Franklift II - are Al's arms necessary?

Cloak · **Posted:** Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:04 pm

I will be ordering the Frankenlift II on Oct 1st when they get the OME long travel shocks in, do I need to have upgraded arms for my 2004 KJ with that kit?

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Sat Sep 15, 2007 10:08 pm

You dont NEED them but they are a great improvement over the stock a-arms. They also push the tops of the knuckle out so that a proper alignment can be obtained.

JL Rockies · **Posted:** Sat Sep 15, 2007 11:49 pm

I have the FL II without the Al's arms and the dealer was able to get it aligned (at least that's what the tell me).

carroll952 · **Posted:** Sat Sep 15, 2007 11:53 pm

The new Frankenlift does have a little bumpstop added to the spacer on the front to help with upper ball joint contact. However if you do have contact of any sort it probably is a good idea to get Al's arms. Once your lift is on and settled (this could take a while if you have the HD springs), jack up the front end and see if the UCAs contact the springs.

P.S. How did you like all that snow last winter?

swtwomyn · **Posted:** Wed Sep 26, 2007 10:56 am

On 9/5/07 I installed the Frankenlift II on just the front as I had longer shocks and pucks in the back already. I replaced the stock strut assembly and strut spacer lift from Rusty's. (I do want the rear Frankie too at some point.) Anyway, the drivers side rubber piece designed to minimize contact, is not in line with the UBJ,it is rotated off to the right, it is a assembly error and my UBJ makes contact with the metal spring and has gouged the spring, not to mention the damage to the A-Arm Ball Joint. The passenger side does line up correctly. I contacted ALL J's on 9/6/07 the after installing it to let them know to send me another one or help me figure this out. Heather ask me to send pics, and I did, on Monday 9/10/07. I did not hear anything back, so I wrote and ask if she got the pics on 9/13/07. Heather wrote and said she sent them to her Tech to comment on. Last week I wrote back and ask her to please help me get this issue solved, I just replaced my A-Arm in July as it was bad and I had to have it done in a hurry, Camp Jeep was 2 days away. I didn't have time or money to get the al's A-Arms. Here it is 9/26/07, 3 weeks later and no reply on how they will solve this production error. I suggested they send me another one, and I will have it put on at my expense, and no reply. NOW I wonder if I should get both sides replaced, if I replace one now it will set up higher until it settles in..etc. I am very unhappy with the response from ALL J's. I left voice mail with my phone number and no call back either. I just want this resolved so I can feel better about the A-Arm making contact. I want the Al's A-Arms, but since these are new stock ones I have to just wait it out. In addition, I do not have the cash to buy them right now. I suggest going ahead and getting the Al's A-Arms if you can and have them put on at the same time. Before installing make sure, the rubber pieces line up with the A-Arm. I did not know to check this, and the guy installing it didn't know either. I hope ALL J’s will correct this soon, I had heard nothing but good stuff about them, so I cannot understand why I am being treated badly. I will update this as soon as I get word back from them.

Johnboy · **Posted:** Wed Sep 26, 2007 1:07 pm

JL Rockies wrote:

I have the FL II without the Al's arms and the dealer was able to get it aligned (at least that's what the tell me).

There was not enough adjustment on the concentric nut for camber adjustment to get mine right (from firestone).

With the new (no internal spacer) CRD OME HD FLII I have no Upper A arm contact (stock upper A's) it is close though! There are no bump stops in the strut assembly. Due to an increased gap between the clevis and the bottom of the strut assembly (clevis lift), at full droop I do have contact between the inner CV boot and the bottom of the round part of the clevis, but only on the drivers side (shorter CV shaft on that side of CRD). I figure that after a bunch of miles the UBJ will get loose and I will add Al's upper A arms then...also depends if she eats tires now due to being out of camber.

For swtwomyn: Did your rustys have an upper strut plate spacer? Did you use it when you put the FL strut in? That might cause contact? I dont under stand why my FL did not even have the bumpstops? I didnt need them as I have no contact, but still?

detroit_doc · **Posted:** Wed Sep 26, 2007 1:48 pm

swtwomyn wrote:

... I am very unhappy with the response from ALL J's. I left voice mail with my phone number and no call back either. I just want this resolved so I can feel better about the A-Arm making contact. ...

I installed a Frankenlift and had terrible spring/control arm contact. It destroyed both the upper ball joints in 100 miles. I also had a very hard time getting ALL-J's to even talk to me. So I pulled it off, shipped it back and disputed the charge on my credit card. Problem with bad customer service solved.

Even if it hadn't had the spring/upper control arm interference I felt the on-road ride of the frankenlift was downright dangerous. With almost no droop left in the suspension, the truck would get very squirrelly over rough pavement.

swtwomyn · **Posted:** Wed Sep 26, 2007 3:34 pm

For swtwomyn: Did your rustys have an upper strut plate spacer? Did you use it when you put the FL strut in? That might cause contact? I dont under stand why my FL did not even have the bumpstops? I didnt need them as I have no contact, but still?[/quote]

Yes it had the Rusty's upper plate spacer, but no I didn't leave it on there...it came off with the old spring and strut assembly. I have the Frankenlift II. I don't know when they started putting the rubber piece on there...it is a great idea. I wish mine was in the right place on the spring. The picture above shows both of them in the correct location.

Franklift II - are Al's arms necessary?

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