Please check my "lift math"

[omnitonic]

I'm installing the TeraFlex 2.5" base lift with Rock Krawler track bars, the cheap shocks, the plain Falcon jounce bumpers, and I'm reusing the Mopar lift LCAs I installed with my Rubi takeoff lift.

I got the front mostly finished today. I still need to torque the track bar and the control arms.

First question: The TeraFlex install vid wants me to undo and discard that brake line clip that rides on the LCA. I find myself wondering if I can REALLY flex this thing out to a point where that bracket would put the brake line in a bind. Maybe. I'm on the fence about that one, but I should probably follow TeraFlex's instructions.

Ah, an install note: I installed the first bump stop first, and then I had to use a spring compressor to get the spring on. On the other side, I followed the instructions, and zip tied the bump stop to the spring, then screwed the bump stop down while it was inside the spring.

Useful tip: Use the weird little bent wrench to shove the nut flush with the bottom of the spring mount, then use Vise-Grips to clamp it in place, so you don't have to struggle with dropping the damn thing every 15 seconds. The fit of the nuts on those machine screws is pretty tight, and they are fairly hard to crank down. You aren't spinning it down close to torque and then working the last little bit. You have to work the whoooooole way.​

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Anyway, if I had it to do over again, I think it was less of a pain in the ass to use the spring compressors. It definitely was a pain in the ass, but the one where I followed the instructions was just pure hell. On the spring compressor side, I used a ratchet that could spin almost a full 360 degrees, and I got the bump stop tied down fairly quickly and easily, then I had to faff about with the spring compressors, which sucked. On the follow the instructions side, I had to use an allen key, and screwing that thing down on the inside of a spring was one of the most ridiculous automotive things I've ever dealt with. Stick it between coils, turn until it hits the next coil, back it off, repeat for 20 minutes, gaining about 7/32" with each pass. Yeesh. That sucked!

Next question: When I did my Rubi takeoff lift, the alignment seemed fine, and I never did take it to a shop. After I did this lift, it appears my front wheels are just STUPIDLY toed out. I tried to center the wheels, and I chased my tail for 20 minutes. If this side looks straight, that side is angled sharply. I'd say I have maybe 1.5" of toe out. Is that typical with a bigger lift like this? Does it indicate that I screwed something up?

I'm going to try to get the toe closer before I take it to a shop for an alignment.

Next question: I never tried to do anything like installing a track bar before, and I wonder if I dooed it right. I bolted the frame side just pretty much finger tight. On the axle side, the Heim joint was at least 0.006" wider than the slot in the mounting bracket. I imagine the normal solution to this would be to grind on the bracket. I own a lathe, so I just chucked these inserts in and shaved about 0.003" off the outside face of both parts. That still didn't remotely fit, and I ended up making two more trips. I ultimately shaved off probably 0.006" from both parts, leaving the pair about 0.012" smaller than it started. I also chamfered the edges slightly, to make it easier to get the thing started into the bracket. It was still tricky to tap into place, so I feel it was snug enough.

So anyway, my next move was to measure from the hole in the top of the spring bucket to the inside edge of the tire. I got 6.75" and 7.25". I hooked a ratchet strap between the frame and the steering knuckle, and ratched the body over until I got pretty close to 7" and 7". Then I adjusted the track bar until the bolt would go through the hole, which involved putting another few clicks on the strap. You can only adjust the thing in half turn increments, and a quarter turn was what I needed. Anyway, it came out at something like 6.875, and 7.125" Seems like it should be plenty close enough.

I think I'm out of questions now. I'm reasonably confident that I did okay on the other stuff. The TeraFlex kit had good instructions, and a lot of it was the same as the Rubi takeoff lift.

Total trips to Harbor Freight: Just the one. I had to get an even bigger crescent wrench for the ridiculously huge ass jam nut on the track bar.

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[Roky]

I'm installing the TeraFlex 2.5" base lift with Rock Krawler track bars, the cheap shocks, the plain Falcon jounce bumpers, and I'm reusing the Mopar lift LCAs I installed with my Rubi takeoff lift.

I got the front mostly finished today. I still need to torque the track bar and the control arms.

First question: The TeraFlex install vid wants me to undo and discard that brake line clip that rides on the LCA. I find myself wondering if I can REALLY flex this thing out to a point where that bracket would put the brake line in a bind. Maybe. I'm on the fence about that one, but I should probably follow TeraFlex's instructions.

