Al's 6" Lift

Alak · **Posted:** Mon Jul 02, 2007 6:51 pm

I find Im much more comfortable in the KJ. This greatly influenced my decision to buy a 2nd KJ to add to the family.

Im just waiting to see what this lift looks like before I start rounding up SFA conversion parts...

Neatus · **Posted:** Sat Jul 07, 2007 5:30 am

Hey, if any of you are part of MyJeepSpace.com you can get in touch with Al there. I know it isn't his deal any more but he might have some info for you. He is an absolute cool dude. BTW, he has a new Rubi

tommudd · **Posted:** Sat Jul 07, 2007 8:22 am

Al is over on ROF sometimes also, yes very good guy indeed have talked to him a few times about the arms, lift etc

thebluebus · **Posted:** Thu Jul 26, 2007 2:56 am

Just got the update email from Marlin at Al's this morning. Here it is:

"Six inch lift kit up date 7-25-07

I want you to know we are making progress! The geometry on the front is complete.

We are working with the springs. I will have springs for the CRD’s!

One thing I need to address is the lower control arms on the rear axel. With a lift this high the rear axel moves like the axels on a skate board. When you go over uneven spots in the road you feel the back end of the KJ push from one side to the other.

Then the final step is to finish the instructions on how to assemble the kit.

I am sorry we are behind schedule with the lift kit project. All good things take time.

I will keep in touch as we get close.

Thanks

Marlin Gehman

CD · **Posted:** Thu Jul 26, 2007 7:03 am

Now that's progress

, I'm a little concerned about this:

Quote:

One thing I need to address is the lower control arms on the rear axel. With a lift this high the rear axel moves like the axels on a skate board. When you go over uneven spots in the road you feel the back end of the KJ push from one side to the other

How will that go on the open road, 100kph (60mph, sorry).

Sport · **Posted:** Thu Jul 26, 2007 8:40 am

CDKJ wrote:

Now that's progress

, I'm a little concerned about this:

Quote:

One thing I need to address is the lower control arms on the rear axel. With a lift this high the rear axel moves like the axels on a skate board. When you go over uneven spots in the road you feel the back end of the KJ push from one side to the other

How will that go on the open road, 100kph (60mph, sorry).

Well it is a concern but he said he is addressing it so well see.

THat looks like Al old KJ, did Al ever sell his?

csukoh78 · **Joined:** Thu Mar 08, 2007 10:34 pm **Posts:** 501

May be a silly question, but is he qualified to do suspension geometry? I mean, the best engineers out there already work for car companies. I want a kit that is proven awesome and won't harm the jeep long term, as opposed to what "looks right" I really mean no offense, I just would like to validate his credentials if anyone would like to chime in before I get to excited about having a 6 inch lift!

jerbacher · **Posted:** Thu Jul 26, 2007 10:11 am

Wow, this is really exciting to see this (maybe) finally happen. If this lift is good and solid, it's going to sell like hotcakes. Does anyone have any idea of pricing yet? I would imagine it will be really expensive...

jerbacher · **Posted:** Thu Jul 26, 2007 10:14 am

So, one thing I just thought of and maybe this has been covered already in this thread, but i dont want to read back to page 1...

This thing looks great and all...but... it still has the 30A diff right? If so...those larger tires are gonna turn it into a time bomb...

Fulltimer · **Posted:** Thu Jul 26, 2007 10:42 am

jerbacher wrote:

So, one thing I just thought of and maybe this has been covered already in this thread, but i dont want to read back to page 1...

This thing looks great and all...but... it still has the 30A diff right? If so...those larger tires are gonna turn it into a time bomb...

That is a valid point I think. Someone needs to come up with a steel diff.

Terry

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Thu Jul 26, 2007 11:33 am

Al took his on some fairly crazy looking trails and never had any problems. He did reinforce it though..

Sport · **Posted:** Thu Jul 26, 2007 12:31 pm

The thing here is a good solid lift. The d30a is a totally seperate issue that somebody will need to figure out, and I am sure somebody will eventually.

me personally I would probably run 32, 4.10 gears with Al's lift to be safe. Maybe the the collar to reinforce the diff just for good measure.

I wouldn't run 33's unless there were more gear options like 4.56 to match the rear or a way to swap a whole new front in.

that is just my opinion based on what I have read on this forum.

RespectMyLibertay · **Posted:** Thu Jul 26, 2007 1:03 pm

The front looks jacked up at least an inch more than the rear. It's definitely titled back. And are those 32s, or 33s, I wonder?

