>>> I have a pre-lowered KJ so maybe things can be fitted easier on later models.
Ok, so we established that the Daystar is the best budget lift and I do have to agree on that.
The material is excellent. So does the end result! Fitting instructions can be confusing at times :p
http://www.daystarweb.com/%5Cimages%5Cinstructions/KJ/P10527.pdf
All this for around $200 or less is a bargain. And with very good results. Let's start with the
rear:
1) Jack up rear of the car and place stands under the chassis. Leave jack under rear axle. Take of the wheels.
2) Remove upper shock bolt, if you also want to change shock boots that come with the kit remove entire shock. This is the original setup ( shock already removed ), be careful not to stress the rear brake hose.
3) Remove the 4 bolts of the stabilizer bar.
4) Now its time to take of the springs (or as you call them in the US: coils ). In the manual it says you 'may' need to use spring compressors, forget about the 'may', you need them on a CRD. Why? The spring gets stuck on the bump stop and is really long when not compressed. Forget about the other info you might have red about 'pushing the axle down' it just didn't go any further
5) Compress the spring a little and take it out.
6) Take of the original spacer and fit the Daystar puck. Clean axle if necessary. Compress spring even more and refit.
7) Move to the other side and do the same, only you'll never get the spring refitted without doing this: jack up axle on the other side.
If you want you can fit the supplied shockboots on your stock shocks, if you're gonna run mud I would advise to fit them. Wedge of the hard plastic original ones and grease up upper part of shock, then pull rubber boot over it. With a little TLC it will fit.
9) Refit the shocks, torque everything to specs and you're done.
10) Refit your wheels, lower the jack and look: a dragster..wow, now how much lift it gives ya
Just one remark though, in the original setup the spring leans on the axle when under heavy load. On the Daystar it doesn't, the spring will slide over the spacer. Now is this to give us more flex / not stiffen up the ride to much?
EDIT: probably, ride is much better now, rear end used to be as hard as a rock.
The bump stop goes trough the hole in the spacer to bump on its original axle stud.
Ok, let's move to the front....which is more complicated.
1) Depending on which side you start take out the airbox ( easy ) or the battery and its support ( little more complicated ). I started at the battery side. Take out the battery. Then you see the support that is fitted with 3 nuts and holds a bunch of cables and the fuse/relays box. The fuse/relays box can be snapped out easily. Snap out the cable holders. Now remove the 3nuts. Beware: in the centre of mine there was a cable connected to a sensor ( the 'you just lost your battery' sensor ?) you can easily clip it of.
2) Remove the battery support plate. Now we see the 4 nuts holding the strut and the front diff breather. Rip it of and take of the 4 nuts.
3) Now move to the suspension. ( take of the wheel first ) Loosen the upper control arm ball joint. I have a special tool to loosen it, a couple of bangs with a hammer should also do the trick. Be careful with the front brake hose, when you loosen the ball joint the hub and brake calliper are hanging on it.
I also disconnected the front stabilizer bar so the lower control arm could be lowered with more ease.
4) Remove the clevis bolts and take the strut out.
4A) On the other side: take out the airbox : loosen the hose clamp, take of the hose.
Pull it upward, it’s fitted in rubbers. Two of the strut nuts are hidden under the power steering reservoir bracket. Remove the 3 nuts and the bolt holding the reservoir and take the bracket out. Now you can remove the 4 strut nuts.
5) Now comes the scary part, we are going to compress an take of the springs.
For all you DIY guys out there, if you do not feel up to this or you don't have the right tools: don't do it, a spring that heavy can kill you! Take both struts to a shop and have them fit the front spacers.
I ended up using 4 spring compressors, with 2 I couldn't get it compressed enough.
Keep the topnut fitted untill you've compressed spring as far as it has to go, then take it of.
6)Remove the top plate and spacer, take spring of and place it somewhere out of the way. Cut the shockboot, hammer of the washer. Don't throw it away, you are going to need it later. Remove bottom spacer, clean strut.
Fit Daystar spacer, making sure notches align. Fit new shokboot with new washer that comes with the kit. Fit oem washer on top of that. Replace spring. Use some lube so spring slides over spacer more easy. Refit top spacer and top plate, hand tighten nut.
Surprise, the Daystar spacer places spring in another position so the top plate will also. If you fit it like this you will never get the clevis on straight due to the alignment notch.
Here's the solution, mark the top plate, after making sure it's in the right spot as where it was fitted before, you can tell that from the imprints the studs make in the rubber. Then rotate it 30mm in a clockwise direction. Now your back on track. Tighten top nut.
Do not remove your spring compressors before, the top plate cannot move if the spring is pushing against it.
7) Refit everything and torque to specs. Enjoy your lifted KJ. Now I think this is what it should have looked like when it rolled out the factory.
Saludos, Tony
EDIT: Now get your headlights adjusted and a front wheel alignment.
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). The maximum recommended tire size with this lift kit is 245/75/16. Do you think this lift kit will allow for these rims to fit properly with my LT245/70R16/D BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO tires and not rub?