HOW TO: Purchase & Install a WesWay Lift

***EDIT & UPDATE***:
The strut top plates and upper rear coil isolators can be purchased from JeepinByAl.com, Marlin is a great friend to the independent front suspension jeep society and is doing great things to ensure Liberty's and other IFS Jeeps remain on and off the road for years to come!

What is a WesWay Lift?

I have now completed this HOW TO: Purchase & Install a WesWay Lift thread, if you have any questions free to email or PM me!


Purchasing:
Rear Coil Spring Isolators
Order 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. BE AWARE 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. Since the shipping amount will vary between different areas, I would suggest having $60.00 to spend before ordering because you could possibly need that much. CPD will ship the isolators via UPS, mine arrived in about 6 days but I ordered them on a Wednesday and they arrived the next Monday. So if you order them on a Monday you could possibly have them by that Friday.


Front Strut Shims
Now that you've got the hard part done. Purchasing the shims is much easier thanks to our member and dedicated KJ owner Boiler. Simply click the link attached to his name in the sentence before this one. Type him a private message stating your interest in the shims and request information on what to do in ordering them. Be sure to include which shims you would like to purchase, 3/8" or 1/4". If you are unsure which ones you need or want, click the link at the top of this thread "What is a WesWay Lift" and read the post "About the WesWay Lift:". He will reply quickly and give you the information you need to send him payment. He asked me for PayPal payment which was perfect because I use PayPal often. If you do not have a PayPal account I'm sure he would work out another form of payment. He ships OUTRAGEOUSLY quick I sent him payment at 9:30CT which was 10:30ET his time, and he had shipped them at 10:30CT or 11:30ET! He shipped them via USPS and they should be here in 3-5 days. Boiler performed a smooth and sweet transaction with me and I highly recommend his business.


Install:
Rear Coil Spring Isolators
I would suggest installing the isolators first because it doesn't take very long and if you were to need to reassemble quickly and drive your Jeep you could because its a very simple install. Also if will not hurt anything to drive it with the isolators in the back and the front still stock except that it will look a little goofy with a raised rear end. The strut shims are a bit more complicated to install and will take longer, so I would suggest doing them after the isolators because you also will be doing the clevis lift at that time.


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

Suggested Tools to Install Isolators:
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 THE REAR IS COMPLETE!

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 a little over time.
Installing Boilers shims and doing a Clevis lift with result in about an inch of lift in the front as well so the lift should be good and level, but lifted.

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.

Please take into account that I did my isolator install on a separate day from the shim install so the photos might not match up for the before and afters.

Continued

Front Strut Shims

Estimated Time Required to Install Isolators: + or - 2 Hours

Suggested Tools to Install Isolators:
Floor Jack
Scissor Jack
Small Hydraulic Jack
2 Jack Stands
1 6" 2"x4" Blocks
2 8" 2"x4" Blocks
Tire Iron or Impact Wrench with 3/4" Socket
10mm Socket - 1/4" Drive
13mm Socket - 3/8" Drive
18mm Socket - 3/8" Drive
13/16" Socket - 1/2" Drive
5/16" Socket - 1/4" or Nut Driver
12" 3/8" Extension
1/2" to 3/8" Reducer
Small 1/4" Drive Ratchet
Large 1/2" Drive Ratchet
Medium Standard Screw Driver
Magnetic Trays or some form of a container
Universal Hammer
Locking Lug Nut Adapter (If required)






STEP 1:Unpackaging
After my shims from Boiler were delivered by USPS I opened the package to find my 2 shims wrapped in newspaper and ready to go!








Before:



STEP 2:Air Box & Battery Removal
Now that you've finished the rear assembly, raise the hood on your rig and find the air box on the left side of the engine bay. You must remove the air box because is placed over the strut mount bolts that have nuts holding the strut in place, which you have to remove in order to install the shims. Using the 5/16" Nut Driver or Socket loosen the band around the flex tubing going from the box to the throttle body. Then slide the flex tubing off of the air box. Next slide the small rubber hose on the right side of the air box off of the line running from the engine. Then you should be able to lift the box from the engine bay. It is sitting on 3 plastic feet that are inside rubber grommets on top of the fender well, becareful tugging on the box because the feet will break easily. In fact I broke mine lol. You May find it easier to remove the air box lid and filter so that you're only handling the lower piece of the box. After removing the air box just place it out of the way.























