Quintanaroo

I am considering doing the TerraFlex 2.5 lift myself in my garage. After reading a lot on here and reading the instructions I think it is within my abilities. I have some questions though.

Questions:

1. Disconnecting breather tubes and ABS lines is only briefly mentioned. How hard is this to disconnect / reinstall? Is it obvious once I look or are there tips?

2. Is it best to jack the entire Jeep up and place on 4 jack stands, or is it better to do the back, then the front only jacking up 1/2 at a time?

3. After installing lift am I supposed to install tires drop to ground and then tighten everything up. Or should I add pressure with a jack to the axle and tighten everything while the Jeep is still suspended?

4. How long should this take one motivated installer that has never done this before but is pretty comfortable with wrenching?

I think if I can get these answered from you guys I can make a more informed decision about tackling this myself. Thanks in advance.

619 JK

I'm not as seasoned as most on here but from my personal experience installing this lift a couple of weekends ago:
1. I didn't need to disconnect any breather tubes or my ABS lines and I dropped the axle pretty low. For me, the stretch wasn't anywhere near their max.
2. I did the rear half and then the front half, finishing each before I moved on. I only had one end jacked up at a time and didn't note any issues
3. Although I read you can place pressure on the axle to simulate the vehicles weight, I did my final torquing at the end with wheels on the ground. I also re-torqued a couple times after wheeling it shortly after and got some partial turns here and there.
4. It took me 4 hours on a Fri evening and a solid 6-8 on Sat. I took my time and used TF's video in combination with the instructions. I also ran to Autozone to borrow a spring compressor. I can follow instructions but cannot consider myself an avid wrencher.

I found the instructions to be pretty good in combination with the video and didn't have to cut any corners. In the end everything's playing nice and I ran my tally of installing lifts up to a total of 1!

Good luck and nice choice!!

jereb83

1. Disconnecting breather tubes and ABS lines is only briefly mentioned. How hard is this to disconnect / reinstall? Is it obvious once I look or are there tips?

I did not disconnect them. As you lower the axles, just keep an eye on the brake lines. My TF 2.5" coil lift came with brake line brackets, so I did unbolt the bracket from the frame before installation before I dropped the axles. The breather tubes we did not even worry about, it pulls off not problem, but we did not do it.

2. Is it best to jack the entire Jeep up and place on 4 jack stands, or is it better to do the back, then the front only jacking up 1/2 at a time?

IDK...I've done two lifts and we always did it 1/2 at a time. I am sure it would not hurt to put it up on four jackstands and do it, but I defer to the instructions on this. The only way I would not do it this way is if I actually had a lift where I could drop the axles significantly more than the way they show on the instructions.

3. After installing lift am I supposed to install tires drop to ground and then tighten everything up. Or should I add pressure with a jack to the axle and tighten everything while the Jeep is still suspended?

After its installed, drop it, shake the Jeep around, then torque everything.

4. How long should this take one motivated installer that has never done this before but is pretty comfortable with wrenching?

Depends, took me, by myself, about 6 hours to do a leveling it, very first time doing suspension work. But I would say a while. I've wrenched before but it still time consuming, especially the front shocks. Depending on if you bought the kit with extensions will determine the extra time you'll spend adding extra parts. It took us a while to do my 2.5 coil because we got busy dicking around with LCAs that I decided not to install.

Quintanaroo

Thanks for the quick responses! This is exactly the info I needed. I am going to go for it. Just waiting on the Jeep to get here. Should be here the 19th Hopefully lifted by the 21st.

Wrangler5-0

1.) You actually only need to disconnect the brackets which hold the lines in place so that you can lower the axle without worrying about them stretching and damaging...but once you bring the axle back up you just reinstall them in their original spot with original hardware...VERY EAST

2.) I actually don't think it matters if you jack up the entire jeep or just one end at a time. I did one end at a time and it worked great.

3.) While the jeep is lifted on the jack just secure everything (NOT TO TORQUE) place the tires back on and lower the jeep, then torque everything to spec, rock the jeep back and forth a little bit to let all the parts move and get adjusted then check torque again.

4.) It will probably take you 4-5hrs...it took me a little over 4 with my old man and uncle. I would DEFINITELY find a buddy and have him help...it will make it MUCH easier. Regardless, if you are good with wrenches you will have no problem.

QUICK NOTE - I would download and print out the instructions for the AEV 2.5inch lift kit and use that in conjunction with the Teraflex instructions. The AEV has some really good charts and pictures.

jereb83

Did you get the budget boost or coil lift?

Quintanaroo

2.5 Coil lift with Bilstein 5100s

I also have a front and rear adjustable track bar by JKS that needs installing. Hopefully that will do it for me.

jereb83

Ha, I have a front adj sitting in my room right now...never got around to installing it. No problems though. I shoulda done the shocks, adding all the extras onto my existing shocks makes me nervous but whatever. No problems yet. Can't wait to see the dealer's face in a couple weeks when I turn it in for an oil change.

Quintanaroo

Great Tip, Thanks!

Jakegore04

I just did a 4" lift by myself and it was super was super easy. Disconnect the brake lines just in case it's only one bolt for each wheel so it's no big deal. Also it's not as stable when you lift the whole jeep using jack stands that's why they say just do one side at a time. Also you should lower the jeep to the ground jump up and down on the front bumper a few times then drive it a few feet forwards and backwards a couple times then torque everything down to spec. Then re-torque everything after 100 miles or so and the first offroad use.