Tools for OME lift

[Eff]

Happy thanksgiving holiday everyone!
Ok, i have settled on a plan of action and am wanting to make sure i have all the tools necessary.
I will be putting in the complete OME 1 1/2" heavy duty lift (not CRE) and the JBA UCA.
I have never done a job like this but it looks fairly straight forward and i am giving myself a weekend to do it. I will be using shop space where i work and need to be out of there by Monday morning and don't want any hold-ups for lack of tools, material, etc.:whip:
Oh, and regarding the UCA, i should probably replace the bottom of the ball joint too, right? I guess i will need to get a seperator tool..
What is the biggest std. socket i need? biggest impact socket?
i can't thin of any other questions for now-.
thanks for your help,
Eff

 

[tommudd]

Replace the bottom of the ball joint?
No separator needed to do a lift, actually they do more harm than good
For the UCAs the drivers side rear is the worst one to get to, have plenty of extensions to reach back to it plus a couple of swivels.
Lots of wrire ups on here LOST and also www.boulderbars.com under Frankenlift
If you have a complete set of regular and deep well sockets from 10 mm on up you'll be good to go

 

[Eff]

Hi Tomm, Thanks for posting- you are the man.
i guess what i meant to ask in reference to "the bottom of the ball joint" is replacing the steering knuckle. Do you always replace or just inspect it for damage? I don't have any problems that would indicate a need to replace, but maybe its a good idea?
JBA refers to a C-4150A tool, so that must be what you're sayings is more harmful than good- correct?
ya, i will be reading up every single post on this topic.
thanks again for your help.
Eff

 

[Cardhu]

For the UCAs the drivers side rear is the worst one to get to, have plenty of extensions to reach back to it plus a couple of swivels.

This is what I was missing when I did my lift. spent a long time trying to figure out how to get at it from underneath and failing spectacularly.

Needed ~10 - 14 inches of extensions with a deep socket. I think its 18 mm.

Broke a 3/8" U-joint wobble trying to torque it too. Upgraded to 1/2 inch impact wobbles for next time.

27mm for JBA uca BJ nut

The other side goes much quicker once you've learned on the first one.

The wesway lift thread has a good way to swap out the rear so if you've got a bottle jack to shove in and press the rear arm down it helps. I'm sure there are other ways but seemed to make the most sense to me. Careful with you jack / stand placement during set up as your going to be pretty vulnerable down there. 1 Jack, 1 bottle jack, 1-2 jack stands, assorted small pieces of 2x4, plywood if your on gravel or unsolid floor.

I'd probably open up the a arm pockets too. I didn't and regretted it. The arms will contact the lower metal ridge and bend it down slightly, or at least it did on mine, likely related to my 1/4 inch plate on top. Likely happened during my test ride pre alignment and I hit some hard bumps when it was high.


drill for bumpstops, grinder for A arm pockets, rust paint, wire brush for cleaning up clevis while its off as I repainted some of my parts, TORQUE wrench, rachet straps, bfh.

If you buy bilstein A702 rear shocks, you might want 4 washers with a 1/2" hole to keep them tight laterally along the upper bolt, diameter is correct, just loose in pocket. If your using 132L disregard.

 

[tommudd]

Wes's way of doing things is different than mine, lots of short cuts that I do to make things go faster. But it all good in the end.

 

[Cardhu]

I've seen the jack up the rear diff pumpkin and compress opposite side with jack routine that somebody wrote up for adding iso's. Looks like its fast but I really didn't know what I was doing the first time nor had multiple jacks I could trust. It definitely looks / is faster unless this is not what your talking about.

I also found it hard to bolt in the bottom extended Length shock solo if you don't have the body lifted high enough before swinging the rear control arm down...
used a quick ratchet type strap to compress and let our slow while pushing in the bolt. Then ripped apart strap as there is space inside the curve top of the shock mount and the body. Easier if your an octopus or have help / done 20. Also did not have 2 iso's added.

That said I hardly even came close to reinvented the wheel but it would be cool to see how someone else does it. If I get roped into lifing someone elses it would go twice as quick. Even solo spending no more time wondering wtf is that in front of me as I did for half my builds time.

 

[Eff]

Cardhu- thank you so much for the detailed response- i saw at least 2 items that i do not have, and those "i wish i did this" points are priceless time savers for those of us who haven't done this before.
Jack placement seems like one of the most important parts of the procedure.
Scary excitement!

 

[blue_kjR417]

Wes's way of doing things is different than mine, lots of short cuts that I do to make things go faster. But it all good in the end.

hahaha tom not everyone has 40+ years off 4x4ing and don't know all the tricks you do so sometimes we have to create our own less efficent but just as productive lol. Also I know for me I do things by myself alot and not having a spare set of hands to help gets you thinking of ways to prevent needing them. But like you said its all good in the end!:icon_lol:

Happy thanksgiving holiday everyone!
Ok, i have settled on a plan of action and am wanting to make sure i have all the tools necessary.
I will be putting in the complete OME 1 1/2" heavy duty lift (not CRE) and the JBA UCA.
I have never done a job like this but it looks fairly straight forward and i am giving myself a weekend to do it. I will be using shop space where i work and need to be out of there by Monday morning and don't want any hold-ups for lack of tools, material, etc.:whip:
Oh, and regarding the UCA, i should probably replace the bottom of the ball joint too, right? I guess i will need to get a seperator tool..
What is the biggest std. socket i need? biggest impact socket?
i can't thin of any other questions for now-.
thanks for your help,
Eff

I posted all the tools I used in my WesWay lift in the HowTo thread I made, I'm pretty thats all the tools I needed for my OME/Bilstien lift as well.
HowTo Link: http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/showthread.php?p=454160#post454160