Laughingstok

Had a guy PM me and ask me some questions about the installation of the TeraFlex 2.5" Coil Lift and I figured I would post my responses here for everyone to read as they appear to be common questions, and I am posting the solution to some of them that we encountered during the install.

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I worked with my brother and a friend to knock it out relatively fast. Took us from 9:30 AM until 3:00 PM, and that included a trip to Lowes for a grease gun and a drill, a stop to pick up some Coke's, and cleanup!
We were able to knock out both sides fast up until the rear bracket.

The only problem was that rear bracket. After tapping the hole, we couldn't get them lined up well enough to get the bolt through. We took the stock jack that comes with the Jeep, stuck one end inside the bracket and slowly opened it to spread apart the frame where the bracket goes into. That helped us get the bracket in, along with a hammer and some cussing.

Once you bolt the bracket in, it will collapse the spread you did with the jack so no worries there.

The rear springs were easy. Just make sure you keep an eye on your brake lines and your ESP wiring. We removed the bracket that held the brake-line to the frame DURING the install on the front, but reattached it once we were done. However, even removing that bracket still didnt give enough slack to allow the front axle to drop far enough to easily get those springs in.

I recommend not having a full tank of gas when doing this so your passenger side won't droop as far. In the end, we just muscled it up in there. My brother is a hoss and he just came in from a front side direction, grabbed the coil with both hands and yanked it up in there. Slid right in once he passed the trackbar. We did not use a coil compressor but if you're worried about it, just borrow one from an AutoZone.

Read above.

1. Use the stock jack to spread apart the frame where your bracket will mount.

2. Make sure you buy a grease gun and grease your rear swaybar links.

3. Sequence tap the 3/8" hole in the frame. MAKE SURE THE HOLE IS RIGHT ON THE MONEY. Hold the paper up to the frame and shine a flashlight from behind so you can line up the drawing perfectly, then take a punch tool and hammer and tap the dead center of the hole on the paper. Then drill.

4. Make sure you bend the hard portion of your brake line out of the way. The destructions say to do this but I'm just reiterating. The rear swaybar barely clears with the new longer swaybar links in the rear, but they do clear. The bumpstops will ensure it can't ride high enough to bump into the horizontal run of the hard brakeline section that is in the wheel well. You will see what I mean when you get to that step.

5. If you are doing the shock extensions, tighten the upper bolts (when attaching to the frame) just until the rubber bushings begin to compress. Then stop. No need to compress that rubber to death.

If you mean is my steering wheel itself still level with the Jeep logo being horizontal.. no. It's off by about 2 degrees, but that's easily adjustable and no issue.

I have had zero wobble and have driven up to 80 mph with it on. I have also taken it off-road and banged it around on purpose on some speed-bumps to see how it would handle. Zero problems. I check the work everyday still to make sure everything is solid and it is very good.

I did not get an alignment done afterwards. If you do it correctly you will not need an alignment. My axle did not shift AT ALL, which according to other write-ups, must be rare, but quite literally I am able to line-up the Jeep on the highway and let go of the steering wheel and it drives like an arrow. I just did this yesterday to show my wife actually.

About 3.1 inches in the front and 2.5 in the rear. Looks sharp. I will have to take some photos of it soon.

TeraFlex

Awesome response!

09rubicon

Great write up, I have the same lift and love it! I am honestly surprised your axle didnt shift. Mine shifted 7/8" to the driver side. I got the JKS adj. track bar and got it to within 3/16" of center (not that it matters, just thought I would throw it in).

Roxster

Nice write up.

This really is a pretty straightforward install. For anyone contemplating this, I did mine solo and I completed the job in a similar amount of time, which included removing my Rough Country BB kit.

Couple of tips I'll add based on my experience:

1) Front bump stop extensions -- boil them... I think I exerted more physical energy trying shove those extensions into the frame than I did on any other part of the install. After some quick research I fired up a pot of water on the stove and let the Tereflex pieces sit in the boiled water for several minutes before trying again and it worked like a charm!

2) My kit came with 1/2" rear coil spacers, but apparently not all do/have. They were not referenced in the instructions, so when I completed the install I had "extra parts" (I hate when that happens ). In any case, the spacers install against the frame, and the factory pads/spacers slip onto the Teraflex pieces. I believe you can find a description of this on the Teraflex web site if you look at the instructions for a 3" or bigger lift.

3) Don't worry about having to compress the springs... if you've disconnected the sway bars and removed the shocks you will have more droop than you need, especially in the rear. Working alone I had some trouble keeping the new coil in place on one side while working to do the same on the other side (before raising the axle to hold them in position). I used some wire to tie the coils into position while I worked.

4) Lube bushings, spacers and other parts in contact with one another as you install. Use white lithium grease (compatible with rubber) or silcone lube.

5) As you work, make a checklist of things you need to do or follow-up on to complete the install. The instructions are light on details, and as I recall they don't mention things like reattaching wiring or the parking brake cables, for example.

As for the front axle position, I don't see how it's possible that it wouldn't shift. It wouldn't necessarily pull or otherwise not track straight, but lifting the frame away from the axle has to change it's position unless the track bar is lengthened. Mine moved significantly, even after changing from the RC 2.5" to the TF 2.5". I installed an adjustable track bar to compensate.

Hope this helps.
Ron

ranwitscissorz

Also, an easier way that doesn't require culinary skills, put the extension in partially and raise the axle up, it will push it in.

rob4607

Ditto, that is what I did as well.

Roxster

Fortunately I had a good recipe for boiling water. Just had to sneak a pot out of the kitchen without the boss noticing that it was being used to cook Jeep parts!

HG07JKRubi

Just wanted to add that if you get this 2.5" kit with the TeraFlex 9550 shocks you should install those .5" rear spacers with spring guide or you could loose your rear coil under full extension. These 9550 rear shocks are almost 3" longer than factory shocks with 2.5" extensions. I think their instructions have been updated to reflect this.

Per TeraFlex: https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...&postcount=112