Shock Assembly
The day before the install, I put the Jeep up on jack stands, removed the wheels and sprayed every bolt that I planned to put a wrench to with PB Blaster to let them soak over night. I then proceeded to assemble the shocks. They use a T-bar mounting system that uses two washers to contain the poly bushing, which keeps the t-bar centered. The circlip holds the whole thing together and adds a slight preload to the bushing.
Now although the directions say to use a vise or a press to assemble it, I was too lazy to go out to the garage (it was 1AM at the time). So in tradition with my trademark for redneck engineering, I simply slid the washer over the t-bar, used a little dish soap to lubricate the eye of the bushing and used a pair of channel locks to push the t-bar through. Then I just installed the other washer and followed it up with the circlip. Viola…the trick, she is done!
Front Springs & Shocks
Now onto the fun stuff…we started with the front suspension. First we disconnected the front sway bar links. We took off the nuts and, to my surprise, needed the fork bar and BFH to break the bar away from the links. We just beat and bashed on them until they broke loose. Then we removed the link from the axle by removing the nut and bolt (the bolt is torx). Then, after supporting the axle with the floor jack, we removed the shocks and the LCA bolts (at the frame). There were no spring retaining bolts, so we noted where the spring pigtailed in on the perch and dropped the axle enough to remove both springs. (DPG note: We have found that there is no need to remove the Lower Control Arm bolts, instead, remove the axle bolt of the track bar, though this is just preference. If your going to replace the factory track bar with an adjustable one, which is highly recommended, you might as well take out the factory bar completely at this point.)
Before installing the new spring we installed the bump stop extensions. These particular extensions install on the spring perch itself and are secured by 3/8" bolts. So, we drilled 5/16" holes, tapped out threads for a 3/8" bolt and installed the stops. You can kind of see the bump stops installed in this pic...
Now onto the spring install. One spring is slightly taller than the other. The taller one is intended to be (and was) installed on the drivers’ side. Fairly simple, we just used the spring compressor to scrunch the spring down until it would go on the perch, and then removed the compressor, while making sure that the spring pigtailed into the perch correctly. (DPG note: with the track bar removed from the axle, a spring compressor is not essential, though it can make the coil installation easier.) Then, jacking and jostling the axle, we lined up the LCA's, reinstalled and torqued the bolts to spec (I reversed the bolts so that the threads face inward, to facilitate the future installation of an engine skid) and installed the shocks.
JKS Disco install
Next, the discos were installed. We started by bolting the pin (bottom of the image) into the axle. Then we installed the U-bracket (at the top) on the sway bar. A bolt and bushing attach the upper eye of the disco to the bracket…using Loctite on the threads to make sure it does not back out. After the entire lift install was done and the Jeep was sitting on level ground, we adjusted the length of the disco's ensuring that the sway bar was in a level position, connected them at the bottom, and greased the hell out of them.
Here's a pic of the passenger disco in place. I really like this pic...
Front Track Bar
On to the front track bar…First, we removed the bolt at the axle. Then took out the cotter pin and removed the nut at the frame. Then Dale and I just took turns beating the hell out of it with the fork bar and BFH until it finally broke loose. Now to install the new track bar we had to drill out the frame side hole to 9/16". It's only the top portion of the hole that needed to be drilled so it took no time at all. Once that was done we hung the track bar on the frame side and got the bolt Godzilla tight. (DPG note: Be sure to follow JKS instructions when installing the frame side bolt through the Johnny Joint.) Now I was not to worried about getting the axle perfectly centered, as I had a local 4WD shop dial both track bars in and align it…but I wanted to get it fairly close. So Jen got in, turned on the jeep and we stood in front while she turned the steering wheel fully to the right side, then left, back and forth a few times. We then had her slowly turn the wheel and eyeballed the axle to center. After which, we installed the axle side of the t-bar and torqued it all up…close enough for gubment work….
(DPG note: Most alignment shops, that we know of, will not center your axle side to side. If yours does, and you trust them to do so correctly, go ahead. However, you should measure from one side of the vehicle to the other, and set the track bars yourself. To do this, first find a matching point, from driver’s side to passenger’s side, in the wheel well. We normally use the upper coil mount brackets. Next, find a matching point on both front tires, be it a seam or lug. Finally, grab a measuring tape and measure both sides. The goal is to get a measurement from each side and adjust the track bar until both sides match, meaning that your tires are then centered equally out from the frame at ride height. Trackbar adjustment should be done after the suspension is installed and the vehicle is sitting on the ground finished)
On to the rear….
Rear Springs, Shocks & Track bar
We started by supporting the axle with a floor jack. Then we disconnected the rear sway bar, followed by removing the shocks, which was a PITA as the upper bolts are just in a tight place. After that we dropped the track bar and lowered the axle until we could remove the springs.
Again, prior to installing the springs we installed the bump stop extensions. These were a lot easier than the fronts. We pulled the bump stops out of their housings, removed the bolts that hold the housings to the frame, installed the spacers using the longer bolts provided and pushed the bump stops back in.
Just like the front springs, one is slightly taller than the other. The difference here is that the taller spring goes on the passenger side. To install the springs, we just used the compressor again. Next we installed the shocks…again a PITA because of the upper bolts. (The first image is about two seconds before Dale bonked his head off the drum.
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Then, we just bolted in the rear track bar (again a local shop dialed both of them in when they aligned it) and re-connected the rear sway bar.
