Frankenlift PROBLEMS,,,, advice appreciated.

Psychojeeper · **Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2010 7:20 pm

I got in the Frankenlift 2 Deluxe last weekend. Along with the lift went in new upper A-arms from Jeepin by Al, new lower ball joints (Moog), extended stainless braided brake lines and new polyurethane sway bar bushings. All other parts were pulled apart, cleaned and refurbished or rebuilt. Since the lift was completed it has been alligned and I had the tires re-ballanced. Ran great and smooth with ONE exception,,,,

While making turns (such as on the street, into my driveway, etc), the sway bar is hitting the lower A-arms. There are already flat spots developing on the arms and bar where they keep hammering away at each other. I have double checked and the sway bar was reinstalled correctly.

I spoke to a tech at All J and emailed him some photos, but he hasnt heard of this before and is looking for a solution. Suggested maybe some sort of fabbed up sway bar links (for "The Best Suspension Available I shouldnt have to fab anything to get it to work). He was supposed to do some checking and call me this morning but I never heard from them.

I chose this lift based on advice from those who have installed them and admired the companies customer service,,,bad bet it looks like.

Do you guys have any ideas?
Im starting to get kinda pi$$ed that I spent 1600$ and 3 days getting this suspension in/rebuilt.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2010 7:23 pm

What coils did you get? If you got the 927's and do not have a heavy front steel bumper and winch the coils need to settle some and the problem will go away,go hit some speed bumps hard or flex the front out alot offroad.If you got the 790 coils with no heavy front bumper and winch you need to rethink your coil choice as they are to heavy of a coil for your application.Also if you added any clevis lift or a OTT spacer you need to remove them.

Another thing is after the coils settle the alignment will need to be set again and that will help with this issue as right now your cam bolts have the LCA's oin a bad spot that allows contact,go beat the s**t out of it some and get another alignment and then go from there.

Oh and finally you couldn't do any better then the Frankinlift,maybe could have spent some more $$$ at JBA which is a good lift but most of the others are junk lifts for the KJ.

jeep4life7 · **Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2010 7:37 pm

tjkj2002 wrote:

What coils did you get? If you got the 927's and do not have a heavy front steel bumper and winch the coils need to settle some and the problem will go away,go hit some speed bumps hard or flex the front out alot offroad.If you got the 790 coils with no heavy front bumper and winch you need to rethink your coil choice as they are to heavy of a coil for your application.Also if you added any clevis lift or a OTT spacer you need to remove them.

Another thing is after the coils settle the alignment will need to be set again and that will help with this issue as right now your cam bolts have the LCA's oin a bad spot that allows contact,go beat the s**t out of it some and get another alignment and then go from there.

Oh and finally you couldn't do any better then the Frankinlift,maybe could have spent some more $$$ at JBA which is a good lift but most of the others are junk lifts for the KJ.

you seem like a smart guy how is the ome lift, ive had mine for a week or so should i expect problems and also what about a 1in spacer in the back to pick it up a bit more( would that hurt anything

Psychojeeper · **Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2010 7:46 pm

Thanks for the reply, but I have never been big on the "Hope for the best" method of solving mechanical problems. Guess I was expecting more "out-of-the-box" based on reviews/recommendations I recieved. I'll keep looking for solutions.

1996xj · **Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2010 8:11 pm

I have delt with multiple "FRANKY" lift's and there is a fix !! Remove the LIFT !!! between having to crush the front spring's in order to not tear the inner CV boot's and the strut noise that will develope when the poly bushing's don't hold the sturt centerd in the upper mount you'r not only money ahead your blood pressure will thank you later !! :wink:

Front :
OME 927 spring's, factory top stut mount, a 3/8 top plate spacer, and 2 or 3 condut nut's per stut !!

Rear :
OME heavy spring's with one or two extra spacer's per spring or JBA 4inch rear spring's

InCommando · **Posted:** Thu Aug 12, 2010 1:18 am

What he said. The powers that be here paint a target on you for pointing out the problems with that lift, though. Isn't it curious that their tech guy claims to have no idea what you are talking about, but some poster knows exacty what the problem is and knows of the supposed cause AND fix? :wink:

Follow the lift 1996XJ described and you do not have the issues the OP experienced and you will keep a couple of bucks in your pocket, as well, even running "too heavy" ( :ROTFL:

) springs. My HD OME's without a heavy bumper or winch DO NOT cause any contact. Amazing, huh? :roll:

And I didn't have to bash speed bumps or any other nonsense to make a high dollar lift function like it should... :shock:

Did anyone mention the potential for the poly bushings allowing the "strut stem" to contact the metal and literally be cut in half, causing a catastrophc failure?

