HOW TO: Install Rear Coil Spring Isolators

HOW TO: Order and Install Rear Coil Spring Isolators - Completed


Briefing and Reasoning
I did a "Clevis Lift" on my KJ in late 2009. The actual lift amount results vary tremendously between the Liberty's when doing clevis lifts. I'm not sure why, but they do. My KJ took very well to the clevis modification. Well enough that now my front end is higher than the rear. So I decided to steal the fix from the guys with un-level OME/Rancho lifts. They commonly have the same problem with the front being higher than the rear when doing a full suspension lift. To fix it they buy extra rear coil spring isolators to stack above the rear coil spring to add height and level out the stance. The KJ comes from the factory with 1 isolator above each of the rear coil springs, for a total of 2. You can add 1 to each of the existing isolators, for a total of 4, and gain about 1/4" of lift in the rear. You can also add 2 to each of the existing isolators, for a total of 6, and gain about 1/2" of lift in the rear. I measured from the ground to the bottom edge of my fender flare on the front drivers side and read a 32 1/2". Then measured the same on the rear drivers side and read 32" even. With those reading I decided to go with the 1/2" lift set up to try and get it level.

Ordering
After deciding which set up I wanted to use, I ordered 4 rear coil spring isolators from Chrysler Parts Direct.com. Click the link and after the page loads scroll down the page and you'll see on the left you'll see a series of drop down menus. Fill out the menus on the far left under the "Replacement Parts" section. It's label "A", then click search. After the next page loads, finish filling out the "Mechanical Catalogs" section. The site will automatically redirect you to the catalog for your Jeep. Then on the left of the screen, there are several titles such as: "Alternator, Automatic transmission, Body hardware, Brakes, Clutch". Click the title that says "Rear suspension" and a list of subtitles will appear. Click the subtitle "Suspension components" and another section of subtitles will appear below "Suspension components". Click the subtitle "Spring insulator" and in the main window you will see two rows come up under the description it says "Spring insulator, liberty, upper" and below that "Spring insulator, liberty, lower" be sure to select the upper, because the lower pieces will not stack together. You can either click the view illustration button to look at the exploded view of the assembly or go ahead and click the add to cart button. After adding to cart I figure most of you know how to check out from an internet based buying system. So after ordering they'll be shipped to you and now its time for the next section of this "HOW TO:".

P.S.
The CPD site has the isolators listed as $10.37 each. For 4 the total came to $41.48 without shipping. CPD makes it very clear that they do not charge shipping costs until after the order has been shipped that way they only charge what they need. Therefore be sure to account for that extra amount to be used when you purchase. They sent me an invoice for $41.48 but took from $52.37 my bank account when shipped. That extra $10.89 was for shipping charges. The invoice will say $0.00 for shipping charges but that is only because they have not set the shipping price yet. So, be prepared to have that extra money for shipping after they send you an invoice.


Install

Estimated Time Required: + or - 1 Hour and 30 Minutes

Suggested Tools:
Floor Jack
2 Jack Stands
3 6" 2"x4" Blocks
2 8" 2"x4" Blocks
Large Hydraulic Jack
Small Hydraulic Jack
Tire Iron or Impact Wrench with 3/4" Socket
5/8" Combination Wrench
19mm Socket and Socket Wrench


STEP 1:Unpackaging
After my order from CPD was delivered by UPS I opened the package to find my 4 isolators wrapped in plastic and ready to go!









This photo shows how I plan to install 2 stacked together above each ccil spring in the rear.


STEP 2:Park, Jack, Wheel Removal
Find a place to park your Jeep that is good and solid. Ideally a shop floor, but unfortunately for me my shop floor was occupied by our 27" SeaRay and my Dads motorcylce. So I used the drive in front of the shop, it's relatively solid chat.




After parking your Jeep in a solid location drag out your floor jack. Slide the jack under from the rear of your rig with lift point directly under the rear differential. If you're using a tire iron to remove your rear wheel lug nuts you might want to loosen them before jacking up the jack. If you're using an impact wrench like me, you can go ahead and jack it up first. Jack the jack until the rear tires are a several inches off the ground.











Slide your 2 jack stands under your rig just in front of the rear tires. Place one 6" 2"x4" block above each of the jack stands, so that is between the stand and your rig (save the third for later). Position the stands, with the wood blocks on them, under the frame, just in front of the rear lower control arms. Be sure to raise the stands up to the highest point possible then lock them. This will keep the Jeep at the same height when lowering the floor jack.










Now you can slowly lower the floor jack, but only lower it until the frame is setting on the jack stands. After the frame has seated on the stands, then either finish loosening to the lug nuts on the rear wheels if you started earlier with a tire iron or start removing them with the impact wrench like I did. Collect all the lug nuts and place them in some type of container to prevent losing any, I prefer my Craftsman magnetic tray. Now you can completely remove the rear wheels from the Jeep.

