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94 YJ 3.5-4 inch lift

5K views 29 replies 6 participants last post by  GUARDDOGG 
#1 ·
Well, my son has a a 94 Sahara YJ. At purchase the seller threw in some BDS leaf springs he said would give 3.5 to 4 inches of lift. We have spent 6 months cobbling together various other pieces (Pitman arm, shocks, brake lines, U bolts, wedge/shims, etc.). We plan to start turning wrenches thus weekend (2/11/17). Gonna put 33x12.5 tires under it. Will try to add original purchase pic plus our addition of flares and 31s that we fund upon possession. Will provide updates as we go. Not in a hurry. Should be goid father son time...
 

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#7 ·
Trust me, that's not rusty. Seized up fasteners are to be expected when something is 20+ years old. When I got my YJ, there was a ton of sheet metal that had to be replaced on the body. The rockers were rotted. The passenger side floor had a small hole in it. The driver side floor was about gone up front, and both front fenders were beyond salvaging. I also had to rebuild the rear body mounts. After all that, somehow the frame was still solid luckily. I did replace a few of the mounting pads on the frame though when I did my body lift.
 
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#8 ·
So... Sunday evening of the first weekend....

Due to schedules, my son and I wound up tag teaming this more than working together. :-(

I got the sway bar extension bolts off, but could not get the extensions themselves to let go. Wound up removing the entire sway bar and will apply a bigger BFH (big f-ing hammer) to get them off later.

Every bolt that comes off feels like a victory.... :p

Son took the track bar off. He also installed the LF brake extension. Back story.... After purchase 5-6 months ago, we needed new rotors. During that job, we dropped the LF caliper and fouled the flexible brake line. Flex line to rigid line was completely fused by rust, so we learned how to bend and install new rigid brake line from master cylinder to the point where it couples to the (new) flexible hose. By the way, the torx bolt that holds the brake line bracket is on the top of the frame. There is NO WAY to get a tool on that, and we had to remove the inner and outer fender as well as the bottles, etc. What a freaking nightmare..... Knowing we would come back for extensions, I cut a notch in the inner fender to access the torx bolt.

So... shocks, sway and track bars removed. We broke the spring bolts loose. The frame ends had to be broken with breaker bar lifted by a jack. Sheesh! We got the new spring installed on the LF and were feeling pretty good about things. Moving to the RF, we encounter the same rust fused coupling from rigid to flexible brake line. Our options are a $250 brake line double flaring kit, or pay a guy. We are still debating. Meanwhile we thought we would remove the old leaf spring. Front bolt and U bolts all came off OK. Rear (frame) spring nut came off, but bolt will not come out. Heat, lube and BFH all applied without success.

Dark and cold..... called it a weekend. (sigh..... )
 
#9 ·
Oops... I meant to say our brake options are $250 kit, pay a guy, or run a whole new rigid line from RF coupling forward to front bumper, over to driver side, back along the frame and up to master cylinder. Oddly enough, that is the option we are leaning toward. It will be a tedious job, but the front brakes will be all new from master cylinder to coupling. Coupling to master cylinder is also being difficult. Grrrr...
 
#10 ·
Had some time away from the project. Rear brake line coupling also fused. Looking like a whole new brake line system... I knew we would run into challenges, but I did NOT anticipate a whole new brake system. We cut the rigid lines, so Jeep is without brakes until we address that.

Got the LF all put together, but not yet torqued, including shock and brake line extender.

RF, and both rear spring bolts on the frame end are seized. Bought a cheap 4 inch cutting wheel. Not up to the job. Returned it and bought a 4 1/2 inch grinder/cutter. Got the RF spring off. We had obtained some Grade 8 bolts from a great place (C and D Fasteners in Fort Collins). Unfortunately, they turned out too short so I will return them tomorrow. New RF leaf spring is hanging from the Jeep, waiting for a bolt of sufficient length. Gotta work, so that's all for President's Day...
 
#11 ·
I hate working on brakes. Nothing in the brakes is terribly difficult, it's just messy and tedious. At least when done, you'll know you won't have to touch it for a while. ;)
 
#12 ·
So... Front end done except for torquing and pitman arm. I expect trouble with pitman arm, but will cross that bridge when I come to it... LR spring removed. Had to cut frame end bolt. We intend to install BDS shackles to augment military wrap springs. Unfortunately, you cannot remove top (rear) shackle bolt without dropping the gas tank. On the one hand, I'd like to strangle the great grand children of the guy who decided to put the head of the nut to the inside... On the other hand, the gas tank skid plate is a rusted piece of junk and we always did intend to replace it. I just didn't want to replace it NOW!

