JBA 4" lift update

Guest · **Posted:** Wed Jan 02, 2008 11:28 pm

Didn't want to leave anyone hanging...

I did get all the parts. & installed the rear, & partially the front. That wasn't my intention, of course, but the springs for the front are WAY too stiff. So Marlin of JBA is currently doing the leg work to remedy this problem. Part of being a guinea pig, I guess

So, for now, I have about a 5" lift in the rear & a 5/8" clevis lift in the front... My headlights don't shine as far out as they used to! :shock:

I'll do a writeup once the issue is sorted out, & the whole kit is installed.

Hood297 · **Posted:** Wed Jan 02, 2008 11:37 pm

What does this kit include for the rear other than longer springs/shocks and longer brake lines?

Guest · **Posted:** Wed Jan 02, 2008 11:54 pm

And this little thing:

Which is actually a lot of work. it drops the differential about 2.5" down from the ball joint, and those washers are used for shims to adjust the pinion angle. This piece, & the front upper control arms made me wish I had an air compressor.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Wed Jan 02, 2008 11:57 pm

KJpilot wrote:

And this little thing:

Which is actually a lot of work. it drops the differential about 2.5" down from the ball joint, and those washers are used for shims to adjust the pinion angle. This piece, & the front upper control arms made me wish I had an air compressor.

That piece was rather easy,but I had a 1/2" cordless impact though,got to love thread locker!

Guest · **Posted:** Thu Jan 03, 2008 12:09 am

Turning the mounting bolts on the differential was the hard part. It took a bit of work to get all six holes to line up properly, but turning those 3 bolts took lots of work.

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Thu Jan 03, 2008 10:02 am

Yes, those front springs are extremely stiff. I have about 5.5" of lift in the front. Way too much for the CV's. My CV's were not cut down in length though.

Did you use all four spacers on the front? We took off two and saw only about 1/4" drop. So still well over 5" in front. I still get a grinding noise in 4-Full Time.

Guest · **Posted:** Thu Jan 03, 2008 11:40 am

Tokyojoe wrote:

Yes, those front springs are extremely stiff. I have about 5.5" of lift in the front. Way too much for the CV's. My CV's were not cut down in length though.

Did you use all four spacers on the front? We took off two and saw only about 1/4" drop. So still well over 5" in front. I still get a grinding noise in 4-Full Time.

After you guys did your install, Marlin emailed me saying do not use the 4 top plates, so I didn't. I ended up with 5-1/8" lift on the front. The bad part was the spring had no give at all. I had to use a ratcheting tow strap with one end on the bottom of the lower control arm, & the other end on the frame, behind the fender.

By doing that, I had everything connected, but there was just a scary amount of pressure on the UCA ball joint. The JBA UCA was in contact with the spring. It just wasn't right. I put the wheels on & let the KJ down & the spring only compressed about 3/8". the UCA lifted off the spring by about 1/4".

I was in contact with Marlin through all this, & he agreed that this was way to stiff. So he recommended reinstalling the stock strut assemblies. Like I said above, he's working on the issue this week, & hopes to have a solution to me within 2 weeks. He clearly cares about his product & his customers. I was on the phone with him on the Saturday evening before New Years trying to figure out what was wrong. How many other businesses will do that?

The rear end feels fantastic. I'm confident that once everything is sorted out this is going to be a great kit.

jerbacher · **Posted:** Thu Jan 03, 2008 1:38 pm

KJpilot,

What are you planning on doing about the CV tubes? Are you going to machine them yourself? Find someone to do it? Buy JE Reels?

Guest · **Posted:** Thu Jan 03, 2008 1:44 pm

jerbacher wrote:

KJpilot,

What are you planning on doing about the CV tubes? Are you going to machine them yourself? Find someone to do it? Buy JE Reels?

I got the JE Reels... already installed. Marlin sells another brand as well that he machines, for quite a bit less. But I wanted to build this right, & I've had my eye on JE Reel axles for a few years now... It was time to make the jump.

myjeepwalks · **Posted:** Thu Jan 03, 2008 8:13 pm

KJpilot wrote:

Didn't want to leave anyone hanging...

I did get all the parts. & installed the rear, & partially the front. That wasn't my intention, of course, but the springs for the front are WAY too stiff. So Marlin of JBA is currently doing the leg work to remedy this problem. Part of being a guinea pig, I guess

So, for now, I have about a 5" lift in the rear & a 5/8" clevis lift in the front... My headlights don't shine as far out as they used to! :shock:

I'll do a writeup once the issue is sorted out, & the whole kit is installed.

Those front springs wouldn't settle any after a few miles of driving? Same springs tokyojoe has with his lift correct?

