darylm74
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Daryl
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2023
- Threads
- 21
- Messages
- 115
- Reaction score
- 84
- Location
- Oldsmar Florida
- Vehicle(s)
- 2021 JLU Willys
- Occupation
- Sr Data Engineer
- Thread starter
- #1
I installed the Rock Krawler 2.5 Adventure lift this past week and wanted to share a bit of experience. I like bullet points so here is the gist of what I learned from other threads and members:
1. I like Bilstein shocks and have run them on all my mods but look for sales and consider Fox or others. I am not sorry that I went with Bilstein but may wish for Fox as I do more offroading.
2. You may have to pry open the front track bar bracket. I used a 42" Dewalt pry bar. There is a hole in the middle that you can put the lesser angled end into and go. Just be careful as I had some slips and I ended up with some wounds my wife didn't approve of. I tried various angles but putting the bar in the middle hole and bending from the front was golden. It didn't want to budge otherwise.
3. It doesn't say in the instructions but you need spacers that provide (<= 4.5) backspacing or new wheels. Otherwise, your rims/wheels are going to grind against the sway bar end links.
4. Lift seems to be more than 2.5 inches. I got 3.5. Measure and verify but may need new drive shafts.
5. Make sure your spring spacers are in the right direction and drivers side is A, while passenger side is B. I am still trying to determine if this is correct as the springs are the same size on both sizes. Directions say D or P for Driver/Passenger but marked A/B. The spacers have one tab on the bottom but there are two holes, so make sure the thicker part is to the rear. Also, for the top factory spacers, I used some bright colored electrical tape to hold things in place with respect to the springs hitting the correct place. Also I did this next to the tab to help line things up.
6. Air and/or cordless impact wrenches are your friend. I have done this with elbow grease in the past but what a PITA. A couple of quality impact wrenches and sockets (Harbor Freight is your friend) work wonders.
7. Make sure you have all of the correct sizes ahead of time including that 24mm Crow's foot for the front track bar and the 24mm wrench for the control arms. Most kits skip 24 or stop at 19.
8. Before you replace the control arms, use Vice Grips to roll open the brake lines. While still attached, get the front brake line bracket open . I used a crescent wrench and some other tricks to do it otherwise but easier to do while still attached to the OEM control arm. Youtube is your friend ().
9. Bend the bracket at the "L" for the rear brake lines to add additional length. The instructions say to bend slightly but if you do it right at the "L" you get more distance.
10. I would use a blade and carve around the top of the shocks on the inner fenders. This will allow easy access to that top bolt. It is not easy otherwise. This only if you are going to retain the OEM inner fenders.
11. I could get the emergency brake line off but not back on. Once again, YouTube is your friend (). Easy enough to loosen the emergency brake lines and re-tighten it. This is done by loosening a couple of bolts under removable panels at the back of the center console. With a little touch and feel you can find the brake line adjustment and move it back and forth with a 10mm socket.
1. I like Bilstein shocks and have run them on all my mods but look for sales and consider Fox or others. I am not sorry that I went with Bilstein but may wish for Fox as I do more offroading.
2. You may have to pry open the front track bar bracket. I used a 42" Dewalt pry bar. There is a hole in the middle that you can put the lesser angled end into and go. Just be careful as I had some slips and I ended up with some wounds my wife didn't approve of. I tried various angles but putting the bar in the middle hole and bending from the front was golden. It didn't want to budge otherwise.
3. It doesn't say in the instructions but you need spacers that provide (<= 4.5) backspacing or new wheels. Otherwise, your rims/wheels are going to grind against the sway bar end links.
4. Lift seems to be more than 2.5 inches. I got 3.5. Measure and verify but may need new drive shafts.
5. Make sure your spring spacers are in the right direction and drivers side is A, while passenger side is B. I am still trying to determine if this is correct as the springs are the same size on both sizes. Directions say D or P for Driver/Passenger but marked A/B. The spacers have one tab on the bottom but there are two holes, so make sure the thicker part is to the rear. Also, for the top factory spacers, I used some bright colored electrical tape to hold things in place with respect to the springs hitting the correct place. Also I did this next to the tab to help line things up.
6. Air and/or cordless impact wrenches are your friend. I have done this with elbow grease in the past but what a PITA. A couple of quality impact wrenches and sockets (Harbor Freight is your friend) work wonders.
7. Make sure you have all of the correct sizes ahead of time including that 24mm Crow's foot for the front track bar and the 24mm wrench for the control arms. Most kits skip 24 or stop at 19.
8. Before you replace the control arms, use Vice Grips to roll open the brake lines. While still attached, get the front brake line bracket open . I used a crescent wrench and some other tricks to do it otherwise but easier to do while still attached to the OEM control arm. Youtube is your friend ().
9. Bend the bracket at the "L" for the rear brake lines to add additional length. The instructions say to bend slightly but if you do it right at the "L" you get more distance.
10. I would use a blade and carve around the top of the shocks on the inner fenders. This will allow easy access to that top bolt. It is not easy otherwise. This only if you are going to retain the OEM inner fenders.
11. I could get the emergency brake line off but not back on. Once again, YouTube is your friend (). Easy enough to loosen the emergency brake lines and re-tighten it. This is done by loosening a couple of bolts under removable panels at the back of the center console. With a little touch and feel you can find the brake line adjustment and move it back and forth with a 10mm socket.
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