Rustys OTT spacer 2.5 lift help

npkdm · **Joined:** Wed Sep 03, 2014 8:28 pm **Posts:** 163

I just installed one side (front) of the rustys spacer lift. I also installed new quick struts so the springs are brand new. I had to take the upper control arm loose to get the old struts out and the new ones back I in with the spacers.

The problem- sitting on the tire with full weight on it the upper ball joint doesn't protrude through the knuckle enough to get the nut on it. Will the spring settle over night enough to get the ball joint attached properly? Does my camber adjustment affect this? Where have I messed up?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks

tommudd · **Posted:** Sun Sep 04, 2016 8:36 pm

npkdm wrote:

I just installed one side (front) of the rustys spacer lift. I also installed new quick struts so the springs are brand new. I had to take the upper control arm loose to get the old struts out and the new ones back I in with the spacers.

The problem- sitting on the tire with full weight on it the upper ball joint doesn't protrude through the knuckle enough to get the nut on it. Will the spring settle over night enough to get the ball joint attached properly? Does my camber adjustment affect this? Where have I messed up?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks

FIRST is it too late to talk you into removing them?
They are crap
But if not no need to remove the UCAs or the LCAs to do any type of lift on these
Now onto the UBJ coming down to the spindle, Just use a pry bar and stick it back in the spring and pry it down into place
If you are convinced you want to use this lift please at least go to www.jeepinbyal.com and order Teraflex front bumpstops. It will help the UBJs last a little while
Make sure to get an alignment afterwards of course
Also if you had the UCAs loose do not tighten them until full weight is on the ground

tommudd · **Posted:** Sun Sep 04, 2016 8:38 pm

Did you unbolt the sway bar link? if so do it on the other side, also helps to remove the caliper and get it out of the way
but again no need to unbolt the UCA at all to do the lifts
and seriously , think about sending that lift back

npkdm · **Joined:** Wed Sep 03, 2014 8:28 pm **Posts:** 163

Thanks for the replies. Just to be more clear .... I didn't remove the upper control arms. I just unbolted the upper ball joint to separate the UCA from the knuckle.

I unbolted the sway bar link on that side but left the other bolted until I saw I had a problem. Then I unbolted it to start the install on the other side. It didn't help.

And sorry for going with the rustys lift. I was replacing the struts and strut mounts and decided to put a spacer kit on since it was under $200. I had no desire to spend 600 to 1000 on a full suspension kit. This is my daily driver and it won't be rock crawling or mudding. Just back and forth to work and the occasional dirt road. I just miss riding high off the ground

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

tommudd · **Posted:** Mon Sep 05, 2016 2:26 am

npkdm wrote:

Thanks for the replies. Just to be more clear .... I didn't remove the upper control arms. I just unbolted the upper ball joint to separate the UCA from the knuckle.

I unbolted the sway bar link on that side but left the other bolted until I saw I had a problem. Then I unbolted it to start the install on the other side. It didn't help.

And sorry for going with the rustys lift. I was replacing the struts and strut mounts and decided to put a spacer kit on since it was under $200. I had no desire to spend 600 to 1000 on a full suspension kit. This is my daily driver and it won't be rock crawling or mudding. Just back and forth to work and the occasional dirt road. I just miss riding high off the ground

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You will have to watch front end parts close since spacer lifts wear everything out faster
PLUS most people who lift ( with a full spring lift ) hardly ever go off road anyways , they want a better ride on road, better handling over all etc.
Trust me full spring lift is 100 times better than stock ever was
In the end most everyone ends up removing their spacer lift and does a full spring
But good luck, should run for a while
Guy I bought the ARB front bumper off of back in 05 went through several UBJs and a few shocks before he just gave up and put it back to stock
I was really happy since I got an ARB front bumper for 1/5 the cost of a new one ( and it was only a year old !)

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Mon Sep 05, 2016 7:05 am

i usually stick a jack under the LBJ and jack the spindle up until the cv is about level or until it begins to take weight, and the uca will pull right down

tom prefers prybars, some prefer ratchet straps, i do it with magic lol

tommudd · **Posted:** Mon Sep 05, 2016 8:43 am

JeepinJarhead03 wrote:

i usually stick a jack under the LBJ and jack the spindle up until the cv is about level or until it begins to take weight, and the uca will pull right down

tom prefers prybars, some prefer ratchet straps, i do it with magic lol

Since he posted this
The problem- sitting on the tire with full weight on it the upper ball joint doesn't protrude through the knuckle enough to get the nut on it

I assumed that he had full weight on it and thus my answer of using a pry bar, usually I do it with " magic " as well but it seems for him it did not work so well using it ! :ROTFL:

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Mon Sep 05, 2016 9:33 am

i read it as

he was sitting on the tire (the tire being on the ground with his rear on it)

and he had full weight on the uca, like leaning on it with his arm.. lol

i mean it made sense when i read it outloud inside my head.. cause thats exactly what i do, i sit on the tire, i put my forearm across the top of the uca and reach down and raise the jack until i see the uca bolt poke through

