Question on redoing lift.

MallRated

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2007
Location
apex
Long story short bought my TJ with 4.5 rubicon express long arm kit and the guy who had it before me put 2" coil spacer kit on top of it. I have a few questions on removing it.

1) once removing the spacers Im assuming I will need to adjust all my my suspension control arms (long arms) as well as my track bars front and rear to get pinion angle correct and adjust alignment. Or will 2" be small enough to leave the control arms and or trackbars left alone ?
2) when this is done (4.5 inch coils) will i need to cut the rear tub (mod cut) or otherwise to clear 37's ? Fronts i'm not concerned as I installed poison spyder high lines.
3) I will be installing spring retainers front and rear to make sure while flexing that the spring will not move or fallout free due as the shocks installed on it will probably allow the axle to travel within an amount that the springs will have quite a gap from their seated position. As this is my first "longer travel" jeep do people tend to get away with just retainers and use the bump stops as a spring guide per say or should I look into doing something like a shorter shock or limit straps ? Trying to keep it as budget friendly as possible as I just got back to work from 6 months out with foot surgery and 15k in cash ill never get back ....
 
1 - remove spacers and see. You'll know if the axle is no longer centered. You can check your pinion angles easily. Being a long arm (both front and rear or just front?), it will affect the pinion angle less than if it were a short arm.

2 - you'll have to check and see, but a easy way to guess would be to fully stuff one side, measure clearance. If it's not at least 2-3" (if you currently have smaller tires, add the difference between current and 37s overall height), then you'll need to modify to clear after removing spacers.

3 - limiting straps are the best and correct answer. You dont necessarily want to rely on the shock to limit travel (though factory does). There should be retainers on the axle side of the spring, and there's some designs that use a tapered guide to make sure the top of the spring doesn't fall out at full droop and to ensure the spring makes it back onto the seat instead of out sideways. You could make some limit straps with old seat belt/HD cargo strap and some clever brackets like come with replacement belts.. (you could use the one factory end of the belt at one end and the slot wrap type replacement end on the other, bonus you can adjust it as needed)

10086650_spr_463250b_pri_larg.jpg


Hope that helps.
 
Thanks for the reply. Helped alot. Well once i get the motor idle / stall sorted ill be ordering some limit straps.
 
Nope, no stored codes and i put an aftermarket IAC in it and nothing changed. Put a tps sensor in it as well.... It had the same problem and the last motor the piston came apart. I put a new engine in it and the new one idles the same way...
I put a new cap, wires, plugs, iac, tps, and there are new intake manifold gasket installed on the new one. kind of lost at the moment.
 
Maybe try tightening the ignition coil connector terminals. Pinch/squeeze just the female terminal a little closer together. I've seen that cause wonky stuff to happen once or twice.. also one time an oxygen sensor reporting lean at stoich caused it to run pig rich and caused idle, running, and mileage problems.. you could try unplugging the o2 to force it open loop and see if it helps.
 
Ive monitor fuel trims and they are fine at long term and short term changing as it should... got a factory IAC on order just waiting for it then ill move onto further diagnostics using a DRBIII from a buddy (factory scan tool) next week.
 
MallRated said:
Ive monitor fuel trims and they are fine at long term and short term changing as it should... got a factory IAC on order just waiting for it then ill move onto further diagnostics using a DRBIII from a buddy (factory scan tool) next week.
Click to expand...
I've got an autel scanner that will do everything the drb3 will if you wanted to come by and I can take a look at it, but I'm not sure how far apex is from the Foothills of WNC. I'd try manipulating the iac and see if it follows commands. Are there any driveability issues aside from idle?
 
yep, actually went by today. It was the aftermarket IAC. You could watch the live stream data and see it constantly changing voltage readings. Put the factory one in that arrived today and the idle is like it should be. Funny how much better the transmission shifts now too since the TV trans cable is linked to the throttle body too which before was slightly opening to keep it from stalling.
 
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