If that is his "test vehicle", Al's old KJ, then it has a lot of custom work. The front upper A-arm pockets are lowered by two inches. That's gonna be just a little different from all of our KJs....hopefully Marlin knows this :oops:

. I'll need to see the kit installed on a different KJ before I buy it. Seeing the kit trail-tested on Al's KJ will only tell me that Al's KJ rocks!

chefdab · **Posted:** Thu Jul 26, 2007 1:20 pm

Do you all really think Al would've sold his designs to somebody who didn't understand what would need to be done to perfect the lift?

RespectMyLibertay · **Posted:** Thu Jul 26, 2007 4:20 pm

Since he did sell his business, I'm going to guess money was a larger factor in his decision than say, concerns about it's future products' quality. Don't get me wrong, Al is a great guy...but he is human. Considering all the possibilities, I think Marlin can just as easily sell a low-quality kit as he could sell a trail-tested, quality kit. I just pray to high heaven he's doing his homework with another KJ...the last thing we need is another RockKrawler style product-disaster, leaving consumer and company pissed about everything! That said, I'm insanely excited to see what exactly the kit comprises of, how much it cost, and how hard it is to install. Last but not least, if Marlin doesn't use any other test vehicle besides Al's old KJ, I'll definitely have to wait for someone here at LOST to buy it and report back with how well it's holding up.

CD · **Posted:** Thu Jul 26, 2007 11:40 pm

Sport wrote:

CDKJ wrote:

Now that's progress

, I'm a little concerned about this:

Quote:

One thing I need to address is the lower control arms on the rear axel. With a lift this high the rear axel moves like the axels on a skate board. When you go over uneven spots in the road you feel the back end of the KJ push from one side to the other

How will that go on the open road, 100kph (60mph, sorry).

Well it is a concern but he said he is addressing it so well see.

THat looks like Al old KJ, did Al ever sell his?

That's true.

If the 6" lift is so close what's to stop you having a 4" lift & running your 31's. Perhaps this setup can be modified to allow for a smaller lift, I'm thinking that 4" & 31's + current diff's would suite me just fine. It would also be easier to get an engineering report & rego on a 4" lift. I'm talking about a stable 4" lift, not what you can add to a 2" or 2.5" lift.

Has anyone covered this :?:

Neatus · **Posted:** Fri Jul 27, 2007 7:10 am

RespectMyLibertay wrote:

Since he did sell his business, I'm going to guess money was a larger factor in his decision than say, concerns about it's future products' quality. Don't get me wrong, Al is a great guy...but he is human. Considering all the possibilities, I think Marlin can just as easily sell a low-quality kit as he could sell a trail-tested, quality kit. I just pray to high heaven he's doing his homework with another KJ...the last thing we need is another RockKrawler style product-disaster, leaving consumer and company pissed about everything! That said, I'm insanely excited to see what exactly the kit comprises of, how much it cost, and how hard it is to install. Last but not least, if Marlin doesn't use any other test vehicle besides Al's old KJ, I'll definitely have to wait for someone here at LOST to buy it and report back with how well it's holding up.

Al only got out of the KJ parts making buisness because he decided to get a TJ Rubi and got a new job that gives him less time to make stuff for a vehicle he no longer has personal interest in. He invested a lot of time and money into this and didn't want to see his work go to waste and sold it in the best interest of the rest of us KJ owners.

As for Al's old KJ....I believe last time I talked to him he said he had sold the KJ to an Army guy here in NY. I think that company is just showing pics of Als KJ to tide us over.

m_innerst · **Posted:** Fri Jul 27, 2007 9:24 am

does anyone have any idea what the price range for it will be compared to sfa

RespectMyLibertay · **Posted:** Fri Jul 27, 2007 11:51 am

Guessing $1-3K. If you look at your average "do it right" SFA swap, it starts around $10K, from what we've seen here on the boards.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Fri Jul 27, 2007 1:02 pm

m_innerst wrote:

does anyone have any idea what the price range for it will be compared to sfa

I'd be guessing about $3000-$4000,depending on if it comes with new front knuckles or not,then maybe add another $1000 or so for install.Then you got the cost of new tires(rims?) and you'll need a new rear driveshaft forsure,another $350-$1500 depending if you stay with the OEM slip yoke or do a SYE kit with CV shaft.

Al's 6" Lift

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