I looked at the top of the strut and saw that there was a gap between the internal spacer and the top leading me to believe the strut top nut was not tightened properly from the factory. I compressed the spring and cinched the nut down on both struts until there was no spaces on the top or bottom of the spacer. I probably gained about a 1/2 inch of stud through the top of the nut. Could this be what was causing too much droop allowing al a-arms to hit the springs? Also, is it possible to over tighten the nut?

Here is a picture to help you visualize.


You can see where the spacer is that was in loose. I tightened the top nut up so there was no spaces around the spacer. I also read on this site that the nut was to be torqued to 30 ft-ibs. If i ever get the chance to install this strut again i'm hoping i won't get a-arm contact this time.

Were they preassembled units from All J's? If so, give them a call and let them know about it.

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99 TJ
71 C101
04 KJ
03 SFA KJ Sport
LOST JEEPS So-Cal

what is that gold thingy under the strut spacer

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L.O.S.T. #225019
2003 Sport 4x4
Patriot Blue w/ trail rash
Flex-Zilla 4" Lift
TrailRash hi-lift mounts
Other stuff you wish you had

I'm not sure what the technical name is but it looks like the top cap on the strut housing. It combined with the spacer provides extra lift but also prevents the strut from fully compressing. I think it causes more droop also because it lowers the starting point of the droop.

Here is an overall picture so you can get an idea for yourself of what is going on. I had to compress the springs to tighten the top nut.



Here is the top nut that tightens down (center nut). I gained about 1/2 an inch of stud on the top.

iCarl - were you getting any weird noises or other symptoms that led you to look at your struts?

The reason I ask is I just installed a Frankenlift Prem. II lift and both my front struts are grunting (for lack of a better word) whenever they compress.

The noise i had was when the springs were drooping (opposite of compressing) because the a-arms hit the springs. I didn't have any noises compressing. My old springs use to make a groaning noise when i went off road but i just attributed that to them being 6 years old. I heard someone else had a groaning noise when they first put the frankenlift on and it went away after a few days. Just take it off road and give it a work out. You also might want to check if all bolts are tight. Some people have problems with swaybar bushings making noise.

One other thing i just thought of. Noises are created by friction so if there is anything that is loose or rubbing, it is going to create more friction. Those pads on the front of the strut for the a-arms rubbed against my springs. Perhaps they do on yours as well. Try lubricating the back of those pads and see if the noise goes away. Also try lubricating different things until the noise goes away. Then you will know.

icarl - thanks for posting this thread. After I exhausted all other possible causes of the grunting noise, I went ahead and pulled the struts to check on the top nuts. Mine were loose too. I was able to snug them up quite a bit and now the noise is all gone.

I decided to do an experiment and put the tightened strut on the passenger side. I found that al's a-arm still hit the spring. Next, i decided to take out the internal spacer. This lowered the strut height by 1 inch. I installed the new strut and viola - al's a-arm still hits the spring. Next, i tried the stock a-arm and found that while the knuckle still hits the pad on the strut the springs are not as thick as al's a-arms and clears the spring by 1 mm. So what next? I think i figured out that basically nothing will stop the knuckle from hitting the pad so i just have to increase the thickness of the pad so that al's a-arms do not hit. I don't see how anyone who has the frankenlift II prem and al's a-arms do not have spring contact. I've had both gen 4 and gen 4.5 a-arms and same result. The only other possiblity is that All J's put in too long of a strut in the coil and sent me the wrong part. The springs had a sticker that said ome 927 on them but i don't see anything on the strut. I'm thinking i may put it back together as it came and just use a thicker bump pad for the knuckle. As you can imagine this has been quite a challenge.

You may want to give Al J's a call and talk to them about it. They may be able to work with you to confirm that you actually did receive the correct struts.

I sent them a video clip of my problem. Maybe if you send them a pic, they could help you out too.

Their number is 909-866-4800. The girl I spoke to was Heather (she then got a tech named Quinn involved). Tell her you spoke to Nick (the other guy with a loose strut) and that may help bring her up to speed quicker.

to keep it all straight (the girl Heather) is the owners wife and she knows more about suspensions than most on here , (the tech guy Quinn) is the owner
There is not shorter or longer struts (really are shocks) only the ones for the KJ thats it.

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MUDD'S MOTORSPORT'S We do IFS lift installs ,
03 OVERLAND EDITION /Kilby-Skidrow-Mopar-4XGuard skids/ 2.5 inch TOTAL CONTROL JBA coilovers -JBA Arms/MOABS-31 FALKEN WILDPEAK AT3W / 4.10's etc, 04 Kilimanjaro Edition loaded, plus 05 KJ limited

I found the mark on the strut it says "NS131". That is the correct number according to All J's site. The conclusion therefore is that this is the design of the frankenlift II. The a-arms will hit. If you have a frankenlift II take a look under it and see if the knuckle touches the pad on the spring when the front is jacked up or tire off the ground. If it does then yes al's a-arms will also hit the spring on yours because the a-arm is wider than the knuckle. There is no way around it, if the knuckle hits the pad then the a-arm hits the spring. The only way i can see to fix this would be to use a shorter strut (shock) that limits the droop of the coil or to use a thicker bump pad that pushes the a-arm out farther away from the spring.

I talked to Rob at All j's and he said that with al's newer gen a-arms you will have some minor spring contact because the ball joint knuckle is thicker but he did not seem to think this would cause much problems or noise. He said the noises are probably coming from the a-arm's bottoming out on the pockets. He also said with the stock a-arms you will not get a-arm contact. Another thing he mentioned is that you can not take the internal spacer out because you will have metal on metal contact and eventually have the strut push through the top plate.

did you cut the pockets out when you put Als arms on? If not they will hit some for sure

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MUDD'S MOTORSPORT'S We do IFS lift installs ,
03 OVERLAND EDITION /Kilby-Skidrow-Mopar-4XGuard skids/ 2.5 inch TOTAL CONTROL JBA coilovers -JBA Arms/MOABS-31 FALKEN WILDPEAK AT3W / 4.10's etc, 04 Kilimanjaro Edition loaded, plus 05 KJ limited

Good news! I reinstalled the lift and got al's gen 4.5's to clear the spring. I figured out that the nuts need to be installed on the top of the a-arm not on the bottom for the ball joint mount. If you do this then the a-arm will clear the spring. Before that the nuts would hit. the idea struck me when i had to install a new ball joint in the a-arm because i (oops) stripped the first one. This is not the way jeepinbyal ships them unfortunately. But in the instructions that came with the new ball joint it shows to install them with the nuts on the top as well. I'm not sure why jeepinbyal installs them the other way.

I did pound the pockets when i first put in the one good a-arm i had at the time. But then i had noticed that the nut on the a-arm was hitting.

The instructions that came with the ball joint says to torque them to 50 ft-ibs. But the instructions do not have the rubber spacer that these have. The stock a-arms need to be tightened to 90 ft-ibs. Should i just go with the instructions or use the stock for reference?

Hey buddy, congrats on fixing the spring-to-arm contact! That's got to feel good.

Would you mind posting a pic? Maybe I haven't had enough coffee yet, but I'm having a hard time visualizing what you did.

As for the ball joints, I tightened mine to 90 ft-lbs. That's what the instructions that came with the control arms indicated. That being said, the instructions that came with the lift looked to be a photo copy of a shop manual and in no way specific to Al's control arms.