Few concerns lately...SOLVED! Thanks!

Gageraid · **Posted:** Sat Jul 27, 2013 11:46 pm

Beware of an all over the place post about to happen:

Before I had the lift, I wasn't exactly happy the way it rode, ya know, squishy over bumps and saggy as hell when ya brake.

With the lift installed, everything is great, at very slow speeds (10 mph or so) I feel like every bump has to send my suspension to work meaning I feel it "jiggle" for lack of a better word throughout the whole Jeep.

When I go over bumps at high speeds (35-60) it's not really noisy, but definitely not super quiet. I'm gonna guess this is normal when ya have a fairly new (less than 2,000 miles) on a new lift.

In the next few days that I have time I plan on rotating the tires, and hopefully trying anything you guys might suggest. Are there things I need to retighten? Is there a certain way to "break in" the lift?

I'd really appreciate any suggestions. I just want to make sure I'm not doing any harm.

GenRight Off Road · **Joined:** Mon Jul 15, 2013 3:45 am **Posts:** 273

A few questions:

1. Who installed the lift?

2. If self-installed, did you tighten to torque specs?

3. How many miles do you have on your Jeep since lift install?

4. Can you take pictures of the suspension set up for us to look at?

Whenever you install a new lift, you have to account for the new "seating" of the bolts/nuts....everything will be much tighter going together, but as you cycle your suspension it will start to loosen up. You will need to go back and re-check/re-tighten anything that isn't at the required torque specs.

In addition, you want to go through and re-check all your bolts ANY time you take your jeep off-roading. When you put your suspension through rigorous conditions, it is subject to loosing.

Gageraid · **Posted:** Sun Jul 28, 2013 12:35 am

GenRight Off Road wrote:

A few questions:

1. Who installed the lift?

2. If self-installed, did you tighten to torque specs?

3. How many miles do you have on your Jeep since lift install?

4. Can you take pictures of the suspension set up for us to look at?

Whenever you install a new lift, you have to account for the new "seating" of the bolts/nuts....everything will be much tighter going together, but as you cycle your suspension it will start to loosen up. You will need to go back and re-check/re-tighten anything that isn't at the required torque specs.

In addition, you want to go through and re-check all your bolts ANY time you take your jeep off-roading. When you put your suspension through rigorous conditions, it is subject to loosing.

1. A local 4x4 shop.

2.

3. I would say 2,000 miles at most so it's pretty brand new.

4. I can get some pictures tomorrow. I guess some shots of the springs, a-arms, and anything else?

Thanks for responding! I do always try to keep that in mind that the Jeep (and me) has to get used to all the new angles and it makes sense that it might take a little time. I'm hoping rotating my tires will help a little bit. Front driver's side tire has strange wear pattern (I'll get a picture of that) on outside of tire and creates a very slight vibration that I notice at low speeds.

Front hubs were changed 6,000 miles ago.

EDIT: Kind of surprised there is not one mark on my front bumpstops or a-arms. They all look great.

tommudd · **Posted:** Sun Jul 28, 2013 12:35 am

One of the main things I've been seeing and reading is the folks who install a new lift and then only drive around on paved roads/ no speed bumps/ no twisting / turning etc.
To fully get a new suspension to settle in you need to take them out and twist them up some. Riding down the road 2000 miles ain't going to do it. The suspension really isn't working that much just doing that, flex it out as much as possible, twist it up, then recheck everything and you'll be good. Mine with 187,000 miles has no suspension noises, rides great and this is the 3 rd lift and all have been the same. But I beat them when I first install them to break them in.

Gageraid · **Posted:** Sun Jul 28, 2013 12:38 am

tommudd wrote:

One of the main things I've been seeing and reading is the folks who install a new lift and then only drive around on paved roads/ no speed bumps/ no twisting / turning etc.
To fully get a new suspension to settle in you need to take them out and twist them up some. Riding down the road 2000 miles ain't going to do it. The suspension really isn't working that much just doing that, flex it out as much as possible, twist it up, then recheck everything and you'll be good. Mine with 187,000 miles has no suspension noises, rides great and this is the 3 rd lift and all have been the same. But I beat them when I first install them to break them in.

Thanks for responding, Tom! It's sad to admit my Jeep barely gets driven, and yes it's always on paved roads. It does crack me up that it does feel so much better when it's off road. Even when it was stock it felt better off road.

It just sucks there is no where close to me I can really "twist it up" but I WILL DEFINITELY start trying to do so more often.

If I still lived in the Pine Barrens I could just drive down the road and enter some trails.

tommudd · **Posted:** Sun Jul 28, 2013 1:22 am

I never told you to do this , :-)r

but heck even pulling up on a curb / parking blocks etc will compress the suspension a little bit and will help

jjohnson1892 · **Posted:** Sun Jul 28, 2013 9:24 am

There are some good off road parks within an hour of us that I want to get to some day, I'll ask my friends which ones they are and get back to you.

I was going to ask how much "twisting it up" it would take to truly break it in, but I figured my KK needs to stretch it's new legs as much as possible so time to go find some creek beds and trails :-)r

Gageraid · **Posted:** Sun Jul 28, 2013 9:36 am

tommudd wrote:

I never told you to do this , :-)r

but heck even pulling up on a curb / parking blocks etc will compress the suspension a little bit and will help

I'm honestly going to try this as much as possible. I've read a whole lot of information here, but never too much about breaking in the lift.

Gageraid · **Posted:** Sun Jul 28, 2013 9:37 am

jjohnson1892 wrote:

There are some good off road parks within an hour of us that I want to get to some day, I'll ask my friends which ones they are and get back to you.

