Rookie Jeep dude with rookie questions

[TheBoogieman]

It looks like the entire lift is their RC-X 4" lift, with everything painted blue. When I had that lift on a Jeep I bought, it handled like crap. I ditched the dropped pitman arm, front track bar drop bracket and bought better shocks. Big difference in ride quality and handling.

 

[tnjeepguy]

Drive it for a while and see how you like it. Plenty of time to get new parts, may find some on Facebook Marketplace.
Do you have another daily driver ? Don't be in a hurry, take your time to read and get it right the first time !!
Many guys end up doing this same thing a number of times, better to see what you do with your TJ and do it once.
Springs and shocks are not that expensive compared to some other things. You have adjustable arms already.

 

[KennethS]

the Jeep specialist shop near me

Which shop is that? The Arizona folks may have some knowledge of the shop (good or bad).

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Do your own work on your TJ, save money and get good experience.
Lots of good help here (not all), take it slow, easy to buy the wrong stuff.
Search and read, you will find out quick who has good sense and who does not.
Also if you go out at all by yourself, get a nice lightly used Warn winch for your front bumper.
(the TJ in my pic has a 1" body lift and 31's (3.73) and has been all over CO, Moab some and VA, TN)


Welcome to TJ Forum. D

Tonz and Fodeez!



Edit: Oops, I think I may have just proved your point, Doug.

 

[inkedrose]

Good points, thanks. Yeah, I'd love to do the job of replacing the shocks and springs myself. In fact, I used to turn wrenches on Black Hawks in the Army a long time ago, so I'm not shy about trying to tackle the job myself. However, the nice weather in Arizona is approaching fast and my lack of knowledge might get me stuck with the Jeep remaining in the garage in a perpetual state of disrepair because I was too eager. I'd hate to screw it up and end up costing more to get it fixed than just paying the Jeep specialty place to do it for me. If I decided to do that, any recommendations on "how to" videos that you or anyone else would recommend?

We have an Apache pilot in this group as well. Saw HoseJockey chimed in already, BFH Garage on youtube is his page. Tons of good info there to start. I've gotten in over my head a few times and this forum has managed to keep me moving

 

[Rickyd]

Definitely would love to do the work myself. I actually prefer it, but I also know the value of getting someone else with more experience who can do the job better than I can. My understanding is that if I lower it from the 4.5 lift to a 2.5 or maybe a 3.0 lift then that might require a change to other parts for proper adjustments such as the track bar. Maybe I'm wrong about that, but the Jeep specialist shop near me said all they would recommend is the springs, shocks, and front track bar, so that's all I'm basing my research and expectations on.

Springs,shocks,stock pitman arm,front track bar without a shitty drop bracket,rear track bar with angled bracket, sway bar links to put the bars back at the angles they should be.

Since covid times I've been slowly removing rough country junk from my tj. Every piece removed solves at least one issue.

If your shop is only recommending what you've mentioned the guy you talked to is being lazy or doesn't know tj's very well. Doesn't mean they can't do the work. But they'll need to be told what to do.

 

[CMBD]

Good call on the extra photos. This Jeep is just how I bought it (except for the new tires I just got). I've installed nothing yet. Unknown how old these shocks and springs are, or the front track bar etc. It looks like the sway bar links were installed in haste.

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Your front sway bar links are adjusted waaay too short

 

[RoyHobbs#9]

Where in AZ are you?

NW Peoria just west of the 303 and Happy Valley

 

[RoyHobbs#9]

Get rid of this and go back to a stock pitman arm.

View attachment 708273

Okay and I'm expecting that to consequently change other angles from other components?

 

[RoyHobbs#9]

Springs,shocks,stock pitman arm,front track bar without a shitty drop bracket,rear track bar with angled bracket, sway bar links to put the bars back at the angles they should be.

Since covid times I've been slowly removing rough country junk from my tj. Every piece removed solves at least one issue.

If your shop is only recommending what you've mentioned the guy you talked to is being lazy or doesn't know tj's very well. Doesn't mean they can't do the work. But they'll need to be told what to do.

And therein lies my problems trusting Jeep "specialty" shops. It feels like they either Jeep snobs think I should spend money on parts i'll never be able to justify the prices, or they're lazy like you said. I'd rather do the job of lowering from 4.5" to 3" springs and shocks myself, but if I screw something up, then I'd end up in the shop to fix my self-created problems in the first place.

 

[RoyHobbs#9]

Your front sway bar links are adjusted waaay too short

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Interesting — i wish the Jeep shop i brought it to would have told me that.

 

[That'll Buff]

Okay and I'm expecting that to consequently change other angles from other components?

You'll need an alignment, but that's it for changing out that piece.

Not to rag on you but in the time since you last asked questions and now you could've done a good amount of work or at least research. Going down in lift is much easier than going up. You'll just have to remove/replace the parts we told you about, and then from there it's just adjustments. Pinion angle is fairly easy, but can be tedious. Track bars will need to be adjusted too to center the axle, and then the alignment like I mentioned. I agree with @tnjeepguy, take it slow and check marketplace constantly if you want parts for cheap (it's how I've built my rig so far). Everybody in here I'm sure has multiple stories of rushing through an upgrade/buying what the first guy told them and regretting it. At this point all I can recommend is to just start tearing into it and try and understand what you're doing as you do, it's the best way to learn.

 

[GATORB8]

stock pitman arm,front track bar without a shitty drop bracket

You need to do these two things at the same time.

 

[RoyHobbs#9]

Where in AZ are you?

NW Peoria just west of the 303 and Happy Valley

 

[RoyHobbs#9]

Your front sway bar links are adjusted waaay too short

View attachment 708297

Hmm....maybe I should have kept that protractor from high school geometry class LOL. Is there a tool I can get that measures that? Thank you for the heads up.

 

[RoyHobbs#9]

You need to do these two things at the same time.

The jeep shop said i needed a new front track bar without telling my why (I assume worn bushings) or without telling me I'd need a stock pitman arm. So maybe I should just do the job myself for those parts? Looks simple enough. The jeep shop wanted to charge me $350 for a Rock Krawler brand track bar, but that sounds overkill for me since all I want is to just drive around the desert trails with my kids. So what front track bar brand has a good reputation with solid warranty is recommended?

 

[GATORB8]

Hmm....maybe I should have kept that protractor from high school geometry class LOL. Is there a tool I can get that measures that? Thank you for the heads up.

At this point, a little upward works.

A plastic Johnson magnetic angle guage is $10-15. A Klein electric is ~$30.

 

[NDSpeed]

The best advice I've read was just drive it, that will point out what is overkill, and what is needed



Correct the pitman arm, have one of you boys do a dry steer while you watch for movement in the steering components. That will point you into the direction of which bearings and bushings are worn out.

 

[GATORB8]

The jeep shop said i needed a new front track bar without telling my why (I assume worn bushings) or without telling me I'd need a stock pitman arm. So maybe I should just do the job myself for those parts? Looks simple enough. The jeep shop wanted to charge me $350 for a Rock Krawler brand track bar, but that sounds overkill for me since all I want is to just drive around the desert trails with my kids. So what front track bar brand has a good reputation with solid warranty is recommended?

You'll want an adjustable one, they'll probably all be single adjustable because it's a bent bar. The factory setup has a ball joint style single shear mount at the frame side, with an aftermarket bar you will choose between that style or a bracketed double shear style. The bracket will add cost.

The RK will be in the reasonable range on the decent stuff. Pretty much no one will get close to RC's chinesium, they'll probably be half.

 

[Frank M]

Make sure everything is tightened. This looks loose.