So, ordrered skid plate, straps and sending unit gasket. As long as tank will be down, seems like a good time to install rear bumper with triangle spare tire carrier. Much easier to access books when tank is out. Perfect example of one job leading to another, leading to another... (Sigh)...

Will try to tidy up the front end and drop the tank while we wait for UPS. Definitely feeling the Just Empty Every Pocket thing right now ��

Also, local off road shop sold me 3/8 leaf spring pins and shims. Should have been 5/16 but I didn't know that. I started drilling so now am committed to bigger pin size. Springs at local machine shop as I have burnt up three expensive drill bits trying to enlarge to 3/8. Will be glad do stouter pins in long run, but just another obstacle to overcome right now...
 
#15 ·
Put the front together, bought torque wrench and torqued everything. Still no brakes and need to do pitman arm. Put the 31s back on. 33s waiting in the wings... Other concerns are 1) brake extenders are in contact with tire... 2) LF wheel looks straight while RF is clearly out of alignment (to the right). Just eyeball test, that doesn't look right. Any thoughts?

Trips to OReilly = 6
Trips to industrial side of town (machine shop/fasteners) = 4
Bolts cut = 7
New tools = 5
Cans of PB Blaster = 1.5
 

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#19 ·
Mine had a similar issue. I used a spring to keep the brake line away from the tire. The PO actually had the line fail and he lost front brakes on the trail. Not interested in having that kind of failure myself.
 
#18 ·
You should have a little bit of toe-in for stability. It does look like you may have too much though. Your best bet would be to just take it to an alignment shop if it's drive-able. Otherwise, there are methods to do it yourself. A google search should yield results. There should be some threads on this site as well.
 
#20 ·
UPDATE.
The Good: We have installed all 4 leaf springs, and have removed the rusty old gas tank skid plate. Rear springs drilled out and bigger pins installed. Shims and U bolts installed. 31s back on, 33s on front just for a quick preview.

The Bad: remaining tasks include; pitman arm, alignment, install of rear bumper and skid plate, solution to brake extension/rub issue, install of rigid brake line to 3 wheels.

The Ugly: Rear bumper arrived damaged. Honestly, I think it's on UPS, but now involved in online sales/replacement hassle. Need 24 hour auto parts to do right thing....

Pic shows 33s on front, while 31s still on rear. Will post daylight pics soon...
 

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#22 ·
Chipping away, chipping away.... Son bought shock boots and we installed them. Found we need rear shock relocation brackets; ordered.

Rear bumper replaced by vendor. Yay! Installed.

I fished a ratchedy cargo strap between the gas tank and its skid plate to suspend the the tank while we R and R the skid plate. Looks very dorky but getting the job done.

Son got antsy and mounted all four 33s before I could measure new height on old 31s... I don't blame him :-D. We we both blown away by the difference in look and beefiness....

Still no brakes and Pitman arm fighting us as expected.
 

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#23 ·
Making good progress. New bumper and tire carrier installed as noted above. Gas tank skid plate installed. Very satisfying. We put the 31s back on for measurements.

LF. 34 1/2 to 38 3/8
RF. 34 to 38 1/2
LR. 36 to 43
RR. 36 to 42 1/2

Will be interesting to see how it settles...

Son got Pitman arm off. Tried various methods (heat, BFH, puller, oil, cutting for weakness). What worked was he put max tension on puller then whacked it with BFH. It popped off and made a wonderful clank sound on the garage floor :)

Remaining tasks.... rear shock relocation brackets, brake line replacement, and tea safer case drop. We see pretty severe angle on driveline. Will see how much TC drop helps...
 
#27 ·
Great project for a father and son to do together. It is coming along nice. Running all new brake lines isn't that bad and it really gives you peace of mind knowing that they are all good. I have heard that the NiCop line is really nice to work with. It bends easier and is more corrosion resistant. My Napa carries it, I'm sure it is available at your local Oreilly too. Make it trip #7 :)
 
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