:lol:

tommudd · **Posted:** Mon Sep 05, 2016 4:22 pm

JeepinJarhead03 wrote:

i read it as

he was sitting on the tire (the tire being on the ground with his rear on it)

and he had full weight on the uca, like leaning on it with his arm.. lol

i mean it made sense when i read it outloud inside my head.. cause thats exactly what i do, i sit on the tire, i put my forearm across the top of the uca and reach down and raise the jack until i see the uca bolt poke through

:lol:

Ok now , you have me thinking like you and thats scary as all get out ! :ROTFL:

npkdm · **Joined:** Wed Sep 03, 2014 8:28 pm **Posts:** 163

Update. The lift is installed and I have an alignment appointment tomorrow. I haven't driven it other than on the parking lot, the alignment is terrible and I don't want to drive on the road until it's fixed.

I measured from the ground to the fender through the center of the wheel before. It measured 31.75 inches on both front and back. After the lift (and new quick struts) the back measures 34.5 and the front measures 36. Is that normal?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue Sep 06, 2016 1:03 am

npkdm wrote:

Update. The lift is installed and I have an alignment appointment tomorrow. I haven't driven it other than on the parking lot, the alignment is terrible and I don't want to drive on the road until it's fixed.

I measured from the ground to the fender through the center of the wheel before. It measured 31.75 inches on both front and back. After the lift (and new quick struts) the back measures 34.5 and the front measures 36. Is that normal?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Those measurements tell us nothing at all
My 04 is over 38 inches if you measure that way
BUT
the correct way to measure is from the very middle of the wheel( center cap ) to the bottom of the flare in front
It will come down quite a bit after you get a good alignment
But measure the right way and post up

npkdm · **Joined:** Wed Sep 03, 2014 8:28 pm **Posts:** 163

Update: it is aligned and drives great. i measured in the same fashion as before and got 34 inches in the front and 35 in the back. then i measured using the method mentioned above and got 20.5 inches on the front and 21 inches on the back. i think i may have messed up with the struts. in some of the directions it said the strut should only portrude one inch into the strut fork. i mounted them the the strut extending all the way through the fork and then some, as far as it will go. i'm satisfied with how it sets unless someone tells me that i really screwed up by not mounting the forks correctly.

so, with 20.5 inches from the center of the wheel to the outside lip of the fender......what size tires are options for me?

also another problem after the lift. the battery was unhooked for the weekend. after i hooked it up the fuel mileage and the miles till empty read 0. will it correct itself or did i mess something else up?

tommudd · **Posted:** Thu Sep 08, 2016 10:42 pm

npkdm wrote:

Update: it is aligned and drives great. i measured in the same fashion as before and got 34 inches in the front and 35 in the back. then i measured using the method mentioned above and got 20.5 inches on the front and 21 inches on the back. i think i may have messed up with the struts. in some of the directions it said the strut should only portrude one inch into the strut fork. i mounted them the the strut extending all the way through the fork and then some, as far as it will go. i'm satisfied with how it sets unless someone tells me that i really screwed up by not mounting the forks correctly.

so, with 20.5 inches from the center of the wheel to the outside lip of the fender......what size tires are options for me?

also another problem after the lift. the battery was unhooked for the weekend. after i hooked it up the fuel mileage and the miles till empty read 0. will it correct itself or did i mess something else up?

Sitting just 1.5 inches over stock height you're going to have to stay with 245-70-16s , thats about it, maybe 255-70-16s but that would be pushing it, plus will need to pound over the pinch welds etc to make them fit . With new stock springs and stock shocks , a clevis lift and a top plate would have gave you the same amount of lift
Not seeing a picture of what you did not sure if its right or wrong

npkdm · **Joined:** Wed Sep 03, 2014 8:28 pm **Posts:** 163

Pic

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

npkdm · **Joined:** Wed Sep 03, 2014 8:28 pm **Posts:** 163

Pic

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Soloshot55 · **Joined:** Wed Apr 13, 2016 8:38 am **Posts:** 26

What kind of quick struts did you go with? Moog or Monroe?

Sent from my XT1565 using Tapatalk

npkdm · **Joined:** Wed Sep 03, 2014 8:28 pm **Posts:** 163

Moog

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Sep 09, 2016 1:34 pm

npkdm wrote:

Pic

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Don't see anything wrong in that picture
BUT get a pair of teraflax bumpstops for the front, they will help the UBJs last a little bit longer
( available from www.jeepinbyal.com )

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Sep 09, 2016 1:35 pm

So even with new front coilovers, and a what was suppose to be a 2.5 inch lift, you still only lifted 1.5 inches , interesting

Soloshot55 · **Joined:** Wed Apr 13, 2016 8:38 am **Posts:** 26

tommudd wrote:

So even with new front coilovers, and a what was suppose to be a 2.5 inch lift, you still only lifted 1.5 inches , interesting

Yeah I don't get that either. Unless those new Moog quick struts don't provide factory ride height but I can't see that being the case.

Sent from my XT1565 using Tapatalk

Rustys OTT spacer 2.5 lift help

Who is online