bout to lift it

Ok so I've got all the materials to lift my cj. I'm doing a 4 inch suspension kit that includes shocks, a 1.5 inch shackle, and a 1 inch body lift. I've got 35x15 superswamper tsl's to put underneath. I've got everything but stilll need some more tools and i'm goin at it this saturday. Everything came with instructions but it'd be great to get some tips from some guys who have done it. Along with the 4 in suspension kit. I have a transfer case drop kit and a new drop pitman arm and a new steering stabilizer. What specific tools should I be looking at? Is a pitman arm puller worth renting? Do yall know of any site or something that has detailed instructions for a cj 4 in lift? Any help would be great. Thanks.

 

I had a heckofa time getting my pitman arm off because it was rusted on. I broke the cheap-o puller I bought and ended up having to make a relief cut in the front side of it. P.I.T.A.

When you drop the tranny you may end up with some interference with the shift levers. I did my suspension and body lift at different times. I had to cut the cover away the first time but when I did the body lift I had to make a now cover and straighten the shift levers with a rebar bender because they were hitting my center console.

A bottle jack and jack stands came in handy for holding the axles and lifting the springs into the shackles.

I don't know what tire size you have now but if you are increasing in size you may want to look int changing your gear ratio.

 

I had one problem with my 4" lift. The rear shackles would flip forward when returning from full droop. At the time I didn't realize that my shackles were a little too short. It sounds like you are getting new shackles as part of your kit and that will probably take care of it. There is a lot of arch in a set of 4" springs. If you measure the distance from eye to eye in a straight line, and then measure along the length of the spring you'll see what I mean. On my springs the difference was over 4 1/2". Hence, your shackles need to be long enough to allow the spring to "grow" by nearly that much when they are flexed. Your springs will settle a bit at first, so give them a little time and mileage before you change anything, like moving the spring mounts. Once the springs are in, raise the rear of the ground by jacking up the body (from the bumper) so the axle hangs free, then put the weight back on it. The shackles should return to the proper position. If they pop forward you may have to lengthen the shackles or move the spring mount. With the weight on the springs, the shackles should point slightly to the rear on the back axle. Let us know how it goes.

 

Your brakelines will probably be too short too.

 

it's a 75

 

Ok so here's what I got, lift springs, shackles, brake lines, pitman arm, steering stabilizer, shocks, transfer case drop kit, 1 in body lift, and all hardware. I'm runnin 31s right now and as far as i know the gears are stock but it has the 304 so will turnin the 35's still need regearing? Also my 75 has a sway bar which is odd because I thought 75's didn't come with one. So i'm guessing that the sway bar will have to be disconnected after lifting this much so i was wondering if you can be extended end links or do i have to buy the drop kit for the sway bar. I was looking at those quick disconnects but i don't if they're extended or anything. I went out today and got my pitman arm puller. And on the new rear springs there's this triangular thing. Look here
see the traingular piece on the middle of each spring? Are these the shims?

 

Nice. Well that makes me feel better. Also about the sway bar drop kit I read that one is not "necessary" for a 4 inch suspension so what about quick disconnects. I was lookin at those and they look pretty cool for 80 bucks. Are they worth it?

 

Also on the body lift do I have to put my old bushings that I took out on top of the pucks that came with the body lift? Here's the body lift that I got. http://jackit.com/bodylifts/bl_jeep.htm
I got the 1 inch lift. So what I'm wondering is is if you just put the lift blocks in or do you put the bushings on too.

 

Please forgive an ignorant question:
Are the coil springs and links shown in the picture correct for a 1975 CJ lift? I think there should be four leaf springs. On the body lifts I've installed, I've set the spacer blocks between the existing body bushings and the body. If the bushings are beat, it might be a good time to install some new ones.

 

Yea, I'm with Serius.

I had to look back and make sure we were talking about a CJ and not an XJ. I could be wrong but I don't know of any CJ's with coil springs.

Jackson, look under your jeep and check if you see any coils. If not, I think you may have the wrong lift.

 

Haha no that's not my lift kit I just used that picture to show the shims on the rear leaf springs. sorry guys.

 

Whew! I felt really bad for you! Proceed.......

I forgot about the brake hoses until Posimoto said so. On mine they were long enough till I flexed the front axle. With the axle flexed it was streching the hose in the down side. I ordered these online from Quadratec.com. View attachment 7471

 

Not to mention the fact that the shims are on the wrong side of the springs for a spring under application.

 

Regarding the gearing with 35" tires. If you have 4.27's now you will probably be ok. If you are running 3.73's then you will want to regear, probably to 4.56 if you plan on going off road. The stock Dana 30 front will not need a new case as 3.73 case in a 30 fits down to 5.38's. The rear will need a new case as the split is 3.92 down to 5.38's in a 44. Nickmil.

 

Thanks for all the input guys. I'm going at it tomorow so I'll keep ya updated.