Help! How to pull/push axle forward for LCA install

[psuntlion]

Well, I’m about 15 hours in and the front is done (except for torquing). Tomorrow, the rear.

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[MarkY3130]

Nice job. The rear is way easier and quicker. Just the one tough bolt to get threaded into the flag nut on the passenger, frame side control arm.

Hopefully your body isn’t too sore!

 

[Moto_21]

Well, I’m about 15 hours in and the front is done (except for torquing). Tomorrow, the rear.

You can also use the jack under the pinion to spin it in the direction you require, or under one end of the tie rod to spin it outward

i usually leave the uppers in location, jack under pinion, remove both lowers, raise or lower jack to put new arms in, then remove top two and raise or lower jack to do same

 

[Shellbird01]

Has anyone noticed the teraflex rear sway bars are straight but the mopars are s or offset. The ones do not look right sitting on an angle

 

[psuntlion]

Nice job. The rear is way easier and quicker. Just the one tough bolt to get threaded into the flag nut on the passenger, frame side control arm.

Hopefully your body isn’t too sore!

You bet I was sore on Sunday and Monday! The rear end was indeed much easier.

 

[Shellbird01]

You bet I was sore on Sunday and Monday! The rear end was indeed much easier.

How did you mount the rear sway bar links?

 

[psuntlion]

How did you mount the rear sway bar links?

The kit comes with spacers to drop the sway bar. The stock bolts have a ton of loctite on them so they’re fun to get out. After that, the end links are easy.

 

[Shellbird01]

The kit comes with spacers to drop the sway bar. The stock bolts have a ton of loctite on them so they’re fun to get out. After that, the end links are easy.

My kit did not come with sway bar spacers

 

[psuntlion]

My kit did not come with sway bar spacers

That’s really strange. I just looked at the Northridge page where I bought my kit. The spacers aren’t called out, but they’re definitely part of the kit. https://www.northridge4x4.com/part/2-5in-lifts/1354000-teraflex-2-5in-spring-base-lift-kit

 

[txj2go]

I installed mine today (Mopar LCA) along with Rubicon takeoff springs and shocks. I had the jeep on jack stands, removed the tires, shocks, springs. Then removed the LCA from driver side. At that point I probably should have just removed both LCA and gone from there. Putting the new longer LCA in I found that I had to raise the passenger side and lower the driver side to get the LCA to align. On the passenger side I had to monkey with it, I think I raised the driver side and lowered the passenger side to get the holes to align.

The upper control arms are different length than the lower ones so as the axle goes up or down it wants to rotate a little bit, or it pulls or pushes on the different arms. I didn't want the axle flopping around somewhat loose with both LCA removed, but maybe that isn't a big deal.

The alignment was a little bit tough to figure out, and breaking loose the original bolts was very difficult, but tightening the bolts back was even more difficult. I forgot the real torque value and managed to get mine to 150 ft-lb. I'll work on it a little bit more another day. I found that with enough socket extension I could have my torque wrench outside next to the vehicle and have good access to push on it. The fronts were more difficult because you're supposed to have the tires on the ground so the alignment is correct before you torque the bolts. Even with the tires off you can't get a long extension to align with the axis of the bolts because the brake disks are in the way.

4 hours for the springs and shocks and 2 more hours for the LCA, and I'm doing this in my garage with limited tools.

 

[SmoothJeepOperator]

Just to make sure I understand. If the Jeep is not supported by anything ( sitting on it's wheels and tires), and you are adjusting or changing out your lower control arms (keeping the uppers completely attached) you should only do 1 arm at a time? Or is it ok to do both lca at the same time, making it easier to move the axle with a jack to align the bolts for a new length.

 

[Redbaron73]

Just to make sure I understand. If the Jeep is not supported by anything ( sitting on it's wheels and tires), and you are adjusting or changing out your lower control arms (keeping the uppers completely attached) you should only do 1 arm at a time? Or is it ok to do both lca at the same time, making it easier to move the axle with a jack to align the bolts for a new length.

Only 1 at a time...period. There is a lot of weight and your hands, arms, head will be squished and you might die when removing the 2nd one. You will also cause damage to the jeep.

Choose your reason from above, but only 1 CA removed ever while jeep is on ground.

Personally, I won't even remove the one while on the ground, but that's because it's so much easier to access parts with tire removed.

 

[txj2go]

Just to make sure I understand. If the Jeep is not supported by anything ( sitting on it's wheels and tires), and you are adjusting or changing out your lower control arms (keeping the uppers completely attached) you should only do 1 arm at a time? Or is it ok to do both lca at the same time, making it easier to move the axle with a jack to align the bolts for a new length.

If the axle is supporting the weight of the vehicle then it will be very difficult to move it around to allow a different length LCA to fit. I think it would be reasonable to remove one LCA but first the bolts don't just pull out when you take the nut off, if there is load on the LCA then the bolts will still be tight in there. Second you won't be able to move one side up the other side down to put in the new LCA. If the axle is supporting the weight and you remove both LCA then the axle will be unstable and could rotate a dangerous amount under load and damage other components.

If the vehicle is on jack stands, the tires are off and the axle is just hanging there you could probably get away with removing both but again since the axle is just hanging there with nothing to stabilize it but the rubber bushings in the upper LCA, it might be too easy for it to move around. With one person doing the work you can use jacks on both ends of the axle to move the ends up and down independently until the holes line up. If you take out both LCA then you might need another person with various tools to move the axle around while you are trying to install the new LCA. My first LCA was off about 1/8" from lining up. I lowered that side and it lined up. The second one for some reason was off about 2/3 the diameter of the bolt. I moved the other end up and that end down and it lined up. I monkeyed with it for awhile and wasted that time before figuring out that there would be some combination of jack positions that would allow it to line up.

 

[word302]

I installed mine today (Mopar LCA) along with Rubicon takeoff springs and shocks. I had the jeep on jack stands, removed the tires, shocks, springs. Then removed the LCA from driver side. At that point I probably should have just removed both LCA and gone from there. Putting the new longer LCA in I found that I had to raise the passenger side and lower the driver side to get the LCA to align. On the passenger side I had to monkey with it, I think I raised the driver side and lowered the passenger side to get the holes to align.

The upper control arms are different length than the lower ones so as the axle goes up or down it wants to rotate a little bit, or it pulls or pushes on the different arms. I didn't want the axle flopping around somewhat loose with both LCA removed, but maybe that isn't a big deal.

The alignment was a little bit tough to figure out, and breaking loose the original bolts was very difficult, but tightening the bolts back was even more difficult. I forgot the real torque value and managed to get mine to 150 ft-lb. I'll work on it a little bit more another day. I found that with enough socket extension I could have my torque wrench outside next to the vehicle and have good access to push on it. The fronts were more difficult because you're supposed to have the tires on the ground so the alignment is correct before you torque the bolts. Even with the tires off you can't get a long extension to align with the axis of the bolts because the brake disks are in the way.

4 hours for the springs and shocks and 2 more hours for the LCA, and I'm doing this in my garage with limited tools.

You don’t want to use a bunch of extensions on a torque wrench, your value will be way off.

 

[blnewt]

FWIW the LCAs should be changed out w/ the suspension loaded, using ramps is ideal since it gives you room to get leverage on breaker bars & torque wrenches. My original LCAs took a bit longer to remove the bolts since they were a bit snug in the mount, but just turning the bolt had it out quick enough (didn't have an impact). Not sure if the loading on the ramps made the holes line up to the longer Mopar LCAs perfect but didn't have to do any prying or pulling to get the bolts in, they went right in w/out any pressure

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