Now look to the right side of your engine bay and find the battery. Using a 10mm socket or nut driver loosen the bolt in the battery terminal connections and slide the connectors off the battery posts and tuck them away so that they are out of your way. Then look on the back side of the battery for the plate that clamps the battery to the battery tray, using the 10mm socket or nut driver and 12" extension remove the bolt and the plate and place them in the magnetic tray for easy finding during reassembly. Now you can freely remove the battery from the battery tray. With the battery out of the way, then locate the fuse box attached to the front of the battery tray and remove it, it is attached by a couple of clips. You can use the the flat head screw driver to slide down inside the clips and pry back like show in the pictures to get them to release. Then locate the 3 bolts holding in the battery tray. There is one to the top left of the battery tray, one to the middle right, and one to the middle at the bottom (beneath the fuse box). Remove these bolts using the 13mm socket and 12" extension and place them in the magnetic tray for easy finding during reassembly. The wires running to the fuse box you the left side are also attached to the battery tray with small christmas tree like clips, you can pop them out with the screw driver as well, but be careful I broke mine. Next there is a small connector attached to the top right corner of the tray by christmas tree clips, remove it also. You should now be able to lift the battery tray from its position and remove it from the engine bay. You may have to wiggle and maneuver it around the fuse box.

Continued

Continued







STEP 3:Jacking & Wheel Removal
After removing all of your jacks and tools from the rear of your rig, drag it all up to the front!

Then place the floor jack between the two front wheels, beneath the engine skid plate. (If you don't have skids keep reading) Place the two 8" 2"x4" blocks underneath the floor jack, then place the 6" 2"x4" Blocks on the lift point of the jack and raise the jack until it the block is touching the rear center of the skid plate, near the cross member. Then take the two jack stands and set one beside each front door, this way they'll be ready to slide under your jeep when you have it raised. (If you're using a tire iron you might want to go ahead and loosen your lug nuts now, if you're using an impact wrench you can wait) Now jack your jeep up until each of the front tires is a few inches off the ground and you can easily fit the jack stands under the frame of the jeep. They should be placed close to the catalytic converters, in the small notch in the sub-frame. Now if you don't have skids you can use two floor jacks, placing one under each LCA and jacking them both simultaneously until you can slide the jack stands under. Now you can lower the floor jack so that the frame settles onto the jack stands.





















Now, using your impact wrench or tire iron remove the lug nuts from each wheel completely. Be sure to use the magnetic tray again to collect them all for easy finding when you reassemble the wheels. After removing the lug nuts, remove the wheels and roll them out of the way. And the install truly begins.









STEP 4:Removing Sway Bar and Clevis Bolts
Be sure that all everything is out from under your Jeep except for the two jack stands, so that the front suspension is at full relaxation lol. Now locate the sway bar bolt connecting it to the LCA. Remove the nut and washer from the bolt using the 18mm socket and place them in the magnetic tray. Then try to push the bolt through on the back side, if it won't slide out you can easily persuade it with the hammer. You may have to press the link back towards the LCA to relieve some of the pressure on the bolt. After removing it reassemble the nut and washer onto it and place the bolt in the tray.

















Next locate the top clevis bolt, holding the clevis to the strut. Remove the bolt using the 13/16" socket, then install it on the opposite side of the clevis and start the threads with your fingers. The plan here is to use the bolt to spread the clevis, so find something to place between the tabs on the clevis that you can tighten the bolt to so that the clevis spreads. I found an old masterlock and used my cutting torch to cut the actual lock ring off so that it wouldn't get in the way. Be sure not to over tighten the bolt to the object because the clevis can break. So only tighten it enough so that it is loose to the strut.















Now find the lower clevis bolt, connecting the clevis to the LCA. Remove the nut from the bolt using the 13/16" socket, and place it in the tray. Then remove the bolt from the clevis/LCA, it make require some persuasion from the hammer but be easy it won't take much. With the lower bolt out, the clevis should have some mobility and be sort of free.













STEP 5:Marking and Removing the Strut and Installing the Shim
Now that the clevis is mostly out of the way, take one of your shims and place if up to the strut flush with the safety flared out part, then using the screwdriver and hammer make a mark where the shim stops on the strut. This is so that when doing the clevis lift you can easily find the 3/8" mark.

Continued

Now you must return to the engine bay. Locate the 4 bolts preceding through the body that hold the strut in place, that were beneath the airbox. Loosen the nuts on the bolts so that the strut won't drop completely. In order to reach the back two bolts you will have to remove the mounting plate for that mechanism which I do not know the name of. Using the 10mm socket remove the two nuts from the studs holding it down, then you can slide it up off the studs and out of the way. After loosening the nuts from the strut bolts, completely remove them one at a time by hand. Now return to the wheel well and wiggle or maneuver the strut however you have to so that it will drop down from the body. You may also have to wiggle the clevis around, be sure you do not completely remove the clevis from straddling the CV shaft because it is hard to reinstall. Now slide the the shim over the strut bolts and return it into the mounting position, this may require more wiggling and what not. Be sure to slide the clevis semi back into its regular position. Then go back to the engine bay and reinstall the nuts onto the bolts. Be sure to torque them good and tight you wouldn't want them coming loose.
































