Lift issues

[ducatijosh]

Hello, I had a local shop install a Clayton Offroad 2.5” RideRight+ lift kit on my 2022 Wrangler High Tide (Xtreme Recon package).

Lift is great and i ended up getting around 3” above the XR height (which is supposedly a 1.5” lift)

Afterwards though I started getting a shimmy in the steering wheel which ended up getting death wobble about 5-6 times coming down the freeway on a colder 40 degree day morning.

I took it into the shop and they moved a bunch of stuff around but I’m pretty positive the front upper control arms were on the wrong sides, when they were putting them back on after testing I mentioned that they’re supposed to angle down and In not down and out and they said oh yeah and flipped them. Could this cause death wobble?

I also noticed they didn’t use a torque wrench for anything which seems to be a common theme with paid mechanics nowadays, how big of a deal do you think this is? Do I need to crack all the bolts loose and torque them to spec? Or is it as long as they aren’t too loose it’s probably fine?

Thanks!

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[GATORB8]

You can put a torque wrench on and make sure they are good.

Wobble gone?

 

[ducatijosh]

I haven’t had the wobble since I left. Was late in the day so they just put it all back together. That’s when I pointed out the control arms go on the other sides. All I’ve done is drive home though.

 

[jhackathorne]

Yeah… WTF on not torquing anything down. Are you sure? That’s a massive red flag to not trust them to do anything on any vehicle ever again. How unsafe. I’d check everything personally. Not being torqued would for sure cause DW.

 

[ducatijosh]

The guy was using an impact gun. He says as long as the bushing is pinched it’s good. Yeah…. I’ve seen several shops now that don’t use torque wrenches. I don’t get it. They just sling parts on.

Think it was the lack of proper torque? Too much or too little? Or theControl arms being on the wrong sides?

 

[GATORB8]

The guy was using an impact gun. He says as long as the bushing is pinched it’s good. Yeah…. I’ve seen several shops now that don’t use torque wrenches. I don’t get it. They just sling parts on.

Think it was the lack of proper torque? Too much or too little? Or theControl arms being on the wrong sides?

Meh, I wouldn’t stress that much about the torque wrench.

I don’t think it’s the direction of the CAs. Track bar bolts would be more likely. Really, my first thought would be balance.

 

[firedude]

I second torqueing everything to be sure. Front lowers take a lot of torque. Did they align it also? They do not sound like someone to use again.

 

[GMONEY]

The guy was using an impact gun. He says as long as the bushing is pinched it’s good. Yeah…. I’ve seen several shops now that don’t use torque wrenches. I don’t get it. They just sling parts on.

Think it was the lack of proper torque? Too much or too little? Or theControl arms being on the wrong sides?

I hate impacts

 

[ducatijosh]

Yeah I’ll retorque it all in the morning. They did do an alignment with an alignment rack.

 

[58Willys]

The guy was using an impact gun. He says as long as the bushing is pinched it’s good. Yeah…. I’ve seen several shops now that don’t use torque wrenches. I don’t get it. They just sling parts on.

Think it was the lack of proper torque? Too much or too little? Or theControl arms being on the wrong sides?

Your tech is an idiot.

 

[Sgtrooster]

do you have any before and after shots? , I am looking to put taller springs on my XR , not so much for lift but to get back to zero after bumper and winch.

 

[ducatijosh]

One before and two after. Front fenders went from 39” off the ground to 43” off the ground.

 

[1Evil55]

That couldn't have been a real shop that would put LCA's on backwards.

 

[ducatijosh]

UCA's

 

[jaymz]

I'd be more concerned about them not knowing which control arm goes where vs. not using a torque wrench. I'll probably get flamed, but I've been making a living as an auto tech for almost 4 decades and 99% of the time my torque wrench is only used when I'm building an engine or a differential. I've never had any sort of failure from too little or too much torque.

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