Body lift prep

[freedom_in_4low]

Getting ready to put a savvy bl on my LJ. In the past, missing a part and being down for a week while I wait was not an issue because I had another vehicle, but I sold my truck so Jeep is my daily now. I work from home, so I can handle a couple days if I time it right but I need to have my ducks in a row.

I have the Savvy body lift, a jks motor mount lift, and a motor mount bolt to replace the one that I'm going to cut off to remove. The LJ is pretty much rust free and the body mount bushings appear to be in good shape.

I'm gonna try to avoid messing with the fan and shroud by doing one side of the body lift first, then the motor mount lift, and then the other side of the body lift. Not sure if it'll work but it's worth a shot to save me a few minutes.

Are there any additional parts I should have on hand? Anything extra the kits are missing? As usual, no savvy instructions so I'm gonna go off JKS's body lift instructions for the general procedure. Any common pitfalls in the process other than seized bolts? I don't see any new hardware for the grill bumpers, are the stock bolts long enough? Is any trickery required to install the spacers for those in between the grill and frame?

 

[L J]

I'm gonna try to avoid messing with the fan and shroud by doing one side of the body lift first, then the motor mount lift, and then the other side of the body lift. Not sure if it'll work but it's worth a shot to save me a few minutes.

I didn't think I needed to mess with the shroud when I did the JKS BL and JKS MML blocks. The fan was ever so slightly touching the bottom of the shroud but I never noticed. Years later mrblaine did and moved the shroud down a bit.

 

[Viking Jeeper]

I recently did a body lift.

As far as the cross bolt on the drivers side hitting the A/C, the entire bracket can be removed from the block (3 bolts) to avoid cutting the bolt but you already have a replacement.

I'm assuming you have broken every bolt loose that you need to just to check before you get started.

I removed bolts from fan shroud and left it hanging on the fan. Its only 4 bolts that are not hard to get to. My thought was that even though it will line up when all is done it will prevent any issue when lifting the body before the motor.

Parts, I believe the Savvy comes with grade 5 bolts which are plenty strong I'm sure I but I found grade 8 in yellow zinc.

Savvy should have come with spacers for grill bumpers and hardware to attach them in the hole the bumper is mounted in right now. There are no stock bolts for the grill bumpers, they just mount in a hole.

Make sure you loosen the fuel filler bezel and you will probably have to lengthen the hose when its all done.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Yes do one side at a time, but loosen the bolts on the other side first. Doing it this way will keep the body aligned with the frame which will eliminate the possibility of it sliding out of position when jacking it up.

 

[MountaineerTom]

I'm gonna try to avoid messing with the fan and shroud by doing one side of the body lift first, then the motor mount lift, and then the other side of the body lift. Not sure if it'll work but it's worth a shot to save me a few minutes.

I would just loosen the fan shroud and complete the body first, then do the MML, instead of trying to do the MML in the middle of the body lift.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

I recently did a body lift.

As far as the cross bolt on the drivers side hitting the A/C, the entire bracket can be removed from the block (3 bolts) to avoid cutting the bolt but you already have a replacement.

I'm assuming you have broken every bolt loose that you need to just to check before you get started.

I removed bolts from fan shroud and left it hanging on the fan. Its only 4 bolts that are not hard to get to. My thought was that even though it will line up when all is done it will prevent any issue when lifting the body before the motor.

Parts, I believe the Savvy comes with grade 5 bolts which are plenty strong I'm sure I but I found grade 8 in yellow zinc.

Savvy should have come with spacers for grill bumpers and hardware to attach them in the hole the bumper is mounted in right now. There are no stock bolts for the grill bumpers, they just mount in a hole.

Make sure you loosen the fuel filler bezel and you will probably have to lengthen the hose when its all done.

I'll check the hardware bag again. I thought I only found the big body mount bolts, but have never messed with those bumpers so didn't really know what I was looking for.

I haven't yet, but I plan to break all the bolts loose today to see if any are going to give me trouble. If all goes well I may start on Tuesday.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

All 11 bolts broke loose with just my 1/2" ratchet, no breaker bar. They were all even pretty smooth except a little bit of creaking from the middle ones out of the 3 between the axles.

Also, found the hardware for the grill bumper spacers. I missed them the first time because I was looking for something long enough to go up through the bumper and spacer. Didn't realize it goes down through the grill into the spacer instead.

Good to go Tuesday!

 

[TboneJeeper]

I just did this last week, but with JKS 1.25" and new Brown Dog 1" motor mounts. I did the body lift first, one side at a time, loosening the opposite side before jacking it up. Before starting I just took the 4 bolts out from the fan shroud to let it move freely. I also disconnected the fuel filler hose, but not sure that's necessary. I would feel better about my result if I had bought the replacement GM filler hose and cut it to the proper length for the lift. My hose is stretched to the limit and the clamps are holding onto the last bit of hose at the top and bottom.
The JKS kit came with longer grille bumpers that replace the OEM bumpers, and they were very hard to insert into the holes completely. I ended up using this guy's tip, fishing wire down from the headlights, through the holes, and through a hole in the bumpers. Then I could pull them up through the holes from above and they snapped in securely. You only have to remove the headlight bezels to do it, not the entire light like he did. Not sure if the Savvy bumpers are similar.
Then I did the motor mounts, and they weren't so bad. Had to remove the mount from the engine block on the driver's side, and all of my bolts were fine. I'd say the hardest part was getting the old mount (with engine block bracket attached) out through the bottom. Had to jack up the engine a bit farther, and then turn/rotate it just right to get it out of there. With your lift blocks (as opposed to new mounts), you may not have this problem.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