STEP 6:Jack Induced Flexing and Clevis Lift
Now that the strut is back in place you want to reset your clevis. Take the scissor jack and place it at an angle so that the side is snug in the bumpstop impression in the UCA and the lift point is aimed at the bumpstop itself. You can use the scissor jack that came with your liberty, but I used a spare one we had in the shop because it had a 3/4" adapter so that you could crank it with a wrench instead of that stupid rod. Anyway, now easily jack the the jack and watch the clevis, when the clevis stops lowering as you jack you can stop jacking.











Now there is some slack you can get the clevis back into place and reinstall the lower clevis bolt. You may have to push on the lower part of the clevis to get it to line back up with the LCA. Then slide the bolt back through and tighten the nut back down on it using the 13/16" socket.

















Next take your small hydraulic jack and go up from underneath the back side of the LCA and place the jack between the LCA and the sub-frame, next to the sway bar. Be sure the jack footing is flat on the LCA, this will cause the lift point to be at an angle with the sub-frame but it will be fine. Then aim the lift point at the sub-frame behind the strut and easily start jacking the jack and watching the clevis. Once you see the mark, you made earlier on the strut, is just above the clevis you can stop jacking.







Now remove the top clevis bolt from its backward position and reinstall it correctly using the 13/16" socket. Once the bolt is tight in the clevis you can remove the hydraulic jack and then the scissor jack. Now you must reinstall the sway bar bolt. You may need to jack the LCA up with the floor jack in order for the sway bar link and the LCA to align correctly. You also may have to push the link towards the LCA so that the bolt will slide through easily. After reinstalling the bolt, using the 18mm socket tighten the nut and washer back onto the bolt.



















This was only the Passengers side install but everything is exactly the same on the drivers side.

STEP 7:Wheels, Air Box, and Battery Reassembly
Now you're basically done lifting. You can reassemble the wheels and remove the jack stands. Then move back to the engine bay and reassemble the air box and battery setups, then you are good to go! You now have a WesWay Lifter Jeep KJ Liberty!

After Shot:

It's not that noticeable in photos, but you can really tell in person. When you set in it to drive it gives you the feeling you're riding a wheelie on a motorcycle and can't see the road ahead lol. It's no monster I know but much better than stock!

Wow, talk about thorough, Thanks a lot man! What size meats are you able to shove under this lift?

TruLiberty said:

Wow, talk about thorough, Thanks a lot man! What size meats are you able to shove under this lift?

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haha i enjoy being thorough! thank you, for checking it out! I'm still just runnin' 245/70/16's but you may be able to fit 75's if your prelowered

You're awesome. I'm sure this will help a lot of folks, this is one of the most detailed how to's here.

HoosierJeeper said:

You're awesome. I'm sure this will help a lot of folks, this is one of the most detailed how to's here.

Click to expand...

thanks guys!

That was great! Really covered alot of material with pics...Love it!
And the Liberty looks awesome - nice job!

Moab said:

That was great! Really covered alot of material with pics...Love it!
And the Liberty looks awesome - nice job!

Click to expand...

thanks man lol i've had more replys to the thread in the past hour than in the 4 months its been on the site

I agree nice job, great detail.

well done man, is front end on these things just pain to take apart when doing any type of lift on them?

95yjman said:

well done man, is front end on these things just pain to take apart when doing any type of lift on them?

Click to expand...

it wasn't bad really on the WesWay with the proper jack induced flexing.

blue_kjR417 said:

it wasn't bad really on the WesWay with the proper jack induced flexing.

Click to expand...

ya..its just different from the front of the YJ, I was doing a brake check the other day, it just worries me when it comes time to do lift onto the old KJ

Changed the oil today and got a wild hair to try to put on the rear lift....with success!! I didn't have jack stands, but I used ramps and a couple jacks to get the axle to drop enough to pull out the spring. Worked pretty good so far. I even drove to KCI and back. Cara can notice the difference. I ran out of day light and time before I could snap to many pics. Also gotta measure tomorrow. I'm so proud of myself, now to tackle the front sometime.


Before lift, only pic I could find. I forgot to clicky clicky.


After lift

KornyBrad said:

Changed the oil today and got a wild hair to try to put on the rear lift....with success!! I didn't have jack stands, but I used ramps and a couple jacks to get the axle to drop enough to pull out the spring. Worked pretty good so far. I even drove to KCI and back. Cara can notice the difference. I ran out of day light and time before I could snap to many pics. Also gotta measure tomorrow. I'm so proud of myself, now to tackle the front sometime.

Click to expand...

I can definitely tell from you before and after shot theres a lot more room in the fenderwell! Looks good and I'm glad you're happy with it!

Finally got it all complete today! Only difficulty we had was on the driver side the bolt that holds the lower control arm and bottom of the clevis rounded off:disgust: and the insert for the sway bar wouldn't come off the bolt for anything!p: So after those couple set backs we got all put together. Guess I'm an official member of the "WesWay" lift kit!


Rear was already done in these pics



Lift complete!




So far I love it. Perfect lift for me. Not much taller but enough to notice when looking at it and getting in an out of it!

i was starting to expect to see a picture for each lugnut removal and reinstall....