Wait a second.... Those parts look very familiar... I call dibs on the stabilizer!

And I might order Rustys tie rod. