I'm gonna make a new thread probably in the Modified Tech forum for other guys to see too, but here goes:
First off a big thanks to Andy (IndyJeepNut) who was crucial in helping me find a place to get the lift installed, picking up some brake lines for me, and ordering the pizza.
Thanks to Jim, who I don't believe is a member of these forums, but he has a great transmission/transfer case shop where that's ALL he does and it's amazing. When I get my SYE/DS (hopefully next week), I'm going to only him to get it done right. Thanks to everyone else who showed up, grabbed a wrench or an air tool, and jumped right in. I'm not too familiar/comfortable with power tools, air tools, hydraulic lifts like Jim had, etc, but I didn't just stand back. They showed me what to press, what to use, and let me have a go at it! I really really learned a lot in just those 6 hours it took to install the lift (5pm-11pm).
"Quit sayin' thanks, where's the info!?!?" you might say.
THE LIFT!!! It came out to about 5.5 or 6" in the front, and about 6" or 6.5" in the rear. I added 3.5" RE springs to a 2" coil spacer and a 1.5" lift shackle. Rubicon Express definately under-states the actual lift on the day of the install. I'm gonna call it an even 6" of lift for now.
THE SHOCKS!!! Well, we succeeded in breaking all four upper rear bolts, and I'm not a fan of ripping into my carpet/cargo area with power tools. So I suggested we use go in from the little hole space in the unibody next to the shock mounts to put a bolt or nut in. With a little ingenuity and about 5-6 sets of eyes checking everything out, we drilled out the old bolts, put some new thicker ones in there, and that's all I have to say about that.
THE PROBLEMS!!! Not too many in fact. I only PB Blastered my bolts a few times in the past week (i know i should have more) but the front leaf spring bolts came out with a little heat and elbow grease. The coil springs on the front took the longest because there's no amazing way to compress the coil springs (even with axle droop, people pushing, etc) and then we had to wrestle them into rotating to the seat they needed to be on to tighten the retaining clips at the bottom. The rear upper shock bolts I mentioned in the above paragraph, but we spent more time thinking about it than doing - so it wasn't that bad.
Finally -
THE VIBES!!! After the lift and we were back on solid ground, with everything tightened up, Got Wood (John) and I went out for a little test drive. There's moderate vibes up to about 30mph, then it lessens to only slight vibes. I was able to drive comfortably back to Bloomington (from Greenwood about an hour away) at 60mph on my speedometer, which was probably closer to 70mph - all @ 2000 rpm on cruise control.
The most noticable problem is when I'm above 40mph, when I let off the gas, or start to brake, there's a definate grinding-ish noise coming from below the rear of my center console. I'm guessing that's the back of the transfer case. What could this be, and what would cause it to only happen above 40mph? U-joints binding? My friend said it could be the bearings in the transfer case?
So what's next???
1st and foremost - an adjustable trackbar. For starters, my front driver's side tire sticks out about 2" more than the front pass. side does. When squatting down and looking at the Jeep from the front, it's obvious that the springs are leaning toward the pass. side about 5-10 degrees, as well as the JKS Disconnects leaning the same. An adjustable trackbar should definately fix this problem.
Thank you guys for taking the time to explain to me some of the logic and physics behind the trackbar, as well as the tierod/draglink and rear driveshaft. I know now WHAT to buy/order, and WHY it's important to do it soon. For example, if I had an alignment done tomorrow, it would be a waste of money, because I'd need to do one after I install the JKS adjustable trackbar.
So here's my list of what next "To Do" and in what order of priority:
*BECOME MEMBER OF
*
JKS Adjustable Trackbar
Alignment
AA SYE & HD Driveshaft
Correct Speedo Gear
Possible Shims
Future Mods for the Summer (not necessary immediately like those above):
Adjustable Upper & Lower Control Arms
Currie Bolt-On Tie Rod & Draglink with OME steering stabilizer
Brake Upgrade
Regear to 4.56 to get closer-to-stock gas mileage
I'll attach some pics in another post below. Oh yeah, I gotta tell my Dad I spent money for college on this lift/tires.
