Tools for the Job

ElCuervo52 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 02, 2017 11:00 am

If I wanted to raise the front end from 3.5" to 4" could I do I myself and what tools would I need? Would I need to get it re-aligned after? I know it seems like a bad idea but I really need more room for the tires. Most of the pinch weld was already cut by the shop that installed it (without me asking) so I'm not sure I feel comfortable cutting any more and I don't know if there's enough left to fold over with a sledge.

lfhoward · **Posted:** Fri Jun 02, 2017 2:05 pm

You can do it yourself.

1. Jack up the front of the Jeep and support it from the frame, not the lower control arm.
2. Clean any crap off of the adjust a strut threads and spray on some wd40 or pb blaster.
3. Using the special wrenches that came with your kit, crank up the top jam nut maybe 1/8 to 1/4 inches so it is loose.
4. Crank the lower nut down to increase the height of your lift. 1/4 inch down equals 1/2 inch of lift because of the suspension geometry.
5. Once you have it where you want it, crank the upper jam nut down to lock everything in place.
6. Repeat on the other side so the lift is even.
7. Go get an alignment.

I've done this process before and it is no big deal to do yourself. That's the beauty of the adjust a strut system. You really do need an alignment after changing the height though, even for 1/2 inch. I made the same adjustment before and it threw off both the camber and toe, so that the tires would have worn more on their inside edges if I didn't align it. It also will make the Jeep feel less stable on the road until it is aligned again.

ElCuervo52 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 02, 2017 2:23 pm

Crap I had the lift shipped directly to the shop. I hope they still have the wrenches. What do you think about lifting my frond end? Bad idea? Probably a better option than cutting more. LOWERING the lift and swapping for 31s would probably solve all my issues but I paid to run a 4" lift on 32s and that's what I'm gonna try to make happen.

lfhoward · **Posted:** Fri Jun 02, 2017 2:43 pm

Hopefully they still have the wrenches. If not, I'm sure JBA could send you some.

I would try going to 3.75 or 4 to try to get a little extra space on your tires. Where is it set at now? You can measure from the middle of the center cap to the fender to see. 18 is stock for the front, 19 rear. I think mine is at 21.5 (3.5 inches of lift) in the front but I'm running 31's. There have been some guys go higher than 4. Jeepin_it_real had 4.5 on his and ran 32's IIRC, but his rig got wrecked a few years ago (freak accident not related to the lift). You could try digging up some of his old threads to see what kind of issues he had, if any. It was a very sweet rig. Tommudd also ran 4.5 inches on his 02 KJ for something like 200K miles with almost no real issues (replaced a few CV's but not too often). Of course in 02 there was no ESP on the KJ to piss anyone off! Before you I never heard much about people blowing steering racks unless they were hard core off roaders (NAMoulton1, JeepnCrowd, TexasRugby911, Mikzor).

ElCuervo52 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 02, 2017 2:58 pm

Mines set at 3.5" (21.5") Currently. I told the shop that the tires were rubbing pretty bad and they just went ahead and blasted most of the pinch weld off. I'm worried cutting anymore would be sketchy. Hope .5" wont make the steering or ESP issues that much worse.

lfhoward · **Posted:** Fri Jun 02, 2017 3:05 pm

ESP activation does get a little more annoying the higher you go, but hopefully the difference between 3.5 and 4 doesn't increase it too much.

Did the shop trim the pinch weld completely flush, or is there anything left of it to bend over to the side using a BFH?

ElCuervo52 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 02, 2017 3:08 pm

Just talked to Offroard warehouse, the more I talked to them the more I get the sense they didn't know what they were doing with the KK. He told me they cranked it up as high as it would go, and that to adjust the struts they need to be removed from the vehicle to compress the springs.

lfhoward · **Posted:** Fri Jun 02, 2017 3:18 pm

Thinking of CV and tie rod angles and such... Before lifting my Jeep, the front had sagged to 17 if I remember correctly. At that sad sagged height, the CV angles were about the same magnitude *up* as they are *down* now that I'm lifted. I really suspect there must be some other explanation for your steering rack failures, such as the pump malfunctioning and overpressuring them. I just can't imagine that the angles would be too far away from normal even with some lift. But I'm just an armchair mechanic and that's only a guess.

Just saw your last post. LOL! Take a look at the struts as they sit on your Jeep now and if you see any remaining thread beneath the nuts then they can be cranked higher. And you can do it with hand and arm strength right there at the side of the vehicle. I forgot step 1.5 though in my list above. Remove the tire first to get good angles on turning the nuts with the wrenches!

ElCuervo52 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 02, 2017 3:39 pm

I'll take a look at it. Thanks for your posts you've been really helpful. You can see a picture of my passenger side pinchweld in my "Tire Rub" thread. There's little left but i dont think its enough to hammer over. I wish they would have asked me before they trimmed.

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Jun 02, 2017 3:44 pm

ElCuervo52 wrote:

Just talked to Offroard warehouse, the more I talked to them the more I get the sense they didn't know what they were doing with the KK. He told me they cranked it up as high as it would go, and that to adjust the struts they need to be removed from the vehicle to compress the springs.

