al's arms

ga_repoman · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:48 am

ok I finally bit the bullet and and plopped down the money on these ...
Better to ask for forgiveness than for permission ...right??..

Anyway has anyone put these on and any tip or tricks i need to know about when installing
Also How in the H E double hockey stick do you get the bumpstops in that come withthe daystar lift OMG oil push wedge beat c-clamp
I have tried everything...that i can think of .....anyone???

as always thanks for all who answer

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2008 1:19 am

bumpstops just put the rear part in and then with some lube on the rubber part and push up in, mine I had to pry a little , stuck a pry bar back in the spring and pryed up, but once they start they pop right in.

Installing the arms is not too bad with the right tools and lots of extensions, swivals, etc. Only bad bolt to do was the left rear, which is in kind of an awkward place to reach. I did mine by myself although it may of been nice to be in two places at once there a time or two. Right side was a breeze :lol:

ga_repoman · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:40 am

thanks tom

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:36 am

For the most forward(towards the front of the KJ) UCA bolts the brake lines are in the way,in the wheel well there is a small bolt(takes 10mm wrench) to remove and then the brake line can be moved out of the way to remove those forward UCA mount bolts,no need to open the brake lines that require you to bleed the system.

ga_repoman · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2008 11:49 am

now that brings up a good point
I havent noticed any tight or tauntness in the brake lines but with the new arms am i going to need
extended brake lines on the jeep :?:

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2008 1:41 pm

yep forgot about that brake line I just moved it a little bit and was fine, I don't have longer brake lines on mine and its doing fine so far been on two and a half weeks and over 1500 miles :wink:

LostEddie · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2008 2:36 pm

For the nuts on the back bolts you need a stiff universal joint at the deep well 18mm socket. You can wrap tape around a universal to make it stiff. The back nuts are wrenched using about 18 inches of extensions so the ratchet works in front of the engine. The back left (drivers) nut and bolt are removed and reinserted from underneath. Some have reported dropping the nuts in the hole in the frame and can’t get them out – I put duck tape over all the holes prior to starting to be sure I didn’t lose a nut.

The ½” thick washer/spacer goes above the knuckle and the castle nut below, however on mine when the castle nut was tightened it was to far above the cotter pin hole so I had to go out and buy 4, 5/8” washers. You might want to get these prior to starting your install – also pick up extra cotter pins in case you need to redo (as I did) and bugger up a pin!

Assemble everything before tightening / torque the control bolt/nuts (do the ball joint) jack up the knuckle so the full truck weight is on the spring – then torque the A-arm nuts – this way there is less settling needed prior to realignment.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2008 2:40 pm

ga_repoman wrote:

now that brings up a good point
I havent noticed any tight or tauntness in the brake lines but with the new arms am i going to need
extended brake lines on the jeep :?:

No need for extend front brake lines,the OEM lines are goo for at least 6" of lift,the rear is a different story.

Quote:

For the nuts on the back bolts you need a stiff universal joint

I use a 3/8" drive impact swivel,much stiffer and better suited for this type of job,those older universals are,well,old tech and can cause more harm then good(like the skin on your knuckles).

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:34 pm

I did my left rear bolts/nuts from above , well did them all from above, found it easier that way

ga_repoman · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2008 10:05 pm

so tj your saying that with the 2.5 inche lift i presently have that i need longer rear brake lines???
Havent noticed them getting tight but i still have the factory stocks on the rear
(waiting for the aftermarkets to get here via ups)

So now i need rear brake lines wow lifting a jeep is like digging a hole just deeper and deeper

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2008 11:36 pm

ga_repoman wrote:

so tj your saying that with the 2.5 inche lift i presently have that i need longer rear brake lines???
Havent noticed them getting tight but i still have the factory stocks on the rear
(waiting for the aftermarkets to get here via ups)

So now i need rear brake lines wow lifting a jeep is like digging a hole just deeper and deeper

