Just bought a 2011 JKU Rubicon, need suspension suggestions!

I will also help or offer up my place for the install if it fits my schedule. Brad and I both run this lift I think you will be really happy. One thing you can do to get a jump start on everything is to set all of the control arm lengths on the bench. Then once they are on the Jeep you make the final adjustments for driveshaft angle and castor.
 
levellinebrad said:
Bring it by my house early one morning and we will put the lift on. We can have the lift on in a short day. Must be a weekend and I am available to help tomorrow if you want. Let me know.
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Thanks bro, you have a PM!!!

ABadJeeper said:
I will also help or offer up my place for the install if it fits my schedule. Brad and I both run this lift I think you will be really happy. One thing you can do to get a jump start on everything is to set all of the control arm lengths on the bench. Then once they are on the Jeep you make the final adjustments for driveshaft angle and castor.
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Thanks bro!!!



Y'all ROCK!!! Thanks for the offers of help (and venue!)!!!!

:beer::beer::beer:
 
HUGE thanks to levellinebrad!!!! You ROCK bro!!!

The lift kit is on!!! The man can turn wrenches like crazy and smoke some deeeelicious pork and chicken!!!! :Rockon:

Quick question- anybody running a FOX JK steering stabilizer? We noticed it seemed VERY stiff installing it and it seems to make the Jeep wanna go left constantly. Given that a JK would make a poor NASCAR racing vehicle, this predisposition toward going in one direction is bothersome! LOL! Anybody else had this problem? Would lowering the stabilizer pressure help? (I am going to have the Jeep aligned tomorrow to make sure it is not an alignment problem) THANKS!!!

:beer:
 
You must lower the pressure, the last truck (2500) I put one on ran 125psi and the last JK ran 80-100 I think, it was a while ago. That Jeep is actually coming back today for bypass/coilover install so i can find out his pressure so you know exactly what to set it at if you'd like.
Alex
 
CarolinaTruggies said:
You must lower the pressure, the last truck (2500) I put one on ran 125psi and the last JK ran 80-100 I think, it was a while ago. That Jeep is actually coming back today for bypass/coilover install so i can find out his pressure so you know exactly what to set it at if you'd like.
Alex
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I'd really appreciate that pressure info, thanks man!!!


ABadJeeper said:
Picture or it didn't happen.
Oh yea he can smoke the hell out of some meat too.
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Pics will come soon, probably post them tomorrow. HECK YEAH he can!!! :Rockon:
 
Alex- Thank you sir!!! If the pull persists after an alignment, I'll set up a time to have you look it over for me! Also, you wouldn't happen to recall what a good pressure range for the shocks is do you?

Speaking of alignment- anybody know a good alignment place around UNCC/Harrisburg/Concord area??? (that is willing to deal with as modified/myriad of adjustments capable of a suspension such as this?) I have a feeling the dealership will have a cow if I try to bring it there to be aligned! LOL! Thanks!!!!
 
I was talking to my buddy Jeremy about that steering stabilizer and he said that usually that type is used as a double stabilizer where the 2nd one oposes the first one. I would say to take it off and see if it still pulls to the left. You really don't need a steering stabilizer anyway if the geometry is correct. Just a thought. If it does still pull to the left then maybe we have a bad measurement on a control arm. Also, looks like I am out of the toy run this weekend so bring it back up and we can recheck the measurements on the arms and retorque everything. As far as an alignment goes, I would not take it to a shop. We did not change your toe so the only thing you can adjust is the steering wheel if it is not centered. Give me a holler if you want to come back up this weekend.
 
Thanks y'all!!!
levellinebrad- Sorry you are gonna miss the Toy Run. I may take you up on the re-torque/measure offer, just gotta see what my work schedule looks like. Thanks bro!

ABadJeeper- do you have an alignment machine? I'd like to get it checked out just to make sure caster on the front end is right and make sure it's not dog-tracking or anything. (Just as a double check, or I guess it would be a triple check since we will double check the arm lengths at re-torque time!)

I DEFINITELY need the steering wheel re-centered, it's about 10 degrees off! LOL! (I have to keep it turned 10 degrees to the right to go straight, I am surprised that no error lights have popped up on the dash from it, LOL!)
 
That steering stabilizer is designed to work by itself otherwise they would be sold in pairs. The JK in the shop has a single Fox stabilizer and it doesn't pull at all, try lowering that pressure first to the psi I listed above first and if your caster is set correctly you should have no problems.
You should be able to align it with a buddy, a tape measure and degree finder. If you want to swing by one day I'll check it out.
 
I have the degree finder - if you're heading over to LLB's let me know I can meet you there as well...

I would guess just lowering that pressure some - easiest way is to take it off and if it doesn't pull left or pulls right you know it's that fer sure...

Alignment on JK = Buddies and Beer - just sayin'
 
CarolinaTruggies said:
That steering stabilizer is designed to work by itself otherwise they would be sold in pairs. The JK in the shop has a single Fox stabilizer and it doesn't pull at all, try lowering that pressure first to the psi I listed above first and if your caster is set correctly you should have no problems.
You should be able to align it with a buddy, a tape measure and degree finder. If you want to swing by one day I'll check it out.
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That steering stabilizer definitely needs to loose some pressure then. I swear it has more rebound than the shocks.

If you want to center the steering wheel before you come back up it is literally about a 5 minute job. Take a 15mm wrench and loosen the two nuts on the drag link sleeve. Then turn the sleeve so that you are lengthening the drag link. For 10 degrees you should need to turn it abou half a turn.
 
Nope no alignment machine. I do everything the way that I used to do my race cars. Never had a problem doing them myself. I think a lot of times most alignment shops will only work on the front end. You would need to go to a specialized shop to have them play with control arms and what not. The only place that I can think of around here that has a machine and may do that would be 4 wheel parts. I have no idea what they would charge for that though.