Continued

STEP 3:Shock Unbolting, Jack Induced Flexing, and Coil Spring Removal
Next use your 5/8" Combination Wrench and 19mm Socket to remove the nut from the bolt in the lower shock mount. Then slide the bolt out, you may have to grasp the shock and push up on it to remove pressure from the bolt. Once the bolt is out let the shock hang free. Repeat for the other side as well. Be sure to put your bolts somewhere you will be able to find them again to reinstall them, I used the magnetic tray I used for my lug nuts. Next lower the floor jack a bit so that the coil springs aren't as compressed, but don't lower it too much or the next part won't work. Now grab your 2 8" 2"x4" blocks and place them both under one side of the axle beneath the coil spring mount on the back side. Then place the large hydraulic jack on top of the blocks with it too under the coil spring mount. Then place the 3rd 6" 2"x4" block between the jack and the coil spring mount and jack the jack until it is snug. After Making sure the placement is solid, you can then continue jacking the hydraulic jack up flexing the axle. This will compress the coil spring above the jack and while the opposite side is flexing down it will loosen the tension on the other spring. You can continue jacking the jack up until there is no pressure on the other spring and you are able to remove it. I, however, did not feel comfortable applying all of that one coil springs pressure to one little jack so I jacked the jack up until the spring was at about half compression. Then went to the other side of the rig and placed my small hydraulic jack on the lower control and placed the lift point in a small niche in the sub frame. You can see in the photos where I placed mine, be sure to put the base of the jack between the two bolts so that it has some leverage there and slowly and easily jack the small hydraulic jack until the top of the coil spring is just below the lip above the bump stop. You should then be able to remove the coil spring.






























STEP 4:Isolator Install, Coil Spring Re-installation, and De-Flexing
Now you can take 2 of your new isolator or 1, depending on your application, and slide them one at a time onto the bumpstop. You may have to jack the small hydraulic jack a few more times so that you can now re-install the coil spring. Then slowly and easily lower the small jack until you are able to remove it. Then return to the large hydraulic jack and lower it slowly and easily until you can remove it too.















STEP 5:Re-preform Steps 3 & 4
Now you can re-preform steps 3 & 4 on the opposite side of your rig. I'm not going re-post the steps but I will post pics of the other side.

















Now be sure to reinstall the coil spring after adding the isolators onto the bumpstop and then lower the hydraulic jacks and remove them one at a time.


STEP 6:Shock Re-Installation
Now you can take the shocks and place them back into the shock mount. Then slide the bolt back through the mount and shock. You may have to push the shock up again as you did when removing it to make sure the bolt will line up. The easiest way I found to do this was to remove the shock from the mount and compress it as much as i could then realign it with the mount and let it decompress by its self and have the blot ready to slide in when the holes line up. Next reapply the nut and tighten it finger tight then snug it back down with the 5/8" Combination Wrench and 19mm Socket. Be sure to preform this step on both shocks.
















STEP 7:Wheel Assembly and Jack Removal
Now that the shocks are reassembled you can raise the floor jack so that the hubs are high enough to mount the wheels on again. Then assemble the wheels onto the hubs and secure them with the lug nuts as they were before. Before lowering the floor jack be sure to remove the jack stands and blocks. Then slowly and easily lower the floor jack so that the jeep sets on the rear tires flush on the ground.








AND YOU'RE DONE!

This is a photo of the spring compressed at everyday stance.



And an after shot

The rear fenders are about an inch taller than they were when I started but will probably settle over time. So the rear fenders ended up about 1/4"-1/2" taller than the front. So if you're just looking to level out your clevis lift you might want to just stick with just one isolator, but I'm also installing Boilers Front Strut Shims to hopefully reach about an inch of overall all around lift and finish out my WesWay Lift

After thoughts:
I didn't really expect much difference in ride when I installed the isolators but honestly I have felt a difference in the rear suspension, when I hit bumps on the road you can still feel them but its like they're softer. Those rubber isolators absorb more shock I guess, more reason to use them instead of spacer lifts.

Great write up!

HoosierJeeper said:

Great write up!

Click to expand...

thanks HJ!

Great job man!

Good to know it is a one person job as I'm about to do the lift on mine.

Keith

TexasRock said:

Great job man!

Good to know it is a one person job as I'm about to do the lift on mine.

Keith

Click to expand...

thanks man

yeah its totally a solo job, a spare hand would have been nice just to keep from me having to get up and set down over and over but its totally doable.

any thoughts what would happen if you had a daystar spacer lift and wanted to add 1 or 2 top isolators to get that extra inch. any thoughts

twack said:

any thoughts what would happen if you had a daystar spacer lift and wanted to add 1 or 2 top isolators to get that extra inch. any thoughts

Click to expand...

i expect it would preform the same purpose, not sure if it would cause stability problems or not but would probably put more hurt on your springs then that spacer already is.