Yep as soon as you put those longer rear shocks on you will need to extend the rear line(from the unibody to the "T" block).You can just make a 3" spacer to avoid paying for a new line,I did that untill I got the braided extended lines(for better pedal feel).I was maxing my rear brake line with the OME N132 rear shocks,that are only 1/2" longer then the OEM rear shocks.

ga_repoman · **Posted:** Tue Jun 24, 2008 5:41 pm

they have arrived.......
funny i stopped by the apt for lunch was in the middle of checking on the tracking and thump the package arrived at the door

ga_repoman · **Posted:** Thu Jun 26, 2008 7:17 pm

they are on
and wow there is some positive camber
toed out front wheels
got to go get an alignment to straighten them out
still have a clunck up front and not only is everything tight but it is torqued to specs
from the strut to the mounts to the wheel lugs

ga_repoman · **Posted:** Fri Jun 27, 2008 12:10 am

so here is the question
are the springs on my 04 with less than 30,000 miles
shot ....
i have the daystar lift and a good amount of lift on the front but the darn clunk is there
the only thing i can think is that it is the spring coils hitting each other (but i dont see how)
and at rest i cant get my fingers in between the coils
now that is with the lift.....
the clunk is only there when i drive
if i shake the heck out of the jeep via the roof rack or jump up and down on the door frame
i cant get the sound to be made only if i hit a bump

what do you think?????Any ideas....

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Fri Jun 27, 2008 12:16 pm

Did you torque the sway bar end links to 100ft lbs?

ga_repoman · **Posted:** Fri Jun 27, 2008 8:25 pm

with a 200 plus dollar snap on torque wrench

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 27, 2008 8:39 pm

Check the fore/aft movement of the LCA mount bushings,if worn they will slap against the cradle making a nice sound.Also check the lower clevis bolt bushing(where the lower bolt passes through the LCA).My bushings where extremly worn on my KJ at 40,000miles from the abuse I subjected it to.It was cheaper to get the whole new LCA's(which came with all new bushings installed) over buying the bushings and having them installed,I paid $175 each LCA,the 2 LCA mount bushings alone are $50 each and $25 for the lower clevis bushing.

Your running a spacer lift right? If you are and still using the OEM coils you may not have enough lift for the newer style Al's UCA's,the older style's(GENIII and GENIV) don't have as much bent in them so I'd check the UCA mount buckets to see if your hitting them.

Also check your CV shafts,make sure you can't move them in/out of the diff,if you can move them alot then the "C" clips holding them in are worn and the CV being moved out then slamming back into the housing makes another nice sound,had it happen on my KJ along with the worn bushings and replaced everything at the same time.

Then you got the steering rack bushing that could be worn and the rack is banging against the cradle,another place to look.

Want more places to look? I can sure point them out,at least a few more.

Jeep4me99 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:15 pm

i had a similar issue...really simple issue even though it sounded like the KJ was falling apart.....double check your swaybar bolts. I completely removed mine....drove around slowly and had no clunks. then put the swaybar back on and made sure tight.....all was good.

ga_repoman · **Posted:** Mon Jun 30, 2008 4:55 pm

today is the day got some time off work and droped off the liberty to try to align the front end
So 2.5" daystar and the 4.5 gen al's arm's on and we will see what happens.......

update :
It worked took about 3hrs but it worked
not more noise and the alignment looks good too feels alot better driving it too

racnee · **Posted:** Sat Jul 05, 2008 12:47 am

I Put mine on today and also ended up using a couple washers per side between the knuckle and nut. I forgot to cut the bottom of the front pocket on the first side I did, so I'll have to get back under there soon for a do over (combination of lazy and brokendown reefer units). They seem to clear the rear pockets alright and besides, they looked untrimable. wasn't sure if I should. Also the castle nut should be torqued to what? Had a hard time reading the directions. 125 ft/lbs seems like alot I just went 90 for now.

al's arms

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