As for the whole steering stabilizer I don't want to get into a debate over it but if the thing has enough pressure in it that it rebounds by itself it is going to put some kind of pressure on the steering. The steering box is going to react the same as if you had you hand on the side of the wheel and where putting a little pressure on it. The Jeep is going to tend to drift to the side you have your hand on.

In all honestly I feel a steering stabilizer should never be charged unless it has another to counter act it. It is supposed to just provide dampening which should be done by the pistons and oil inside the stabilizer. :beer::beer:
 
Attention: After installing a Fox Racing Steering Damper, it has noticed some vehicles are experiencing steering "pull". This is due to the nature of a nitrogen pressurized shock. Fox Racing currently pre-pressurizes their steering dampers to 40 psi. Decreasing the nitrogen pressure will eliminate the steering "pull" that some drivers may experience after installing a Fox steering damper. Testing has shown that the nitrogen pressure of the shock can be adjusted down to 10 psi without effecting the damping performance. Dirt-Fab offers a nitrogen fill adapter (FOX-802-02-002-A) to adjust all pressurized shocks with a Schrader valve. (FOX-802-02-002-A) is a fully adjustable fill adapter that promotes precise filling and adjustment on shocks from 0 to 300 psi.

Found this on the Fox website
 
Thanks y'all, yeah, I think the stabilizer is causing the pull, we'll see! Also, crawling under it today, I noticed the rear passenger upper control arm jam nut is loose so now the joint is gonna be in bind if it gets tightened so, gotta adjust it a little and tighten up the jam nut.

Definitely need to get the steering wheel straightened, I can get used to it but, the fiancee finds it disconcerting, LOL!

levellinebrad, you have a PM, thanks bro!!!
 
UPDATE TIME!!!

Well....
Here's the lesson learned for my day today- don't wait 300 miles to re-torque things! Yup, I know it's always said to install, go 100 miles, and then re-torque but, I just haven't had time, now I see that I should have made time!
Issues found in today's re-torquing session:
1. front trackbar jam-nut was gone (had completely parted ways with the Jeep) luckily, the bolt was still perfectly in place and hadn't budged at all! Couldn't find a jam nut anywhere so, a washer and two regular nuts are on it for temporary purposes.
2. The rear trackbar bracket interferes with the billet reservoir clamp on the driver's rear shock, it hit the clamp so bad it moved the reservoir up the shock gouging the shock body the whole way and pinched the reservoir hose. (luckily I caught it before the hose got damaged, I think) I moved the clamp to the middle of the shock (over the label) it now looks goofy as heck but, I don't think it'll conflict anymore.
3. The upper rear passenger control arm's adjustment bolt at the frame end was loose and allowed the arm to turn, causing it to rub the tire VERY badly. There's a nice gouge all the way around the tire.

So, a bit of damage (and a whole lot of potential damage if the front trackbar had gotten loose) that could have been easily preventable by not procrastinating... DOH!!!

Anyways, just thought I'd post a warning about not re-torquing in time just in case anybody else is as bad a procrastinator as me!!!

I have pics from the suspension install that I have been meaning to post but, I can't find the cord to transfer the camera stuff to the computer!!! I will post them when I find it.

If all goes as planned, the rear bumper and 35's will go on tomorrow!!! (Then hopefully the front bumper and a recalibration with the ProCal on thursday!)

Oh, and Brad- thanks for the tips on straightening up the steering wheel, I got it perfect!!! :driver: Still haven't gotten around to messing with the stabilizer pressure so, it goes to the left still but, it is easily manageable, one of my buddies was my DD today and he said it drives fine in his opinion.

On a side note- I learned another lesson today- don't drop a 1/2 drive torque wrench on your face, LOL!!! There was no blood or bruising but my nose is still sore and I have a bit of a headache! DOH!!! :rolleyes:
 
Yep, retorque is important. You also need to retorque after every wheelin trip. Thats when I find most of my stuff loose.. Bring it back by sometime. I will be home all weekend.
 
Brad- thanks bro! I wish I could drop by this weekend but, I can't- I work friday and saturday and my fiancee wants me around sunday to work on wedding prep stuff. (only one more month till the wedding!) Thanks for the offer though bro, hope you have a great weekend!!!

Front and rear bumpers went on today and the rear trackbar bracket got welded! Tomorrow, I will wire the third brake light and license plate light relocations, fiddle with the tire carrier setup a bit, and mount up the 35's all the way around!!! Hopefully will have time to set up the Pro-Cal for the 35's but, IDK, we'll see what happens!
 
Figured some pics might be good:
Rear bumper on (thanks to Chris at MarsFab for help mounting it (it's a HEAVY beast) and welding my rear trackbar bracket!):
ai253.photobucket.com_albums_hh43_biglightblue87_New_20JKU_02786bcd85d19f02dbb57ba35f8060baa22.jpg

Front bumper on (still need to get a winch, LOL!):
ai253.photobucket.com_albums_hh43_biglightblue87_New_20JKU_02571c3410d29c49845d178812e522ce108.jpg

Side shot:
ai253.photobucket.com_albums_hh43_biglightblue87_New_20JKU_0268bc2292a0cc228725dd943610bb7d4b2.jpg
 
MarsFab said:
Looks awesome man. Glad I could help.


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- Sent from the MarsFab Offroad mobile response device ;)
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Thanks bro! Sorry I didn't get to drop back by that day, the front bumper did NOT want to go on!!! Then, one of my tires turned out to have a faulty valvestem, had a flat in the first 15 minutes of driving, DOH!!!
 
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