M&P40 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 12, 2010 2:28 pm

i have the frankenlift and have no problems, i thought i had a problem with sway bar contact and found that i just needed to tighten the bolts on my upper A arms to get rid of the sporadic knock, also you may try turning the sway bar links a different direction and see if they may have been put on backwards. i coulda swore it was my sway bar (even thought i saw a spot where they were contacting) but all i needed to do was put a bit more torque on that pain in the A double S driver side rear A arm bolt, i found with the right extensions and skillz i did not even need to remove anything to get at it to tighten it up

M&P40 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 12, 2010 2:31 pm

also you may notice that at full drop you have contact where the A arm comes out of the body into the wheel well. that may be the sound you hear as well

03CDKJ · **Posted:** Thu Aug 12, 2010 5:36 pm

The Frankenlift is a great lift.... Don't listen to these fools... :goink:

I had over 30,000 miles on my first frankenlift... and about 25,000 miles on my current frankenlift
Tommudd is using the frankenlift that towstrap and 1996xj removed and is having no problems...
I am running the EXACT same setup as Tommudd.... and have no contact issues or noises....

If the swaybar links are (Upside down or sideways) you will have contact issues with the lower control arm... Proven and tested
Take off the wheels and retighten everything...

Country_Rob · **Joined:** Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:07 am **Posts:** 16

Howdy,

I just ordered a Frankenlift II Premium for All J Products, as a matter of fact it is in route and should be here on Monday. I am very excited to finally get a lift on my KJ after buying it new in 2004. I also ordered JBA A-arms with lower BJ's. As I said, I am looking forward to the intall (for which I will do myself), at least until I started to read this posting. I'm now a little aprehensive about my choice of lift, which I based on reading the many postings on this forum over the past month. Like PychoJeeper, I too have spent $1,700 plus. It is not of any comfort to hear someone say that the way to fix your problem, is to remove that which you just spent hard-earned money on. This is simply not a fix, as I sincerely doubt we will be able to return our lift kits, especially after it has been installed and beat around the block a few times. There are many on this forum that have installed Frankenlifts without issue and are very happy. Somewhere there is a "Red X" that is causing the bumping noise PychoJeeper has experienced.

PychoJeeper, please keep us all abreast of your progress in resolving your Frankenlift problems.

1996xj · **Posted:** Thu Aug 12, 2010 10:27 pm

"The Frankenlift is a great lift.... Don't listen to these fools...
I had over 30,000 miles on my first frankenlift... and about 25,000 miles on my current frankenlift
Tommudd is using the frankenlift that towstrap and 1996xj removed and is having no problems...
I am running the EXACT same setup as Tommudd.... and have no contact issues or noises...."

I guess if I had 400lbs of CRAP, ( tools, bumper's rack's and 50lbs of RED and BLACK paint on my KJ) and a TOP secret front axle drop !! SHHHHHHH, in my jeep the weight would off set the problem's of flawed design !!!! :goink:

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 12, 2010 10:46 pm

[quote="1996xj] I guess if I had 400lbs of CRAP, ( tools, bumper's rack's and 50lbs of RED and BLACK paint on my KJ) and a TOP secret front axle drop !! SHHHHHHH, in my jeep the weight would off set the problem's of flawed design !!!! :goink:

[/quote]

I've installed about 30 so Frankinlifts and none had this issue,some were close and after the front coils settled some(they will as all coils will) they had plenty of room.Not every KJ is built the same,that is evident when you get them on teh alignment rack.I've had stock KJ's that you could not get back into OE specs but that freshly Frankinlifted KJ would,seen it the other way around also.Seen more issues with newer ones due to the lack of the cradle centering bolts that disappeared sometime in '03.

InCommando · **Posted:** Thu Aug 12, 2010 11:33 pm

03CDKJ wrote:

I am running the EXACT same setup as Tommudd.... ...