Ah, an install note: I installed the first bump stop first, and then I had to use a spring compressor to get the spring on. On the other side, I followed the instructions, and zip tied the bump stop to the spring, then screwed the bump stop down while it was inside the spring.

Useful tip: Use the weird little bent wrench to shove the nut flush with the bottom of the spring mount, then use Vise-Grips to clamp it in place, so you don't have to struggle with dropping the damn thing every 15 seconds. The fit of the nuts on those machine screws is pretty tight, and they are fairly hard to crank down. You aren't spinning it down close to torque and then working the last little bit. You have to work the whoooooole way.​

​

​

Anyway, if I had it to do over again, I think it was less of a pain in the ass to use the spring compressors. It definitely was a pain in the ass, but the one where I followed the instructions was just pure hell. On the spring compressor side, I used a ratchet that could spin almost a full 360 degrees, and I got the bump stop tied down fairly quickly and easily, then I had to faff about with the spring compressors, which sucked. On the follow the instructions side, I had to use an allen key, and screwing that thing down on the inside of a spring was one of the most ridiculous automotive things I've ever dealt with. Stick it between coils, turn until it hits the next coil, back it off, repeat for 20 minutes, gaining about 7/32" with each pass. Yeesh. That sucked!

Next question: When I did my Rubi takeoff lift, the alignment seemed fine, and I never did take it to a shop. After I did this lift, it appears my front wheels are just STUPIDLY toed out. I tried to center the wheels, and I chased my tail for 20 minutes. If this side looks straight, that side is angled sharply. I'd say I have maybe 1.5" of toe out. Is that typical with a bigger lift like this? Does it indicate that I screwed something up?

I'm going to try to get the toe closer before I take it to a shop for an alignment.

Next question: I never tried to do anything like installing a track bar before, and I wonder if I dooed it right. I bolted the frame side just pretty much finger tight. On the axle side, the Heim joint was at least 0.006" wider than the slot in the mounting bracket. I imagine the normal solution to this would be to grind on the bracket. I own a lathe, so I just chucked these inserts in and shaved about 0.003" off the outside face of both parts. That still didn't remotely fit, and I ended up making two more trips. I ultimately shaved off probably 0.006" from both parts, leaving the pair about 0.012" smaller than it started. I also chamfered the edges slightly, to make it easier to get the thing started into the bracket. It was still tricky to tap into place, so I feel it was snug enough.

So anyway, my next move was to measure from the hole in the top of the spring bucket to the inside edge of the tire. I got 6.75" and 7.25". I hooked a ratchet strap between the frame and the steering knuckle, and ratched the body over until I got pretty close to 7" and 7". Then I adjusted the track bar until the bolt would go through the hole, which involved putting another few clicks on the strap. You can only adjust the thing in half turn increments, and a quarter turn was what I needed. Anyway, it came out at something like 6.875, and 7.125" Seems like it should be plenty close enough.

I think I'm out of questions now. I'm reasonably confident that I did okay on the other stuff. The TeraFlex kit had good instructions, and a lot of it was the same as the Rubi takeoff lift.

Total trips to Harbor Freight: Just the one. I had to get an even bigger crescent wrench for the ridiculously huge ass jam nut on the track bar.

Looks like you did a good job...... I have only a few suggestions..... I would definitely unhook the brake line bracket from the lca ........you need to set toe to 1/16” in. You can just measure between the tires in the back and in the front. No need for strait edges and what not if you’re headed to the alignment shop......... I would start looking for a set of adjustable lcas, the Mopar is useless once you get over 2”...... just some .02 ... good work there.....

 

[rkwfxd]

When installing springs in my TJ I learned to jack up jeep and put frame on jack stands then remove shocks to get axle at full droop. Then I discovered that by jacking up pass side of axle the driver side would droop even more and allow me to remove the spring without a compressor.

Still waiting for delivery of my JL so I dont know if this will work on the new ones.

Also, would an air or electric ratchet with an allen socket have worked for that bump stop?

Finally, did you take any before/after measurements of your caster?

Great job and thanks for sharing.

 

[omnitonic]

I would start looking for a set of adjustable lcas, the Mopar is useless once you get over 2”...... just some .02 ... good work there.....

