Granite's Currie suspension upgrade

Granite

Granite

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May 11, 2023
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299
Location
New Hampshire
I bought my 2005 Rubicon from the original, only owner in 2020. His son is a certified mechanic and they also had a nicely built YJ, which was encouraging. Generally I have found he took great care of this Jeep, including a valiant effort to save it from rust due to road salt; overall it’s in good shape for up here.

He installed a Rubicon Express 3.5” lift (springs, shocks and sway bar end links. Drop pitman arm too I believe). Now the springs are rusted out and the ride is “darty”/engaging and I want to do it right. So I am replacing all that with:

Currie 4” springs
Currie fully adjustable control arms (all 8)
Currie bump stops.
JKS quick disconnect front end links and regular JKS rears.
Ranco RS5000x shocks (RS55256/RS55255)

The front trac bar looks factory but he drilled extra holes to move the axle mount toward the drivers side. Not a huge fan but leaving that for now. Stock front steering with Rancho stabilizer.
The rear trac bar has a relo bracket.
Rear shocks have extension perches.
So I’m hoping to be able to leave all that as-is for now.

The goal of this thread is to document the project, provide a resource for others replacing PO parts with new, and hopefully help solve some of the mysteries encountered. I’m sure I’ll be asking for help as I go too so thanks in advance!

Before:

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Day 1 of this project was frustratingly slow. I ran into several obstacles, including the drivers side front UCA not wanting to come out. I finally cut it out and got the new one installed.
The passenger side UCA was a breeze in comparison - all because of that dang flag nut deciding to cooperate on this one. So now I have both UCAs installed (not torqued … I’m going to come back through later and anti-seize the adjustable tubes and threadloc & torque all the nuts to spec). Progress!


The PO had one end of the sway bar mounted INSIDE the end link, which made it so I had to cut that end link off. Odd/frustrating.

The next step in the Currie instructions is to relocate the brake line brackets lower. I’m considering skipping that since they worked with the previous lift. Thoughts?

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PNW_LJ said:
Making some nice progress 👍

I wish you luck with the rear shock bolts, those tend to be the worst!
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Thanks! Yeah I’m trying not to think about it yet! 😂 they’re super hard to access and it’s clear that way more rust-causing grime got kicked up into the rear end of this Jeep than the front over the years. Soon …
 
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I want to clean up the knuckles and shock perches while I’m in here - get the rust off, put some rust preventer down and paint them again. Anybody have any recommendations for rust preventer-primer and undercoating paint?
 
Granite said:
I want to clean up the knuckles and shock perches while I’m in here - get the rust off, put some rust preventer down and paint them again. Anybody have any recommendations for rust preventer-primer and undercoating paint?
Click to expand...

I typically use the regular black Rustoleum. Haven’t had any issues with it. POR15 if repainting frame or for hard to reach spots.

There could be a better option out there for all I know.
 
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I did por15 and it does a great job untill you hit it in the rocks then it will kinda peel up from where it was hit. Other wise I use brush on oil based rustoleum implement paint and then just the spray paint where I can’t reach with a brush.
 
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Granite said:
The next step in the Currie instructions is to relocate the brake line brackets lower. I’m considering skipping that since they worked with the previous lift. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Cycle the front axle and check the slack in the brake lines.
 
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Mike_H said:
Yeah...

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much respect for not shying away from that rust! How’s she looking these days?

Mine has some bad spots, some surprisingly good spots. You’ll see some of my other posts where I debated investing in this Jeep and ultimately I decided to charge ahead. Your pic validates my decision! Thanks
 
Granite said:
much respect for not shying away from that rust! How’s she looking these days?

Mine has some bad spots, some surprisingly good spots. You’ll see some of my other posts where I debated investing in this Jeep and ultimately I decided to charge ahead. Your pic validates my decision! Thanks
Click to expand...

Pretty good. I replaced the tub, and have rebuilt all the Suspension, axles, etc. The only thing left now is the frame, which is tweaked from an accident prior to my ownership and it has developed a rusty hole on the drivers side.
 
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Mike_H said:
Pretty good. I replaced the tub, and have rebuilt all the Suspension, axles, etc. The only thing left now is the frame, which is tweaked from an accident prior to my ownership and it has developed a rusty hole on the drivers side.
Click to expand...

Jeep of Theseus? 🤔
 
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Weird stuff going on trying to get the front lower control arms out. There’s not a rust problem at all on those and I got the nuts off the bolts no problem. On the rear mount I got the bolt out but can’t knock or pry the arm out of the mount bracket. On the front mount I can’t get the bolt to turn or extract even though the backing nut came off no problem. My impact is useless because the torque is getting absorbed by the rubber bushing. I kroiled the heck out of it. Not sure what to try next. It must be seized to the inside of the bushing somehow. Any tips? I’m all ears!
 
Maybe try jacking it up a little at the frame bit to see if getting some of the weight off of it will help.
 
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Well both front LCAs had the same issue with the front bolts being seized to the collar and bushing. I got the nut off but all torque on the bolt head got eaten up by the rubber bushing. So I searched some other threads here and resorted to cutting. Stinky, nasty mess but I got them both out. Now on to removing the springs and bump stops

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