Working out the kinks on my new TJ

Airjunky

Airjunky

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 13, 2018
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940
Location
Liberty Lake WA
I picked up a new (to me) 02 TJ a few weeks ago, knowing it was kind of a work in progress....... lifted with Rancho springs & shocks, Ford 8.8 rear diff, 33" BFGs, SYE, etc. The PO knew the springs were mediocre (at best) & had purchased a complete set of Rustys Off road coils (included in the sale). During the test drive I saw that the rear was bottoming out on the bumpstops. Then a week or so after I bought it, I noticed a few other issues...... rear diff has a larger than normal cover on it that was hitting the gas tank skid plate. Ford 8.8 has 1" spacers on it so the rear tires don't hit the upper spring perches, but the fact that their only 1" thick on stock lug bolts means the rims are not flat against the spacers.

So last weekend I installed the Rustys springs. The fronts are about the same height, but larger diameter & lifted about an inch. The rears lifted about 5", which was great for clearing the diff cover from the gas tank skidplate, and the bumpstops, but I'm finding out is way too much. I have a squeaksqueaksqueak that gets faster as i speed up. And a vibration, possibly death wobble. The lift changed the pinion angle. I pulled the driveline out & took it in for inspection and was told the u-joint was junk & it was out of balance. $150 later & there's no change.
Yesterday I tried to adjust the pinion angle by removing the upper control arms to lengthen the heim joints a bit. But I had a tough time getting one of the control arms out & the other was a bitch.
I'm starting to think the Rustys springs are not going to work out. If I go back to shorter springs, I'll need a normal size diff cover & cut down the bumpstops.
Thinking about taking it in to Hazzard Fab....a local 4x4 shop. In a conversation I had with them last week, he said he thought the lift was too much & suggested a progressive spring, maybe 3" shorter. Which should ride nice on road & off, plus might get past the pinion angle problem.
Today I stuck the GoPro under there on the test drive. Way too many squeaks & creaks. Plus at about 3:20 it goes into the death wobble.


Some pics of it all.....
Feel free to give your 2 cents

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Okay, the first thing I notice is those control arms. What in the world are those? They look like an erector set gone wrong. I've never seen anything like those in all my years with Jeeps... ever. Are they adjustable, because they sure don't look like it.

Anyways, in regards to the diff cover hitting the gas tank skid plate. You have a few options there. First off, you can see if a lower profile diff cover would fix the issue. If not, you can either try to bring your axle forward a bit, though the route I would go personally would be to get a GenRight stretch tank (I have one) which will give you a few extra inches of clearance between the rear diff and the gas tank. My GenRight tank is amazing. It holds the same fuel capacity, but I have so much more room for my diff now that it's almost unbelievable. The GenRight tank is also solid aluminum, which is another plus as well.

That pinion angle in the rear is way off. Your pinion needs to be almost perfectly inline with the rear driveshaft angle, and it's very obvious from that photo that your pinion is sitting down much too low. At most it should be 1-2 degrees lower.

In regards to death wobble, check this thread out:
Is Your Jeep Wrangler TJ Experiencing Vibrations or Death Wobble? READ THIS!

Please don't take this the wrong way, because it's not intended that way. I do think that whoever built that thing likely didn't know what they were doing. That's not your fault obviously. I can tell you this however: If you aren't extremely mechanically inclined, you need to take that thing to a 4x4 speciality shop who knows what they are doing and who is also good with custom fabrication. That thing needs to have the suspension cycled without the shocks or springs as a starting point to see what hits and what doesn't. After that, the bump stop needs to be set based on mechanical interference, and then it should be fitted with the proper travel shocks as well.

There's a whole mess of things that need to happen here, and that's without even seeing the full underside. This is indeed a project, and I can tell. That isn't to dismiss it entirely, I just think that it would be worth dropping off at a shop who really knows their stuff so that it can get sorted out properly.
 
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Thanks Chris,
Yea, I'm realizing that the Rancho lift is garbage. The lower control arms are not adjustable at all. Neither is the trac bar, which is necessary with those taller springs.