I would feel better about my result if I had bought the replacement GM filler hose and cut it to the proper length for the lift. My hose is stretched to the limit and the clamps are holding onto the last bit of hose at the top and bottom.

good call on that...mine is an '06 and has the fuel burping issue so it couldn't hurt to do that even though it's considered the "temporary" fix...if it helps or even buys me time to do the real fix, it'll be worth the $30. I found it on Prime with Tuesday delivery so I should have it in time.

I'm mostly familiar with the MML process because I actually did it on my '99 TJ; I just didn't do a body lift, and the accessory layout is such that both bolts come right out without any interference.

 

[P man]

Yes do one side at a time, but loosen the bolts on the other side first. Doing it this way will keep the body aligned with the frame which will eliminate the possibility of it sliding out of position when jacking it up.

This is very important advice..I remember when I was young and enthusiastic and took all the body bolts out at the same time and the tub shifted. I couldn't believe what a pain that was to get lined back up by myself

 

[dbbd1]

I would just loosen the fan shroud and complete the body first, then do the MML, instead of trying to do the MML in the middle of the body lift.

X2

 

[freedom_in_4low]

I would just loosen the fan shroud and complete the body first, then do the MML, instead of trying to do the MML in the middle of the body lift.

X2

fair enough. If nothing else, it gives me a bail out opportunity if I run out of time and need to put the MML off for a couple of days.

 

[jordans05tj]

Another thing I had to do with my BL that not a lot of people mention is loosening the fuel filler neck hose (from the tank side) to stretch it out and make the filler neck line back up. I had to call the Jeep dealer and get a new rubber snubber under the grill, one came out fine and one tore in half. I also had a weird squeak, turns out the inner fender was rubbing on something. Bent it out of the way and it's all good. Those were the only problems I ran in to, be careful about which bolt goes where because the front center and the rear bolts are smaller than the rest. That's about all I have to say in regards to doing this, and I'd highly recommend the Savvy T-Case shift cable. To me it was good to have done with the rest of it and it's a great upgrade.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

I tackled the body lift yesterday. Most if it was super easy. Instructions, or even install tips, would have saved me 15 minutes screwing around with the grill snubber spacers bolt through the grill slots when pulling the headlight trim rings made it easy to reach with some wobbly extensions. Also, seat the snubbers into the spacer before attaching the spacer, because once the bolt is in, there's no way for air to escape and the little butt plug wouldn't go in all the way.

I already had the savvy t-case shifter from back when I did my SYE and had one of those "might as well" moments. One less thing to mess with.

My filler hose seemed to reach just fine without messing with it - it just took out a little of the kink and straightened it up. I took it out anyway though because I installed the GM fuel filler hose.

Currently the body lift is done, the fan shroud is hanging on the fan, and the nuts are off of the motor mount cross bolts. I have the extra cross bolt because an engine block is about the worst place I can think of to break off a bolt, so I had just planned to leave them alone. But now seeing how little room there is for a sawzall or a grinder and given that I haven't had a single rusty fastener issue on this Jeep I might go ahead and pull that bracket instead. Also I only have one, half used metal blade left and it probably doesn't have enough life left in it to get all the way through a hardened bolt that size.

 

[Viking Jeeper]

The three bolts on the engine mount bracket came out with no trouble on mine.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

The three bolts on the engine mount bracket came out with no trouble on mine.

They did on mine, too! I didn't even need a 1/2" drive ratchet, the little 3/8" did just fine.

MML is done. Ready to roll.

Now just to find some 35x12.5R15 tires so I'm not rolling around on 32s with 5.25" of lift.

 

[Viking Jeeper]

Now just to find some 35x12.5R15 tires so I'm not rolling around on 32s with 5.25" of lift.

I know most opinions on 15 vs 17 inch wheels but with 35's I think there is plenty of sidewall on the 17's. Still a reduced availability of C rated tires in the 17's though. I'm very happy with my KO2s.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

I know most opinions on 15 vs 17 inch wheels but with 35's I think there is plenty of sidewall on the 17's. Still a reduced availability of C rated tires in the 17's though. I'm very happy with my KO2s.

I can't rule that out, someday. Just not wanting the expense of new wheels right now, especially since I don't know if I'm gonna end up changing lug patterns or adding 7/8" to each front hub with a locking hub kit.

I think bronze wheels compliment red really well, so I was looking at something like this to get me into a more-available 17" tire.

but then I realized how ridiculous it was to spend another $1200 just because I'm impatient.

 

[Viking Jeeper]

Now just to find some 35x12.5R15 tires so I'm not rolling around on 32s with 5.25" of lift.

This was a trial run with stock size tires to see if I wanted to re gear. I did not notice a huge improvement in available power so I decided against the regear (at least until I break something). The 35's were back on a few minutes later.