It's Finally Done and I'm Loving it!

[DaleKJ]

Okay, so here is what I ended up with:

Front:
OME 927 springs
OME NS 131 front shocks
3/8" top plate
JBA Upper A-arms lifted
Moog Lower Ball Joints
Teraflex Bump Stop
Pinch Welds pounded flat
Cheap Ebay Brush Guard
LF: 21 3/4"; RF: 22"

I took off the Clevis lift altogether. I didn't want to go crazy and I want my CV joints to last.

Rear: OME 948 springs
Stock shocks for now
1 extra upper rear isolator per side
2 Hockey Puck Bump Stops
LR: 22 5/8"; RR: 22 3/8"

2004 Rubicon Moab Wheels with Goodyear Wrangler MT/Rs. No rubbing.
Alignment done this morning and it's riding very nice!

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Tom, can I now get by with the Rear OME 132s or do I still need the 132Ls with just the new springs and one extra iso/side?

Thanks for all the information from this site and Mr. Tom Mudd and others for the advise. This is the first suspension work I have ever done and I must say that it wasn't that hard. Now it's time to get it out on some trails!

 

[profdlp]

Looks great, Dale. You did a fine job. I hope to join you in lift-land soon. :happy160:

 

[tommudd]

Two things......:hidesbehindsofa:
First you need the 132Ls the 132s are not long enough they are the same as stock and will top out at some point, the Ironman are good shocks as well and even longer than the 132Ls .
Two, cut a "V" shaped notch out above the grease fitting in the front bumpstop, so if it hits it won't break it off.
I have a new name, wonder if I can get a credit card under Mr. Mudd :hands:

Oh and now you can tell others that it isn't that hard to do a lift on a KJ!
It looks good for sure, enjoy!!

 

[DaleKJ]

Reply to Profdlp

Thanks, Profdlp! I'm not exactly an expert like some on this site but I did learn some things the hard way. Private message me if you like and I'll give you my cell. That way when your ready you can call or text in case I can help you any. Maybe I can at least tell where I screwed up and you won't have to do things twice to get it right. Such as, I had the whole front finished when I noticed my front ball joint boots were cracked. Took it all apart and started over so I did the front twice. :happy160:

 

[DaleKJ]

"Mr." Tom Mudd

Thanks, Tom! You are the KJ lift "Master"! Will do. I tried to research as much as I could so I wouldn't have too many questions. Probably gets tiring after a while but I do appreciate it a lot.
:worship:

 

[profdlp]

I might take you up on that. I'm still job hunting after my graduation two weeks ago, so that will come first. Anybody need an IT guy?

 

[Snail Farmer]

You did a great job, that looks sharp.

 

[wheeee32]

Dayum it looks good. The Rubi wheels look especially nice. I might have to switch to those when my current tires need to be replaced.

 

[streetglideok]

Not bad at all. I'm a hair higher in front than you, and your a hair higher in back than me. I have the rear iso's to put in, but wanted to get the thing level. I don't dare go higher than I am now for fear of my CV shafts. You did the arms, which is what I kind of need to do. Did you get it aligned? Did they give you a print up? Curious how your camber looks compared to mine.

 

[streetglideok]

Hey Dale, what did you do to your inner fenders after you beat the pinchwelds in? Mine already have been rubbing(4" offset wheels), so were pretty bad right at the welds.

 

[TwoBobsKJ]

That looks REALLY good! :waytogo:

Don't worry about being too high - the springs will settle in front and then you'll wish the clevis was back in. The CV's will be fine too - remember TomMudd is up around 4.25" over stock and he's been running his original factory CV joint on the driver's side and I think he just replaced the passenger side a couple thousand miles ago. That's about 190,000 miles on factory CV's and lifted about 175,000 of those miles.

Mine settled from 22.25" down to about 21.75" - and mine was an oddball that didn't require the clevis to get up to that original height. I'm going to put three conduit nuts in to get it back to where I want it at around 22.25".

Great looking Jeep, Dale!

Bob

 

[tommudd]

As long as you are 22-22.5 should be no issues with CVs
Of course there will be some wear but not as bad as if you went to say 24 or something .
Now of course getting higher in the front also poses another issue with the UCAs hitting the springs over bumps. So stay in the above range and you'll be good

 

[DaleKJ]

Alignment and Pinch Weld

Thanks. I got the alignment first thing. Drove straight to Pep Boys after I finished. It was almost un-drivable because I pulled the lower A-arms out to the side and loosened the bolts and I didn't have to fight to get the lower clevis to line up at all. Made it much easier. Didn't even use a ratchet strap. So the alignment was way off, just drove 20-30 mph top speed and took the back roads. I didn't get a spec sheet because that part of the machine was not working but the guy said it was within specs. It seems to be as it drives great at all speeds. I had it up to 80 and it was smooth as could be.
I made one cut in the plastic for the pinch welds and used a heat gun to heat and pull to the side. Pounded them inward toward the middle of the Jeep because there is room there so they are almost flat. Sanded a little and put 5 or 6 coats of primer over the flaked off paint. I folded the extra plastic over itself using the heat gun to melt it all together. I trimmed some excess from the bottom and melted it to the very top of my cut where there was no overlap. I also used a putty knife to spread the melted plastic smooth and even. Here are a couple of pics. Forgot to take after pics.

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[DaleKJ]

Thanks, TwoBobsKJ. That's kind of what I was thinking that I might go with a small clevis lift in 6 months to a year once it settles down in some. I'm actually pretty happy with the way it looks right now. I live in Central Texas and there isn't anyplace too extreme to go off road anyway so it should do just fine with what I've got. I don't have any skid plates yet so I'll be fairly conservative until I get that taken care of. I'm planning on going down to Austin or Bryan/College Station ASAP which is 90 miles and about as close as I can get to some decent trails. Not much rock in this area so I'm not sure how important the skid plates are. I'll just experiment some and decide what I'll need. Any input on the skid plates?

 

[tommudd]

JBA has some good skid plates along with Skid Row, best gas tank skid is a Kilby but don't think they are making them any longer

 

[DaleKJ]

Alignment and Tires

I took Al's alignment suggestions with me to NTB but they were actually able to get it back to regular stock alignment specs so even better. I put on a set of 245 70 15 AT Pathfinder tires that I use for street and light off road. They are Chinese tires but I'm extremely pleased (Discount Tire). Very quiet almost like stock street tires, wearing very well, went mudding and they performed great. I didn't get stuck so that's always good. Improved gas mileage almost back to stock. Torque converter behaves like stock tires. Stays in overdrive and doesn't downshift. I put my Kevlar MTRs on the stock steel wheels and can change them out in 10-15 minutes with my impact wrench if I want to do more extreme off roading. This is a great option and makes the jeep a good daily driver and still have the option to play when I can.

 

[colorado76]

Looks nice DaleKJ(biggthumpup)

 

[twowings]

Great area to wheel in Gilmer, TX at Barnwell Mountain Recreation Area...too far away from you?


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[twowings]

Oh, forgot...your ride looks killer...working on my lift as we speak


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[Jo6pak]

Stormtroopin!!:icon_twisted:

Looks awesome, especially approve of the NRA sticker.

Now take it out and get it dirty