Heather's Jeep Build
OK, it has finally started. Heather dropped off Chris yesterday, along with her Jeep and we started the build on her rig.
The first part of the build was a simple 1 1/4" body lift with the addition of 1" motor lift blocks. We didn't take any pictures, but I am sure either Chris or Heather will post an 'after' shot soon.
Nothing too dramatic, but it did get the body a little higher which will allow for the installation of under armor and larger tires. The body lift was pretty typical and went about as well as any other body lift ever does. The only real problem was a couple of the motor mount bolts that needed a bit of 'love' to get loose.
All of the parts , including all the under carriage armor, were sourced through Rokmen, here in town. The body lift bushings were very well designed and had a 'self centering' design that allowed for the lift to be simply set in place without too much fumbling or wishing that you had three hands. Everything fit very well.
As far as the instructions go, Rokmen suggested not to use the transfer case linkage lowering brackets, but we used them anyway as it allowed for the linkage to be realigned a little better using the first set of holes. Rokmen also suggested that we remove the AC condenser and linkage in order to remove the long motor mount bolt on the driver's side, but I was able to avoid this by simply removing the entire motor mount from the engine and, with some careful(and creative) wiggling, get it out from the engine compartment in order to shorten the bolt that we needed to cut and reinstall it along with the lift block.
Another item on the instructions: On the newer Jeeps, removing the fan needs an SST to hold the fan in place while the fan nut is removed. Not having the SST and not being able to find one (I had previously looked for one when I needed to replace the water pump on the XJ). I had already decided to simply drain and remove the entire radiator in order to drill the new mounting holes for the fan shroud without removing the fan. Since we were adding the motor lift blocks in addition to the body lift, we didn't need to do this step anyway (I had stopped the removal as I figured that raising the engine would negate having to do this-we later actually took a look at the instructions and found this to be true), but I am mentioning this for anyone else doing this sans SST...
Anyway, all in all, a good lift kit with all the needed parts, good instructions, etc. Rokmen is a good company and worth checking out for Jeep Products.
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, so you aren't alone. Maybe we can ride together bonk free and let the ladies ride in Heather's Jeep....