Thanks again - I will likely take a shot at it this weekend. I have a 3/8 mechanic set, so ordering a 3/8 torque wrench. Only breaker bar in 24 inches I could find was 1/2 inch, so will need a new socket for it.

How much easier would it be use an impact gun vs going old school? Originally was quoted $500 to get it done at a shop, so would rather put some of that money into tools and spend the time learning how to do it myself - and was thinking of defraying the cost even more by using credit card points to help pay for the dewalt 3/8 impact wrench set on Amazon (not much more expensive than harbor freight). Is an impact gun worth it? Is it just a time saver or are there other major advantages and I'll be happy to have it in the future? Sorry for all the questions, I'm completely out of my comfort zone, but pick things up pretty quickly and am looking forward to this experience.

Also, to get the springs on, would it be helpful to have something to compress them? People have mentioned you can loosen other parts to get it on, but given its my first time I'd prefer to keep as much of the jeep untouched as possible.

Thanks so much

Edit: Just noticed the corded impact wrenches are much cheaper, any reason to go cordless?

 

 

An impact gun is nice....mainly as a time saver. Even the cheapest thing is helpful. I'd just get a cheap corded one, but I hate messing with batteries and taking care of batteries. Even with an impact though, many times you'll find yourself using that breaker bar to loosen something up, then the impact. Same going on....start by hand, use impact, finish off with torque wrench. They are handy to have....specially when you need to hold the nut to something, and screw the bolt in at same time.

Honestly, it's worth getting a 1/2" socket set, and get the 1/2" drive torque wrench. You have many bolts that require 125 ft lbs of torque, and that is a lot of stress on a 3/8" drive. This is one of those things you buy and have for ages.

In regards to the springs.....you should not need to compress them at all, in fact that is only adding danger to the equation. I'm always so leary any time have to use spring compressors.

Up font, just need to put jack under the front axle, jack it up as high as you can, place jack stands under the frame by the front doors, remove wheels, unbolt lower shock mount (you'll be doing this anyhow), unbolt track bar at the axle, unbolt the sway bar links either at the sway bar or at the axle, and lower the front axle with the jack.....paying close attention to your brake lines so you don't stress/stretch them. Your axle is still connected via the drive shaft and the 4 control arms, so it's just going to go up and down with the jack.....it's not gonna fall out or anything. You should be able to droop the axle enough to simply pull the old springs out and pop the new ones in. Pay attention to make sure the springs are seated properly in the perch. Also, if you're installing bump stops, do so while there is no spring there. Button things back up in reverse order.

In the rear, same thing. Jack under the diff, lift as high as you can. Support the body with jack stands under the frame. Wheels off, unbolt sway bar links either at the sway bar or at the axle, disconnect the rear track bar at the axle, lower the axle with the jack......being mindful of your brake lines. Again, you should be able to droop the axle enough to the springs just come right on our and the new ones pop right on in. Pay attention to how they are oriented.

There are all kinds of youtube vids you can watch on this as well. It is very straight forward, just double check all your work and don't rush yourself. I've been out working all night and it's a bit late......I don't think I've missed anything in the sequence of work, but brain is fried.


Edit - you can either measure your actual height before swapping, or look up the pic that shows the measurements at the front coil perches for the factory height....that way you can measure again after your swap and see what you actually netted.

 

Impact? I spent the money on a gym membership

Just kidding. I didn't buy an impact until later on. It's nice, but it definitely isn't a necessity by any means. Where cordless impacts really shine is trail repair. A good breaker bar does the job...or, as I found out, an old lacrosse stick shaft works perfectly as a breaker bar. You'll get a nice workout in using hand tools though, so give that a go first if you're looking to break a sweat. Don't use a 3/8" drive torque wrench to apply that much torque, you need a 1/2" drive. Other than that, you're good to go. I'd really recommend spending some extra $$ on jack stands. I wouldn't trust the Harbor Freight jack stands with my life, that's for sure.

 

Thanks guys, appreciate the advice. Pulling the trigger on an impact and will either pick up a breaker or use an old lacrosse stick (plenty of those hanging around)

 

Spent Saturday afternoon taking a crack at it with a friend - and while we ran into some problems it ended up basically coming together well. Used the impact when we could but there are a lot of bolts that we're easily accessible so ended up doing a lot by hand. It really comes down to about 7 bolts front and back, but he'd never worked on a Jeep before and I'm brand new to any kind of car.

Took about 6 hours, with 2.5 or so focused on the front shock bolts on top - what a disaster from an access standpoint. No mater what we did we couldn't get them off because they basically had siezed, but luckily I ended up snapping the driver side bolt when I attempted to tighten it and then it basically fell right out and was an easy install for the new shock. Ended up netting about 2 inches up front and 1 in the back and the stance looks great - I will try to get a picture of it tonight and post. Happy the wheels/tires don't look to small, and i think it will be perfect when i eventually pick up some JL rubi take-offs and get the more aggressive ko2 look.

So all in all, my wife is driving around on 3 rubicon shocks and my old sahara shock on the front passenger side. Spoke to the mechanic who originally quoted me $500 for the whole job, and he's going to install the passenger shock tomorrow for $55. It drives a lot better over bumps, I saved a ton of money, learned a thing or two and got some tools out of it - going to count that as a big win.

It does seem to make a bit of a groan when I turn the steering wheel all the way to one direction or the other, but I'm hoping the mechanic will tell me what that is tomorrow. We didn't disconnect the driveshaft when lowering the axles, so hoping that wasn't the cause of the sound. I'll look into fixing the geometry, but since i need to get my tires rotated already I'll take it in for an alignment

 

Good deal. A little experience wrenching on it goes a long ways. Y, those upper shocks mounts are a pain. Usually cutting a little of the plastic for clearance helps, but they are a little more time consuming than they should be just due to access. Next job and job after than will do nothing bue average down the cost of those tools

 

JL shocks will not work on a JK>

 

JL rubi takeoffs comment was in reference to wheels/tires, not shocks. I'd also consider going for JK rubi takeoffs, but would prefer KO2s to KM2s

 

Think it came out pretty well, now just need to wait until i need new tires and get a set of rubi takeoffs with KO2s. Thanks again for all the help.