Doin' it the hard way.....

Bullet · **Posted:** Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:39 am

Ok, nobody ever said I took the easy way out....lol. It was last Friday and it was Frankenlift day. The out of town help was on time, the pizza was on time, the beer was on time, but the Frankenlift was delayed by a late train!! Who ever heard of such a thing?? Anyway, after two hours of arguing with the UPS folks and throwing my phone a few times the verdict was the same.....no lift until Monday. :cry:

EVERYONE I know told me to wait until Monday to start ripping Bullet apart. Did I listen?? NOPE!!

Friday I pulled the front springs off. I have to say a huge thanks to those who have done the picture stories of thier lift process. jfortier777, I am talking to you here!! Thanks!

I thought about stopping there but oh no, not me. Saturday, I pulled the rear shocks and springs, leaving Bullet on 4 jackstands looking like the victim of a wheel jacking!! I needed to wait for my boyfriend to drill the spring plates for me...no way was I gonna try that on my own. So in the mean time, my friend and I pulled her TJ apart and cleaned the sand out of everything and I put the power steering pump in Waggs.

Did I mention that the rear springs were shipped direct from the supplier and had arrived on Wednesday? So after drooling over the rear springs, I decided to go ahead and put them in. Chris drilled the spring plates and we threw the springs in. After much deliberation, I put the rear wheels on and set her on the ground....just to have a look see. Bullet looks awesome! (Even with no front suspension yet!) I get to pick up the rest of the lift at UPS at 930 this morning and finish her up.

I have been doing all of this with a crappy mismatched set of hand tools on a slanted carport surface. Seriously, a real breaker bar would have made my job much easier.....or air tools would have been GREAT!! lol.

Bottom line, I did the whold darn thing myself with the exception of spreading the clevis, and I had to have a couple of people stand on the rear to get enough droop to put the second spring in. I learned so much about the way all of this works. Looks like I am going to get about 3" of lift. Must have had the softer springs from the factory.

I will post pics either later today or tomorrow.

PS. The hardest thing about the whole process so far were those darn Christmas trees that hold the fuse box wires to the battery tray!! Gave me a run for my money!!!! heeheheheh

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Mon Aug 07, 2006 11:09 am

Awesome!! Thats purty freaken cool you did it all yourself. I hope you boy friend understands what he has!! :lol:

PICS!!!!!!

JJsTJ · **Posted:** Mon Aug 07, 2006 1:05 pm

Very cool! Gotta love a gal that works on Jeeps. :wink:

nolakj · **Posted:** Mon Aug 07, 2006 1:17 pm

Nice work Bullet!!! You got a sister? LOL

Bullet · **Posted:** Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:15 pm

Thanks for the kudos all. I am pretty proud of myself right now :wink:

I do have to admit that I called my neighbor in to help me put the last spring and clevis in. My arms were jello and I was so tired I was making stupid mistakes.....not something that you want to do on your suspension! Basically, I used his muscle and my brain....lol. I will be posting a few pics later on today or tomorrow....I must have had super soft springs cause I got huge lift from this thing!!! I will post pics with the exact measurements later on. Now on to the tire shop for bigger tires!!! Oh BTW do I need to get Bullet aligned? I didn't think to ask until after it was all over...LOL.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:26 pm

Bullet wrote:

Thanks for the kudos all. I am pretty proud of myself right now :wink:

I do have to admit that I called my neighbor in to help me put the last spring and clevis in. My arms were jello and I was so tired I was making stupid mistakes.....not something that you want to do on your suspension! Basically, I used his muscle and my brain....lol. I will be posting a few pics later on today or tomorrow....I must have had super soft springs cause I got huge lift from this thing!!! I will post pics with the exact measurements later on. Now on to the tire shop for bigger tires!!! Oh BTW do I need to get Bullet aligned? I didn't think to ask until after it was all over...LOL.

Yea, you need an alignment. It will settle some, maybe .25-.50in.

Bullet · **Posted:** Tue Aug 08, 2006 12:03 am

should I get her aligned right away or wait for her to settle. She drives fine, doesn't seem too far out at all.

2006KJSPORT4x4 · **Posted:** Tue Aug 08, 2006 12:19 am

If you drive her quite a bit daily I'd say wait a couple of months...I've read somewhere though were someone said to wait 6 months to let the lift settle...that just sounds a bit too long to me...might ruin a good set of tires for sure by then...granted waiting a couple of months could od the same though...

JFortier777 · **Posted:** Tue Aug 08, 2006 12:25 am

Mine settled a little over an inch. Deffinetly wait to get it aligned. I broke mine in in 1 day, I just took it out and beat some life into the springs. Hasn't settle a 1/10" since I wheeled it. I have yet to get an alignment also, but I do need one. I am just flat booty broke at the moment.

Bullet I am CrayZ happy that my feeble attempt at a how to was of some help to you. It sure beats the hell out of that stupid article that comes with the kit anyway.

Make sure to take lots of pics of everything!

Good Luck!

jpzkj · **Posted:** Tue Aug 08, 2006 1:18 am

Wait till it settles ...couple of trail runs probably then get the alignment done.
Make sure you go to a place that knows what they are doing (it can't go back to factory spec. since it's lifted... but you can make it track straight for sure).

Great job doing all of this yourself Im truely impressed when anyone that hasn't lifted a Jeep does it on their own. It's alot of work and especially w/out air tools. How are those Jello arms...still able to lift 12 oz.'s !!

ps...

Could you stop by my place and put my new intake manifold on my ZJ for me ?

Bullet · **Posted:** Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:24 am

I plan on taking Bullet out over the next few days.....between class assignments :cry:

and wheeling the crap out of her...lol. It is definately time to test the Frankenlift flex for myself. I will get her aligned in a few weeks after at least three or four good hard scrappin days. Thanks for all the advisement.

BTW, yes I can still lift 12oz. but it takes me at least 45 seconds to stand up all the way and my hands are so sore I have to have somebody twist the cap off for me!!! But hey, it is all about braggin rights...yea baby.

white04kj · **Posted:** Wed Aug 09, 2006 12:46 am

I'd say do the alignment before you get the new tires put on, I managed to round off the edges of my sidewall lugs pretty good after just a few days of driving, but as long as you're running stock rubber you should be alright. I may have just messed up my alignment worse than most people do.

Cowcatcher · **Posted:** Wed Aug 09, 2006 3:38 pm

Bullet

You go girl!!!!! Goes to show you can do anything you put your mind and heart too!

Bullet · **Posted:** Wed Aug 09, 2006 10:56 pm

I know I put my mind and heart in it....but why does my back hurt the worst????

Cacher123 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 10, 2006 1:12 am

If ure b/f hasn't popped for a ring yet, let me know!

Bullet · **Posted:** Fri Aug 11, 2006 4:18 pm

Cacher123 wrote:

If ure b/f hasn't popped for a ring yet, let me know!

He offered, but I thought ring schming I want new wheels for my Jeep! So Bullet wears my ring on her feet....lol.

Works for me!!

Doin' it the hard way.....

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