative feedback i think its great for the buck.. great write up

[gixir]

looks good. So thats what mine will look like with 33's. right now i have 32's

[Gregg00SS]

Little off topic, but are those the stock wheels painted black?

[Emdot]

Originally Posted by Gregg00SS

Little off topic, but are those the stock wheels painted black?

They were like that when I got them from the PO, so I also was not sure when I first got it, but yes they are indeed.

[nj95yj]

i kinda like them like that

[Emdot]

Originally Posted by nj95yj

i kinda like them like that

Yep me too, I think they look good

[Gregg00SS]

Guess I know what I'll be doing one of these weekends, hahaha. Mine have seen better days and plan to go with black wheels once I lift it but was tossing the idea around about trying to do the stock ones black in the mean time, just wasn't sure what they'd look like. I like.