The need to buy new wheels along with the tires pushed the cost of this stage of the build, and I honestly can't afford adjustable LCAs yet. I'm hoping it will be okay for now. It's a 2.5" lift, but I have about 400 extra pounds of stuff bolted to this thing, so I'm hoping it will be more like a 2" lift.

When installing springs in my TJ I learned to jack up jeep and put frame on jack stands then remove shocks to get axle at full droop. Then I discovered that by jacking up pass side of axle the driver side would droop even more and allow me to remove the spring without a compressor.

You can do that on the JL for sure. It's easy. You can get massively more droop than you need to get the springs out. The setup I went with has a longer foam squishy thing up top, and a 2" tall puck at the bottom of the front spring mounts. I had already installed the puck on one side, so that's why I had to use a spring compressor.

Also, would an air or electric ratchet with an allen socket have worked for that bump stop?

I can't speak to every air or electric ratchet on the market, but my air ratchet was probably three times too big to fit in there, and that's pretty typical from what I've seen.

Finally, did you take any before/after measurements of your caster?

I don't have after measurements yet. Before was something like -7. I was worried that it was a little too high, actually. I have room to lose caster and still be okay.

 

[rkwfxd]

The need to buy new wheels along with the tires pushed the cost of this stage of the build, and I honestly can't afford adjustable LCAs yet. I'm hoping it will be okay for now. It's a 2.5" lift, but I have about 400 extra pounds of stuff bolted to this thing, so I'm hoping it will be more like a 2" lift.

You can do that on the JL for sure. It's easy. You can get massively more droop than you need to get the springs out. The setup I went with has a longer foam squishy thing up top, and a 2" tall puck at the bottom of the front spring mounts. I had already installed the puck on one side, so that's why I had to use a spring compressor.
I can't speak to every air or electric ratchet on the market, but my air ratchet was probably three times too big to fit in there, and that's pretty typical from what I've seen.
I don't have after measurements yet. Before was something like -7. I was worried that it was a little too high, actually. I have room to lose caster and still be okay.

Well all right then. That all makes sense. Thank you.

Hoping mine get delivered this month. Plan right now is to simply add spacers to make up height I lose from bumpers winch armor etc as well as some MOPAR front lcas.

 

[omnitonic]

Well all right then. That all makes sense. Thank you.

Hoping mine get delivered this month. Plan right now is to simply add spacers to make up height I lose from bumpers winch armor etc as well as some MOPAR front lcas.

I know where you can get a good deal on some slightly used Fishbone 3/4" front spacers

I definitely don't think I will need more lift than what I'm getting from this kit. If anything, I should have just put 37s on here. I'm going with what TeraFlex recommends, except in the back. I'm not changing the rear flares, and I'm not adding 1/2" of bump stop. If I rub, I rub, but I doubt I will ever manage to make it rub. My tires aren't a true 35.0" diameter anyway. I set the speedo to 34.5" and that's close enough. I'll cross-check this with a GPS speedometer app on my phone once I finally get her rolling again.

I came inside. I can work in drizzle, but it started pouring. Ugh. Six weeks with no rain, and it finally rains when I have the time to do this lift.

Anyway, so far so good. I understand what I'm about to do with the e-brake cables. I have to extend my air intake and outlet lines too. Other than that, it's just the Rubi takeoff lift all over again. Well, the track bar. I'll probably have to machine this one too.

This job would be easier if some asshole hadn't gotten dirt and rocks packed into utterly every nook and cranny of the rear suspension.

Also, I am a little concerned about the way I can just rock one of the front tires gently and shift the entire front end around. I could damn near turn the wheels with it sitting on the ground. That's a lot of leverage from these big shoes. I see suspension upgrades in my future.

 

[rkwfxd]

My so called 35” 315/70/17 BFG KO3s sitting on the patio measure out at 33.5”. The are not mounted on rims yet so Im hoping once mounted and aired up I get at least 34” out of them.

I have armor etc either here or on the way. Plan is to mount it all up before I wheel and bend brackets etc

 

[Mx5red]

would something like this 90 degree adapter have worked? Planning on doing lift soon and not sure how it'll go...

 

[omnitonic]

would something like this 90 degree adapter have worked? Planning on doing lift soon and not sure how it'll go...