I was going to ask how much "twisting it up" it would take to truly break it in, but I figured my KK needs to stretch it's new legs as much as possible so time to go find some creek beds and trails :-)r

Sounds good.

Gageraid · **Posted:** Sun Jul 28, 2013 9:37 am

Pictures incoming shortly.

Gageraid · **Posted:** Sun Jul 28, 2013 10:19 am

Rear driver side shock.

Driver side front.

Horrible wear on outside of front driver side tire.

Passenger side

GenRight Off Road · **Joined:** Mon Jul 15, 2013 3:45 am **Posts:** 273

Gageraid wrote:

1. A local 4x4 shop.

2.

3. I would say 2,000 miles at most so it's pretty brand new.

4. I can get some pictures tomorrow. I guess some shots of the springs, a-arms, and anything else?

Thanks for responding! I do always try to keep that in mind that the Jeep (and me) has to get used to all the new angles and it makes sense that it might take a little time. I'm hoping rotating my tires will help a little bit. Front driver's side tire has strange wear pattern (I'll get a picture of that) on outside of tire and creates a very slight vibration that I notice at low speeds.

Front hubs were changed 6,000 miles ago.

EDIT: Kind of surprised there is not one mark on my front bumpstops or a-arms. They all look great.

Thanks for filling us in....What Tom said as well!

1. Personally (my own personal input) I NEVER let anyone install parts on my Jeep other than to help me (like a wrenching party). The best way to know your jeep (if you aren't mechanically inclined grab some buddies with mechanical skills) is to put everything on as a owner install. This way YOU KNOW how everything goes on in order to later diagnose any problems if something starts to act up.

2. Knowing that a shop installed it for you, and the fact that you are at 2k miles (normal re-check is at 500 miles and after EVERY off-road excursion) without having cycled your suspension as others mentioned, I would DEFINITELY go back in and double check everything for torque specs! If you do not have the suspension kit install sheets, most website sales locations have them in PDF....I know quadratec puts the install sheets on their sites for almost everything (or use to at one point).

3. Wear of the tires.....sounds like the caster/camber is off which can be resolved through an alignment but would definitely contribute to steering/ride issues as the tire wears uneven. Ever ride in a UHAUL or Ryder truck that has out-of-round tires? Imagine riding in a big cargo truck loaded down and all of a sudden the front starts hopping like a Cali style low rider on air bags popping at a car show! LOL

I am not an expert on KKs/KJs, but I would say take a picture of ALL components to your suspension system:
- swaybars
- control arms/IFS
- shocks (already covered)
- bump stops (already covered)
- track bars
- better shots of your springs
- all axle joints (driveshafts and tire-axle points)

and anything else you see pictures of....if you are wondering "should I take a picture of this too?" the answer would be yes. Post it all up front to back so we can all take a look and help out!

This is GREAT dialogue everyone is having for you!

Gageraid · **Posted:** Sun Jul 28, 2013 11:17 pm

I really did want to (save a few bucks) install it myself, but not knowing many people in my area since I just moved here and living on a rock driveway isn't the best for wrenching. If I still lived with my pop I prob would have made him help me as he's been a mechanic forever.

I'm thinking so far the best advice is to just work the suspension as much as possible. On my way to my girlfriend's house tonight I made sure to run over every sewer drain man hole thing that came in front of me just so I could just hit a bump lol.

As for that tire, It was pretty chewed up when it was on the rear last tire rotation so I'm guessing it's just the rim or tire itself. I'll keep an eye on it when I rotate it again. To me it's just weird that it's choppy no matter which way you run your hand against it.

Maybe some more pictures this week of the springs if that's when I rotate the tires.

Another question I have is do those wires that hang in the front wheel wells look okay? They look sloppy to me like they should be tightened up or tucked away. I'd imagine they may knock around when ya drive and turn.

huntb · **Posted:** Mon Jul 29, 2013 8:29 am

Gageraid, let's get some pics of the front and rear sway bar links. If they weren't tightened when the Jeep was on the ground, it could cause some issues

crippled · **Joined:** Sun Feb 24, 2013 11:20 pm **Posts:** 284

i have alot of experience with this lately :ROTFL:

see my last thread on my OME noises. I managed to track them all down and get rid of them. What springs/shocks are you using? A-Arms?

Gageraid · **Posted:** Mon Jul 29, 2013 4:23 pm

huntb wrote:

Gageraid, let's get some pics of the front and rear sway bar links. If they weren't tightened when the Jeep was on the ground, it could cause some issues

More pictures incoming in a moment. I'll take pictures of the sway bars in a little while.

Gageraid · **Posted:** Mon Jul 29, 2013 4:31 pm

A few of these bolts look either bent or not tightened all the way... I'd really appreciate if anyone sees anything clearly wrong. I should prob go down to the shop and have them look at it, but would appreciate advice from the Jeep Gods first.

Gageraid · **Posted:** Mon Jul 29, 2013 11:30 pm

Bump for new pics.

Gageraid · **Posted:** Tue Jul 30, 2013 11:25 pm

Surprised no one else has replied to this. I'm just going to suspect the front and rear sway bar for now and that they weren't tightened properly. I'll swing by the shop tomorrow after I hit the gym and see if I have any luck. The ride home tonight was very rough. Seems like every bump is turning into a pothole. :banghead:

GenRight Off Road · **Joined:** Mon Jul 15, 2013 3:45 am **Posts:** 273

some of the pictures are hard to tell due to focus or being sideways (injured neck at the moment with herniated disc) so hard to look sideways!

But I would agree that it's possible the bolts might be loose based on the pictures. If you could get some better focused ones that would help.

NOTE: What lift kit did you go with and have you tried to look up the installation sheets from the manufacturer to go back and recheck the torque specs?

Few concerns lately...SOLVED! Thanks!

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