Teardown and Rebuild Thread!!!

[bob91yj]

At full droop the track bar is going to pull the axle to the driver's side. Get everything back to ride height before trying to make corrections.

The 5 link design drives me crazy when scooting across the desert at speed, especially the rear axle, get it a little light/unloaded and it swings over a few inches. I really want to change mine over to a three link in the rear to eliminate the problem. Our Jeepspeed Wrangler used the RE three link system, it held up well.

Check your track bar to front diff cover clearance when cycling the suspension/steering. I had an issue with mine rubbing. Kind of annoyed me when I found out RE knew about it but charged me for a new track bar with a different bend when I called to find out what the problem was.

 

[thejafe]

At full droop the track bar is going to pull the axle to the driver's side. Get everything back to ride height before trying to make corrections.

Correct, but if the spring is rubbing the bump stop cup now then every time I flex out I'll have the same issue, no? They're just barely touching but they do make contact.

 

[bob91yj]

Short of jumping the Jeep, it's a rare occasion that you'll have both sides of the axle at full droop. What limits your droop, suspension bind or the shocks?

 

[thejafe]

Short of jumping the Jeep, it's a rare occasion that you'll have both sides of the axle at full droop. What limits your droop, suspension bind or the shocks?

Ok, yes makes more sense that this is happening because BOTH sides of the axle are drooping. I'm not sure what the limiting factor is in the suspension quite yet because I just bolted up the shocks for the first time today and the axle us up on stands. I'm using all control arms included in the Rubicon Express 4.5" Super-Flex kit, though I swapped in 3.5" springs, which is common.

I'm also concerned about the JKS bar pin eliminators that I added to the shocks. This is off of the JKS site:

"Installation of Bar Pin Eliminators effectively reduces the static length of shock absorber by 0.40"

"Provides almost 1/2" additional down travel at shock absorber"

Worried that I'm going to have to address my bump stop situation somehow but I won't really now until I can flex her out and take a look at whether or not my shocks are bottoming out before the bump stops make contact.

 

[thejafe]

Super. Just realized that I installed the rear bump stops up front and vise versa. Well, now I have something to do while I wait for the paint job on my new armor to dry.

 

[bob91yj]

I hate it when that happens, at least you caught it now.

 

[GP'd]

Looking good! Great documentation of this project and I can't wait to see more trail pictures!

 

[thejafe]

Looking good! Great documentation of this project and I can't wait to see more trail pictures!

Trail pics inbound soon . Only a few short weeks 'til I have BFG's on the ground in VT :smiley_drive: .

Got my bump stops situation straightened out today. That's better:



Yes, even my spray cans are being modded out for this project, lol. Believe it or not this little device makes a HUGE difference in comfort when you're spraying for long periods of time. Biggest challenge for me is getting the paint coverage to come out looking even on big parts like the gas tank skid. I dunno, I wish the cans had a wider spray pattern but I guess that's what you get for $6.The new rockers should be fun to paint but I'm gonna have to wait a few days; looks like we're getting rain here on and off until Thursday:



Had to get creative and figure out a way to paint all sides of these parts at once. Found some old wire and put it to work. Success :victory: :

 

[thejafe]

Now that I'm coming down the home stretch with this build it's time to start thinking about my winch setup. Back in May I scored a brand new Warn M8000, with the cable, for $100. It was a display model but had never been used. The deal was way too good to pass up . Ended up selling the steel cable for $75, so now I'm only into the winch for $25. Not bad! I still need to pick up a control pack, remote, fairlead, and I'm gonna go with synthetic winch line from Viking. Here's what I'm looking at:



Viking 3/8" x 80' Synthetic Winch Line with Safety Thimble



Viking 250 Series Hawse Fairlead



Of course, these will all be mated to the GenRight front bumper I installed last summer. Pretty, isn't she? And check out all that rust peeking through in that pic. All gone now!

 

[thejafe]

More paint! Install for all this fun stuff on the calendar for Sunday . Assuming the Jeep starts right up after not having the gas tank hooked for a month I'll update with some driveway shots:

 

[cocco78]

When beginning this teardown my main focus was to address the fact that my shocks were too long up front. It wasn't uncommon for my front driver-side spring to literally fall out onto the trail at full flex. With that in mind I decided to swap out all four shocks and all four coil springs for fresh parts since my current Rubicon Express coils were looking pretty beat up:

Make sure your shocks do not limit your suspension travel, you will ruin them if they do. Like previously mentioned you need limit straps to control the amount of suspension droop, its also perfectly normal for your springs to unseat. I have slightly longer shocks than I need, and limit straps setup to stop the suspension just before the spring would fall out. Getting bumpstop heights can be a lot of trial and error. Really the best way to do it is with your springs removed and your tires on, that way you can jack up the axle in different positions and check for clearance issues.

 

[Jakes01234]

Whats your local shop for parts? Im all around ct for work and like to stop by and check out shops..
Thanks and the jeeps looking great.

 

[thejafe]

Thanks! I go to Extreme Vehicle Builders in Danbury, CT. Known those guys for years and they always treat me right . Here is their site:

http://extremevehiclebuilders.com/index.html

:safari-rig:

 

[thejafe]

Jeep is back on all fours!!! Before I completed the rear suspension I decided to check for clearance issues back there. At full stuff I've got about 1/2" clearance between the shock body and spring perch but they do not touch. With the bump stops touching I've got about an inch of the shock shaft to go before they bottom out. Looks like I'm good . Was hoping to have some driveway shots this evening but now it turns out my battery is shot and I gotta pick up a replacement in the AM:

 

[tdittyrocks]

Your picture does not show yoiur axle at full bumpstop. The jounce material will compress into the metal cup of your bumpstop when under compression. You need to measure to the bumpstop metal cup and make sure you have enough shock travel at that point. Just thought I'd mention it so you don't blow out a shock.