[glockster]

Originally Posted by Vinman

I assume you needed a rear CV shaft for these mods to work together?
Vince

I did not need the TW shaft for the lift install but had the cash at the time so I bought it. Glad I did because when I added the SAVVY TT, I had nothing to worry about.

[glockster]

Originally Posted by jesse05LJ

Looks like you need to offset your wheels.

[jesse05LJ]

nice! I caan't believe you got an LJ rubi for that cheep

[Necromancer_tat]

Nice build!

[glockster]

Thanks....we sure like it a lot. My wife, 27 yr old daughter and 23 year old son fight for the keys on the weekend but I usually win.

The week I spent with Blaine was incredibly enlightening and if anyone is offered that opportunity DO NOT pass on it.

We in So Cal are extremely fortunate.

[SKT]

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I somehow missed this thread until now.

Very nice job with this clean rig!

Any new pics to share?


.

[Laredo-Alex]

Originally Posted by glockster

A quick re-cap. Upper rear spring perches relocated and a custom trackbar mount fab'd up and installed. Cycle the suspension without and then with springs installed.



When everything is working as it should, carefully layout and then cut your frame relief notch for the shock tower. Blaine layed this out and made the cut without ever touching a tape measure. He started on the driver side (probably a good thing he did it before I got there) using a grinder and cut off disc. This picture was taken after he had tacked them on, checked everything, then removed them for final trimming of the brackets. He took 2 measurements from the drivers side to locate the passenger side. One for location on the frame (referenced from a factory hole) and a dimension for elevation above the frame.


Drivers side




Passenger side




Take note of how close the back of the shock mount comes to the track bar bracket. Unbelievably close. Not a lot of free real estate for the track bar mount. Here is one more shot from a different angle showing the amount of room Blaine had to work with. Remind yourself, he did this without a tape measure. Steel, a white soap stone pencil and a few trips back and forth from the garage.




Driver's side trimmed and tacked in place with shock installed. Check clearances from full droop to full stuff.




Then install the springs and check clearances again.

When both sides have been checked 2-3x,. final welding is next. You can see in the next picture just how close the trackbar mount and shock mount are to each other. They are back to back and welded to each other. Also visible is the signature Blainegroove, about half way up the inside of the bracket. Unable to weld the back of the bracket to the top of the frame, a groove is cut with a cutoff wheel that lines up with the top of the frame. A filler(?) weld is utilized that works perfectly for the task.





No more pictures for now. Blaine and I put some paint on the welds (well he did anyway, I painted half the tub )

I got a lesson on squaring the axles, setting pinion angles and installing control arms. That's about the time Gerald showed up and screwed everything up. Had to shift gears from suspension work to Vanco brake upgrades.

Gerald and I threw the rear tires on my Jeep and I torqued them down. That was sunday night and I had to go back to work on monday morning. When I left on sunday evening, Blaine was talking about wanting some more up travel for the front shocks and was staring very intently at a stock upper bumpstop cup and holding it up to the top of the upper shock mount. I pick up the jeep tomorrow and I'm very interested to see what he came up with.

Blaine completed the front suspension without me yesterday and today. Guess I'm just going to have to trust he knows what he's doing since I wasn't there to oversee him.

MrB & MrsC, thanks for sharing the better part of a week of your life to help transform my jeep into what it is now. I had a great time. Can't wait for that first drive tomorrow.

Hey marco, i need your help! Like you i´ve got a LJ Rubicon mit 6 Speed manual and bought the 4" Currie heavy duty springs. Okay, my back is a liitle bit heavy with rock crawler bumper, tire carrier and a extra tank on the end of the Jeep (90 KG). Because of the weight of the parts i decided to go to the 4" Currie HD Springs and kicked the old 3,5 RE with 1" spacer out. After the install of the new springs my back is still about 1,5" deeper than the front when i take now two passengers on the back seat as well, my Rubicon looks lika a baja race truck......front up and back down. You know what i mean?

So i startet to search in the forum to LJ Rubicons which have got the 4" HD coils from currie installed to find out if only my LJ has got a heavy back because of the parts. I´ve got 2 questions to your rig.

in the first pic (passenger side) you´ve mounted the spring with the progressive part on the top. in the 6th pic (driver side) the progressive part is upside down which one was mounted right and which is false? i did not get an install manual to my springs, so i mounted them the numbers/letters readable, the progressive part of the spring up to the frame. Maybe is there the problem that my LJ doesn´t sit in level??

Than you relocated your spring bucket in the rear, did you get a little lift because of this? Could you please take a photo from the back, each side, so that i can see what happens to your coil spring when the jeep is just standing on the road? At my rig the progressive part of the rear springs, the first two windings, is pressed together.

Maybe the relocation of the spring bucket is the easiest way to get mine back in level. I don´t want to add spacers ore something because if the gas tank is empty than the back is higher than the front.

Thanks for your help!