Then why is his taller? :mrgreen:

yodejt02 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 12, 2010 11:33 pm

No problems with mine. It's been on for 2 years now, and the only "problem" I had was the sway bar links not being tightened enough. After torquing everything again on the front chassis I have had no problems. That's with using the stock upper A arms as well.

2006 with the Franky 2 premium

:2cents:

03CDKJ · **Posted:** Thu Aug 12, 2010 11:46 pm

InCommando wrote:

03CDKJ wrote:

I am running the EXACT same setup as Tommudd.... ...

Then why is his taller? :mrgreen:

It's an illusion
245/75 3 yr old mtr's vs 265/75 new duratrac's

InCommando · **Posted:** Thu Aug 12, 2010 11:48 pm

Country_Rob wrote:

Howdy,

I just ordered a Frankenlift II Premium for All J Products, as a matter of fact it is in route and should be here on Monday. I am very excited to finally get a lift on my KJ after buying it new in 2004. I also ordered JBA A-arms with lower BJ's. As I said, I am looking forward to the intall (for which I will do myself), at least until I started to read this posting. I'm now a little aprehensive about my choice of lift, which I based on reading the many postings on this forum over the past month. Like PychoJeeper, I too have spent $1,700 plus. It is not of any comfort to hear someone say that the way to fix your problem, is to remove that which you just spent hard-earned money on. This is simply not a fix, as I sincerely doubt we will be able to return our lift kits, especially after it has been installed and beat around the block a few times. There are many on this forum that have installed Frankenlifts without issue and are very happy. Somewhere there is a "Red X" that is causing the bumping noise PychoJeeper has experienced.

PychoJeeper, please keep us all abreast of your progress in resolving your Frankenlift problems.

Hey, the guy who claims he has installed at least 30 is the one that says you have to bounce them off of speed bumps at high speed to get them right :roll:

.... If the owner can be believed, that the frankenlift mentioned as being the one 1996 Xj removed has been apart numerous times and more than likley modified. :wink:

The expense of the JBA arms is constant and a great idea no matter the lift. Other than that I think the point is you can get a better lift for less money by piecing it together yourself. Part of the rep. of the franky could be due to powers that be behind this site and the fact that many who pay a premium for the "best" are often reluctant to discuss issues.... The info on the poly bushings allowing metal to metal contact and at least once cutting the top of the strut off are documented if you want to look for them.

InCommando · **Posted:** Thu Aug 12, 2010 11:50 pm

03CDKJ wrote:

InCommando wrote:

03CDKJ wrote:

I am running the EXACT same setup as Tommudd.... ...

Then why is his taller? :mrgreen:

It's an illusion
245/75 3 yr old mtr's vs 265/75 new duratrac's

I saw them before the duratracs....

03CDKJ · **Posted:** Fri Aug 13, 2010 12:05 am

That's before we switched suspensions... for the ????? time...

How many frankenlifts have you installed Don!?!??!
PPPPPPPFFFFFFFTTTTT! :goink:

yodejt02 · **Posted:** Fri Aug 13, 2010 7:41 am

Quote:

The expense of the JBA arms is constant and a great idea no matter the lift. Other than that I think the point is you can get a better lift for less money by piecing it together yourself. Part of the rep. of the franky could be due to powers that be behind this site and the fact that many who pay a premium for the "best" are often reluctant to discuss issues.... The info on the poly bushings allowing metal to metal contact and at least once cutting the top of the strut off are documented if you want to look for them.

FRANKENLIFT CONSPIRACY!!!!!!! Come on really?! :dizzy:

I am on of those owners that WOULD let anyone know about problems with the lift. Or maybe I am just a paid goon who is spreading Frankenlift propaganda for Frankenlift world domination!!!!!!

:frankie:

InCommando · **Posted:** Fri Aug 13, 2010 10:48 am

03CDKJ wrote:

That's before we switched suspensions... for the ????? time...

How many frankenlifts have you installed Don!?!??!
PPPPPPPFFFFFFFTTTTT! :goink:

You and Tom taking each other's lifts off ten times a month to switch stuff up isn't the same... :mrgreen:

So, are your and Tom's lift's 100% Factory franky...no tweaking...no changes...no other lift/suspension "mods" except maybe JBA arms...?

Frankenlift PROBLEMS,,,, advice appreciated.

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