Can I remove both upper control arms (rear) at the same time?

[Carve]

Hi everyone. My Jeep came with upper control arms that're too long. I pulled the driver and shortened it 2/3", but now I can't get it back in, even pulling with a heavy duty ratchet strap. I think this is because the passenger side is preventing the axle from rotating forward, so I need to pull and shorten it at the same time. My question is: what special precautions are needed to have both of these out at once? I'm' afraid the springs will just force the axle to rotate backward, shoot out, and drop the whole damn Jeep on me! I have my jack under the trailer hitch and lifted it a few inches to avoid this and take weight off the springs, but what else should I do here?

 

[oldjeepman]

Place your factory bottle jack under the front part of the pinion, should keep the axle from rotating..

 

[Carve]

Place your factory bottle jack under the front part of the pinion, should keep the axle from rotating..

Would the front part of the pinion want to rotate upward? As it sits now, with the upper rears being too long, the springs are kinda rainbow-shaped. I'm afraid without an upper control arm, they'll keep bending that direction and shoot out the rear

 

[oldjeepman]

Don't lift the pinion just snug it up.. I really don't think your rear springs are going to pop out. You have the body weight on them. There are write ups on here that will help you to set them up .

 

[bobthetj03]

Let the jeep sit on it's own weight. Put your floor jack on the front pinion just behind the rear yoke. Jack up the pinion until you can easily remove the bolt to the upper arm that is still attached. Once you remove the upper arm you can now use the floor jack to adjust your pinion angle to your liking. Adjust your arm, put it back on, the adjust the other arm to match and bolt it on.