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by Laredo-Alex

Hey marco, i need your help! Like you i´ve got a LJ Rubicon mit 6 Speed manual and bought the 4" Currie heavy duty springs. Okay, my back is a liitle bit heavy with rock crawler bumper, tire carrier and a extra tank on the end of the Jeep (90 KG). Because of the weight of the parts i decided to go to the 4" Currie HD Springs and kicked the old 3,5 RE with 1" spacer out. After the install of the new springs my back is still about 1,5" deeper than the front when i take now two passengers on the back seat as well, my Rubicon looks lika a baja race truck......front up and back down. You know what i mean?

So i startet to search in the forum to LJ Rubicons which have got the 4" HD coils from currie installed to find out if only my LJ has got a heavy back because of the parts. I´ve got 2 questions to your rig.

in the first pic (passenger side) you´ve mounted the spring with the progressive part on the top. in the 6th pic (driver side) the progressive part is upside down which one was mounted right and which is false? i did not get an install manual to my springs, so i mounted them the numbers/letters readable, the progressive part of the spring up to the frame. Maybe is there the problem that my LJ doesn´t sit in level??

Than you relocated your spring bucket in the rear, did you get a little lift because of this? Could you please take a photo from the back, each side, so that i can see what happens to your coil spring when the jeep is just standing on the road? At my rig the progressive part of the rear springs, the first two windings, is pressed together.

Maybe the relocation of the spring bucket is the easiest way to get mine back in level. I don´t want to add spacers ore something because if the gas tank is empty than the back is higher than the front.

Thanks for your help!

I just finished dealing with this on a butt heavy rig. I also spaced the spring perches down 3/4" when I rotated them flat. No Marco's don't give any lift the way we did them.

It was still low in the back sitting empty and the only way I could fix it permanently was to remove the rear Currie springs and go to a set of RE 4.5" rear springs which then made it too high in the back, so I had to cut the spring perches loose and remove the lift I built into them and weld them back on.

[glockster]

Thanks for jumping in Blaine. I'm recovering from back surgery on Wednesday and I'm still a little loopy. Got some Magic Pills that are heavenly. Talk to yousoon about the hois.t

Guud nyght.

[crateampscal]

would you mind posting an interior pic of your shifter in 1st and 2nd gear with the Savvy Under Armor installed. im curious to where they sit after youve done all of this. Im interested in it but dont want be punching the dash when i put it in gear.

ps. good luck on the back surgery recovery. I slipped L4-S1 and had surgery. Recovery is key. dont push it and ease yourself into rehab. I could barely walk before surgery and now i can run and i was throwing around a 310 pound man like rag doll this week. its not perfect but im not complaining. im stronger than ive ever been. good luck

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by crateampscal

would you mind posting an interior pic of your shifter in 1st and 2nd gear with the Savvy Under Armor installed. im curious to where they sit after youve done all of this. Im interested in it but dont want be punching the dash when i put it in gear.

It's bendable and you put it however you want it.

[glockster]

Originally Posted by mrblaine

It's bendable and you put it however you want it.

crateampscal, that's the short version but absolutely correct.

Let me elaborate. The body lift was installed at MrBlaines during the rest of the upgrades embedded earlier in this thread. He wrapped up working on my Jeep and when he went to test drive it, the shifter was not co-operating. He used his press to correct the alignment problem as the body was now 1.25" higher.

Fast forward 8 months later when I'm at the Savvy headquarters installing my TT with Gerald overseeing it. When I was done shoving everything up where it would be, the shifter once again was out of whack. Using Gerald's press this time, it was easily corrected. I'm pretty sure I just took the offset OUT that Blaine needed.

I'll try & get pix tomorrow of the dash/shifter relationship for you.

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by glockster

crateampscal, that's the short version but absolutely correct.

Let me elaborate. The body lift was installed at MrBlaines during the rest of the upgrades embedded earlier in this thread. He wrapped up working on my Jeep and when he went to test drive it, the shifter was not co-operating. He used his press to correct the alignment problem as the body was now 1.25" higher.

Fast forward 8 months later when I'm at the Savvy headquarters installing my TT with Gerald overseeing it. When I was done shoving everything up where it would be, the shifter once again was out of whack. Using Gerald's press this time, it was easily corrected. I'm pretty sure I just took the offset OUT that Blaine needed.

I'll try & get pix tomorrow of the dash/shifter relationship for you.

I put a double bend in it. One to move it off the edge of the console which shoved the top into the dash, then another bend above the lower one to move the knob back away from the dash.

[crateampscal]

Originally Posted by mrblaine

I put a double bend in it. One to move it off the edge of the console which shoved the top into the dash, then another bend above the lower one to move the knob back away from the dash.

wow it took two bends eh? Since i dont have a press, do you think i could heat it up and put the bends in it? how much did the savvy under armor push up the shifter? about 2-3 inches?

[srfnfly227]

I have an 06 LJ with the 6 speed also. If you are installing the UnderArmor all in one go (body lift, motor mount lift, UnderArmor) then your shifter should not need any bends. I installed the BL MML a few days before the UA and had a little problem with the lower gears, but could get it to work.

Marco, you still have one of my favorite Jeeps on this forum Great build and a good display of Blaine's talent and knowledge