Lifting the Jeep

Ok, so I wasn't planning on doing any real mods to my Jeep. I just wanted to keep it in good shape and mostly stock. But not having a project car anymore made me vulerable, and when a guy came into the shop to get a radio the other day with a Jeep that had a 2" lift in it, and mentioned he was getting a bigger lift, I just couldn't resist asking him if I could buy his old lift. So I bought it. Just some simple 2" poly spacers for the front, 2" blocks in the rear, and 4 Rancho shocks. I only paid $50 for the whole setup so I thought hey what the hell. It's nothing major, but it just looks better.

Some un-expected things changed the project just a little though. (Read On) Laughing

So here is my Jeep at stock height.

So I installed the front spacers and shocks, which I thought would be the harder of the two ends, but turned out super easy. The back on the other hand, which I thought would be simple, sucked ass! First, both bottom shock mount nuts snapped right off! Problem is, the shaft itself is not just a bolt coming out of the bracket, it's welded right too it. So the only way to really fix it is to cut it off, grind it smooth, and re-weld on a new shaft. Fuck that! Laughing

For now I just welded on a washer onto the end of the shaft once the new shock was on it. It aint coming off! If and when I replace the rear shocks again I'll tackle the mounts.

The other pain in the ass was the top shock mounts. It's just two bolts and nuts, but the problem is, the nuts are INSIDE the frame and you can only get to them through a little hole! You can't even touch them with your fingers, you just need to fish a wrench in there to hold em! Pain the ass!!

So here is the lift all installed.

Notice a problem?!?! Sad

My rear springs have sagged and the back end is almost an inch lower than the front!! It looks dumb as hell! So... My options were to replace the springs so I could get full 2" lift in the rear, but Harry J's wants $300 for new leaf packs!!! Screw that. Another option was to just say screw it and install a 3" lift with new leaf packs, but thats like $400+ and I would also need to to a slip-yoke eliminator which is like another $300!! Screw that too!! So I decided to just make some of my own 3" blocks for the rear. So in total, I would net my 2" lift! Cool

So I went to Brown's welding and steel in Norridgewock, got some 1/4" steel plates and some 2x4" rectangal tubing cut up. Welded it all together and voila! New 3" lift blocks!! Total cost = A whopping $8.00!! Laughing

Not too bad welds for not having welded with a good welder in years!

All painted up!

And you can see I copied the design from the 2" blocks, just 1" taller.

So I got the blocks all installed, but not before breaking a U-Bolt! Evil or Very Mad

80 FT/LBs my ass!! So after getting new U-bolts that were actually strong enough to be torqued correctly, it was all done.

Might be hard to tell from the angle, but it's definatly "level now" actually, the rear is a hair higher than the front. From the floor to the pinch weld in the front is 17", in the rear is 17 1/8"! Woohoo!

New tires will be on Tuesday. I wanted to go with 31's, but trimming would be required, so I'm just doing some 30x9.5's It should still look just fine.

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not to shabby good fab work you gotta change ur sig pic to the jeep

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Some times i wonder if people know how much the real world controls them. The majority just act like cattle and move with the herd.

Killer DIY job man .... looks good. Can't wait to see it with the new tires. What brand did you go with?

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As my wife would say : I have an un-exquisite taste in homo-lific autos.

And I quote SJ Bikesaws
"Remember that the true American hot rod scene was never started with a credit card and a catalog or the internet. Just a bunch of poor boys trying to get pu$$y and keep up with the style of the rich boys."

Well i wanted to stick with the BF's I have now, but god they are so damn expensive, and the place I get em at couldn't get em for a few weeks at least, so I just opted for the General Grabber AT2's. Little bit cheaper and still look good. For what I need they will be fine.

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Nice work Troy!

I think you'll be happy with the Generals. That's what I have on my truck and they have been awesome! This is my first winter plowing with it and I haven't even needed any ballast in the bed, despite having a quad cab 8' bed truck with an 800 lb v-plow on the front! I recommend those tires to anyone who asks!

Rumor has it they're actually the same casing as the BFG All Terrain, with just a slightly different tread pattern...

-Paul

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1992 SysteMaxII HSR'd 6-speed Firebird
1984 Trans Am R.I.P. Crying or Very sad

1989 Buick Reatta
2003 Dodge SRT-4
1999 Dodge Ram 2500 DIESEL (turbo, of course Razz

)
1985 Honda VF1000R - SOLD!
2003 Suzuki GSX-R 1000

Yeah, very slight. They are nearly identical except near the sidewall. In fact I like the look of the sidewall on the General's better. The pattern follows down the side more and looks a little more aggressive in person.

Really wish i could do the 31's, but I just don't want to do any trimming.

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looking good troy!

Looks good Troy. I'll be sure to post pics of mine when I do it, should have all the parts in a couple weeks. No blocks for me though. I'll also be doing bigger gears for bigger tires, a transfer case drop, longer break lines, and trimming my fenderwells.

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87 BMW 325is
97 GSX-R 600

Bimmer - proper accepted slang for BMW cars. Most people don't know this.
Beamer/Beemer - proper accepted slang for BMW motorcycles. You will hear this term used incorrectly by many people.
Bummer - When you get a speeding ticket.
Bitter - Another German car. Very rare; hand built.