Guest · **Posted:** Thu Jan 03, 2008 11:26 pm

myjeepwalks wrote:

Those front springs wouldn't settle any after a few miles of driving? Same springs tokyojoe has with his lift correct?

Sounds like some of the same issues came up on Tokyo Joe's install, & provided there was not a mix-up at Eibach, they are same springs. They may settle, but they are not supposed to be this stiff, which is why Marlin is doing the work now to remedy the situation. The springs are more than an inch above JBA's target with new springs.

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Thu Jan 03, 2008 11:40 pm

Super stiff. No doubt. While I would love to have the 5.5 inches of lift, the CV's won't surivive and I can't run 4x4 unless I make the CV's die even faster.

Could be worth it for a 2wd KJ. Not sure what the front suspension of a 2wd KJ looks like but if they have no form of CV's, it should be pretty good for looks.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Thu Jan 03, 2008 11:45 pm

2wd libertys have the same suspension. They are just missing the front diff and cv's.

Jeep4me99 · **Posted:** Thu Jan 03, 2008 11:47 pm

Tokyojoe wrote:

Super stiff. No doubt. While I would love to have the 5.5 inches of lift, the CV's won't surivive and I can't run 4x4 unless I make the CV's die even faster.

Could be worth it for a 2wd KJ. Not sure what the front suspension of a 2wd KJ looks like but if they have no form of CV's, it should be pretty good for looks.

Darn that stinks, after all the waiting and aniticipation...for you not just us!!!! I wonder why he had the spring rate set so high....its more than the OME HD's isn't it??...maybe they were really planning on this kit having a fat bumper on the front with winch and all.

They will work it out though after all they put into it.

So TokyoJoe...no settling at all yet???? Did you fix the issue with the extended brake lines?

jerbacher · **Posted:** Fri Jan 04, 2008 12:08 am

doesnt seem like that huge of a deal. it sounds like they're going to get the stiffness taken care of, and everyone already knew that you had to cut the cvs...

Guest · **Posted:** Fri Jan 04, 2008 10:48 am

jerbacher wrote:

doesnt seem like that huge of a deal. it sounds like they're going to get the stiffness taken care of, and everyone already knew that you had to cut the cvs...

That's right, it is not a huge deal at all. Marlin is trying to figure it out. His jeep & Joe Jeepers are the prototypes for the 4" & 6" and neither of them are having issues. It will get sorted out.

Everyone should continue to be excited, this is going to be a great lift. And be thankful TokyJoe, Rock Lizard, & myself agreed to be the guinea pigs!

jerbacher · **Posted:** Fri Jan 04, 2008 10:52 am

the one major concern i have with the lift is just the fact that those CVs are apparently so difficult to modify. I think that was according to rock lizards install? It doesnt seem like a complete lift kit to me if you still have to buy new half shafts or pay a bunch of money to get hardened steel machined to make it work. But, it would of course cost a bunch of money to include new half shafts in the kit. I dont have a solution for this or anything, just pointing out a concern.

Sport · **Posted:** Fri Jan 04, 2008 11:39 am

KJpilot wrote:

Everyone should continue to be excited, this is going to be a great lift. And be thankful TokyJoe, Rock Lizard, & myself agreed to be the guinea pigs!

We do appreciate you guys testing fitting this on your own vehicles and working out the bugs so it can be a great lift for the rest of us.

Now who is going to guinea pig a new front diff for us?? :wink:

BeepBeepJeepJeep · **Posted:** Fri Jan 04, 2008 1:45 pm

Sport wrote:

KJpilot wrote:

Everyone should continue to be excited, this is going to be a great lift. And be thankful TokyJoe, Rock Lizard, & myself agreed to be the guinea pigs!

We do appreciate you guys testing fitting this on your own vehicles and working out the bugs so it can be a great lift for the rest of us.

Now who is going to guinea pig a new front diff for us?? :wink:

If someone in my area builds one, I would...

BeepBeepJeepJeep · **Posted:** Fri Jan 04, 2008 1:46 pm

KJpilot wrote:

jerbacher wrote:

doesnt seem like that huge of a deal. it sounds like they're going to get the stiffness taken care of, and everyone already knew that you had to cut the cvs...

That's right, it is not a huge deal at all. Marlin is trying to figure it out. His jeep & Joe Jeepers are the prototypes for the 4" & 6" and neither of them are having issues. It will get sorted out.

Everyone should continue to be excited, this is going to be a great lift. And be thankful TokyJoe, Rock Lizard, & myself agreed to be the guinea pigs!

Who're you kidding? If you are anything like me you had the money sitting there waiting to be burned on a lift, one came out, and you said "What are the odds of it f*cking something up?"

JBA 4" lift update

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