The gap between coils that you have to work in is too narrow for a regular old 3/8" hand ratchet. You can get it in there, but you can't swing it. As the screw goes down, your relationship in relation to the coil changes continuously, and you need something very skinny that can work within this space and still have room to travel down. Using a standard hex key is just about the only way I see to do it.

If I had it to do over again, I would just attach the puck with all the room in the universe to swing a ratchet or use an air ratchet (why am I not using my air ratchet more often?!), and then use spring compressors to squeeze them down enough to cram in there. I may never use this $80 set of spring compressors again, and you could totally borrow them if you promise to mail them back. I got the most beefy heavy duty spring compressors I could find. You don't have to compress the spring that much to make this work. I never had so much tension on it that I feared for my dog who was wandering around.

 

[omnitonic]

My so called 35” 315/70/17 BFG KO3s sitting on the patio measure out at 33.5”. The are not mounted on rims yet so Im hoping once mounted and aired up I get at least 34” out of them.

I have Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ P3s that same size. The manufacturer says 34.6" and I haven't actually measured them. When I get time, I'm going to wrap a string around the spare tire and then try to remember high school math to figure out what the real diameter is. Pi times zombie strippers divided by corn liquor or something. I'm really rusty.

 

[omnitonic]

For those following along, the parking brake cable bracket is currently kicking my ass. It's way up above the gas tank line and a ton of other stuff, at a weird angle, and I can't get it to budge. I have like every extension I own on the ratchet right now, and a U-joint, and I had to take a break before I broke something in anger.

Not looking forward to the cable clip deals either. I dealt with that on a Ford. Same deal. Ended up breaking the damn things completely. Ugh. Once this irritating shit is behind me, the rest of the lift should take like 15 minutes.

 

[Roky]

For those following along, the parking brake cable bracket is currently kicking my ass. It's way up above the gas tank line and a ton of other stuff, at a weird angle, and I can't get it to budge. I have like every extension I own on the ratchet right now, and a U-joint, and I had to take a break before I broke something in anger.

Not looking forward to the cable clip deals either. I dealt with that on a Ford. Same deal. Ended up breaking the damn things completely. Ugh. Once this irritating shit is behind me, the rest of the lift should take like 15 minutes.

Easiest way I found to do it is pull the loop the cable is hooked on out as much as you can with a pair of pliers and clamp a pair of vise grips on it against the backing plate. That should give you enough slack to unhook. Then take a 1/2” box wrench slip over the cable and tap it over the clip it should pop right out.....

 

[Mx5red]

The gap between coils that you have to work in is too narrow for a regular old 3/8" hand ratchet. You can get it in there, but you can't swing it. As the screw goes down, your relationship in relation to the coil changes continuously, and you need something very skinny that can work within this space and still have room to travel down. Using a standard hex key is just about the only way I see to do it.

If I had it to do over again, I would just attach the puck with all the room in the universe to swing a ratchet or use an air ratchet (why am I not using my air ratchet more often?!), and then use spring compressors to squeeze them down enough to cram in there. I may never use this $80 set of spring compressors again, and you could totally borrow them if you promise to mail them back. I got the most beefy heavy duty spring compressors I could find. You don't have to compress the spring that much to make this work. I never had so much tension on it that I feared for my dog who was wandering around.

That's why I thought this would work pretty well. As long as you have room to angle the adapter and fit a bit on the screw, then you don't have to turn it at all. Just attach your impact to the end and tighten the screw down.. Might have to rotate the adapter along the coil or reposition it as the screw goes down, but... seems better than swinging a hex key. That sucks!

 

[omnitonic]

I broke the little tabs on the e-brake deal. I replaced them with a zip tie. My face is covered in mud, and I got sand in my eye. Ugh. It's starting to drizzle again. This SUCKS!

I just went down the list to double check, and I am good to swap springs and shocks now. FINALLY!!! "Four hour install."

 

[omnitonic]

That's why I thought this would work pretty well. As long as you have room to angle the adapter and fit a bit on the screw, then you don't have to turn it at all. Just attach your impact to the end and tighten the screw down.. Might have to rotate the adapter along the coil or reposition it as the screw goes down, but... seems better than swinging a hex key. That sucks!

If you hold the nut up with that bent wrench thing, you have to screw the screw down like 3", and you have to follow it down. The alternative is to follow the nut up with the wrench, and the screw stays in one place. If you had power turning the screw, I guess that could work.

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