Sorry but yes from the sounds of things they do not have a clue to how they work ( the coilovers )
And to think they advertise theirselves as an off road shop!

lfhoward · **Posted:** Fri Jun 02, 2017 3:50 pm

ElCuervo52 wrote:

I'll take a look at it. Thanks for your posts you've been really helpful. You can see a picture of my passenger side pinchweld in my "Tire Rub" thread. There's little left but i dont think its enough to hammer over. I wish they would have asked me before they trimmed.

Glad to help. Just checked out that pic and yeah, that's not much there to work with unfortunately. And I'm with Tom. Not only do they not understand the engineering of the coilover, but not asking your permission before cutting metal off of your vehicle is super unprofessional. Not to mention the proper way to deal with the pinch weld is to bend it over, not cut it off. Did they save your coilover wrenches or toss them?

ElCuervo52 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 02, 2017 3:54 pm

Yea I think even with my limited mechanical experience I think she's better off in my hands. They think the wrenches are lying around somewhere. Is there another tool i could use?

PS here is drivers side

And the pinch weld again. Enough left to hammer?

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Jun 02, 2017 3:59 pm

lOOKS LIKE THERE IS ENOUGH TO BEAT OVER, BOY THEY REALLY SCREWED YOU UP THOUGH, IDIOTS
Easy way to adjust coilovers,
raise tire off the ground
on the adjustments turn them all the way to left
that way you are not fighting the pressure of the shocks as well
using the correct wrenches you can now turn 2-3 turns and remeasure
with full weight back on ground of course

lfhoward · **Posted:** Fri Jun 02, 2017 4:00 pm

Yeah, there's plenty of thread underneath the nuts on your coil over. I think it be adjusted quite a bit more, although you wouldn't want to go that far.

I wouldn't try to adjust the nuts with anything but the specialized tools that came with them. Trying to use anything else would probably round the teeth off of the nuts and make them impossible to turn. And the diameter of the nuts is going to be a lot wider than any kind of an regular wrench could deal with. The special JBA wrenches have teeth that fit into the notches in the nut, and give you optimum torque.

ElCuervo52 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 02, 2017 4:15 pm

Sounds good, I'll give it a whirl. I'm not sure I even want to take it back to these guys for an alignment! Not sure what other shops have the right alignment tools though. Is my jeep gonna come apart with that cutting of the pinch weld? I was planning on sealing it with some JB weld.

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Jun 02, 2017 4:39 pm

ElCuervo52 wrote:

Sounds good, I'll give it a whirl. I'm not sure I even want to take it back to these guys for an alignment! Not sure what other shops have the right alignment tools though. Is my jeep gonna come apart with that cutting of the pinch weld? I was planning on sealing it with some JB weld.

Any " good " alignment shop can align it. A lift on one of these does not make it harder to do or require special tools
As far as JBWELD, it would seal it but not make it stronger

lfhoward · **Posted:** Sat Jun 03, 2017 9:28 am

ElCuervo, here is a well done how-to thread on pounding pinch welds that might help you envision how it could have been done if the shop hadn't cut it first. You can also try to rehab it a bit by pounding over what's left.

http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f202/how-pound-pinch-welds-stop-fender-rubbing-34295/

ElCuervo52 · **Posted:** Sat Jun 03, 2017 11:33 am

Thank you, my name is Dan by the way. I'm going to try and pound what's left. Then seal to prevent rust. What do you think is the best way to protect the tires since they cut the plastic piece out? I was thinking maybe some kind of rubber like flex seal, not sure if that would be strong enough though. Suppose I could try to melt another piece of plastic into the liner. How much of a problem is it that the weld has been cut? My car isn't gonna crumble if I take a hit to the rock rail right? lol

lfhoward · **Posted:** Sat Jun 03, 2017 7:08 pm

Hi Dan,
I don't really think the plastic wheel well liner would have done much to protect the tire, because the heat and friction from any tire rubbing would have melted it or scraped it away. I guess if there is enough metal to pound over, if it ends up flat or rounded then that would be better than a sharp edge facing the tire. I think the deal with the rustoleum primer and re-covering with plastic is just to resist rust (and having it look more factory).

I didn't end up doing anything to the pinch weld on my Jeep, so I can't talk from experience about structural integrity. But I would think that there is enough stiffness everywhere else in the unibody to resist a good hit, especially if you have rock rails. Rock rails even increase the overall stiffness of your vehicle, and can support the vehicle on their own. Some people use them as a high lift jacking point. If you're worried about it, you could have a body shop (or a mechanic friend) make a new weld there where the cutting was done, then prime and paint it.
--Lauren

GordnadoCRD · **Posted:** Sat Jun 03, 2017 8:15 pm

If you're talking about the plastic inner fender shield, I found it cheaper to buy new ones and hang on to the old for patch material if needed, but the ones for KJs are only like $16 each.

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