I'd really like to get it on the road for now, then look into my build options long term. I have a few options for shops around here (Spokane/Coeur d'Alene area). Not sure if I'll get recommendations here. Might need to find locals in a FB group or other 4x4 forum. 4 Wheel Parts, Rocky Mt Offroad or Hazzard Fab Worx. I've bought tires from 4WP before, but not familiar with their suspension work. Rocky Mt is who built the rear diff.....not sure if he installed it or some monkey did it. Hazzard is close to my office & they appear to do tons of high end fabrication & racing. In the end it's going to come down to cost.
 
the rear dif/gas tank issue. the driveshaft alignment issue. the lower control arms. and the spacers? I'd say find a good shop, maybe AEV in Missoula if they still do TJ stuff, junk all the lift shit, start fresh, just do it right once. Pretend it is a stock TJ and follow the lift instructions. Fuck the abortion of playing with other components. Get a complete, quality suspension installed and enjoy driving it.

looks like a very cool TJ. ya just need to get it working,,,, safely.
 
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Chris said:
Okay, the first thing I notice is those control arms. What in the world are those? They look like an erector set gone wrong. I've never seen anything like those in all my years with Jeeps... ever. Are they adjustable, because they sure don't look like it.
Click to expand...

The Lower CA's are part of an old Rancho 3.5" kit. I had the same lift on my Jeep when I got it. When I decided to go back to factory height, instead of going with the factory lowers, I left the Rancho LCA's on mine for the time being. The eye-to-eye measurements were the same, and they had poly bushings that were no worse for wear. I suspect I'll be trading them out in the future, but at the moment I didn't see much need for the ride height I was using. Obviously, I'm not an expert in Jeep suspension geometry, and could be completely wrong here about them being problematic, or not. I'd be interested to hear any other suggestions from the pros.

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Chris said:
Interesting! First time I've ever seen those things. They certainly don't win any points in the looks department!
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I do not believe that they are still being manufactured. Im sure at the time they were released they were the gool guys arms (just like angry eyes) ...../sarcasm.

I can't say anything about the bushings. The arms themselves should be stronger then hell with all the angle supports. But completely unnecessary when you consider the factory arms are strong enough.
 
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Boinked said:
I do not believe that they are still being manufactured. Im sure at the time they were released they were the gool guys arms (just like angry eyes) ...../sarcasm.

I can't say anything about the bushings. The arms themselves should be stronger then hell with all the angle supports. But completely unnecessary when you consider the factory arms are strong enough.
Click to expand...

That explains why I haven't seen them before.

I have no doubt they are strong with all the angle supports, but like you said, it's unnecessary given that all the other arms out there on the market don't have issues with strength.
 
Boinked said:
I do not believe that they are still being manufactured. Im sure at the time they were released they were the gool guys arms (just like angry eyes) ...../sarcasm.

I can't say anything about the bushings. The arms themselves should be stronger then hell with all the angle supports. But completely unnecessary when you consider the factory arms are strong enough.
Click to expand...
The bushings are your usual polyurethane type, and look to wear well over time. That's the only reason I kept them over simply replacing them with factory CA's. I wasn't really all that impressed with the other components that were on my Jeep from that Rancho lift to begin with (paint separating from the springs and such), and just decided to start over from scratch to make sure that if/when it gets lifted again, it'll be done properly (rear axle that can handle the larger tires, geometry that works properly together, etc.). For a dead simple part, I just didn't see the necessity of spending the cash. Chris is right though, they don't do anything for the look dept., but they'll do for now as serviceable part (zerks) until I start getting parts together for the more serious prep work.
 
Been doing a buttload of homework on this thing. I had 4WP go through it. They found like every bushing & both front ball joints to be old & close to failing. I told them to replace the ball joints, go through the steering & align the front end. They said I should be able to screw with the lift & not effect the alignment. So I'm going to to piece together and replace the lift, rear diff cover, etc as money allows. Thinking about going with the OME 2.5" springs on Amazon. Then I'll need all 4 CAs in front and both the lower CAs in back...... maybe Rock Krawler or JKS?
I should be able to pick it up tonight. And the ID Trailblazers have a club meeting there too. So should be an interesting evening.
 
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Airjunky said:
Been doing a buttload of homework on this thing. I had 4WP go through it. They found like every bushing & both front ball joints to be old & close to failing. I told them to replace the ball joints, go through the steering & align the front end. They said I should be able to screw with the lift & not effect the alignment. So I'm going to to piece together and replace the lift, rear diff cover, etc as money allows. Thinking about going with the OME 2.5" springs on Amazon. Then I'll need all 4 CAs in front and both the lower CAs in back...... maybe Rock Krawler or JKS?
I should be able to pick it up tonight. And the ID Trailblazers have a club meeting there too. So should be an interesting evening.
Click to expand...
If you are only going with the 2.5" OME lift you can stay with stock control arms and save a butt load of money.

Crown makes a set for around $200
But i suck at finding the link to the Amazon page

@Chris has it.
 
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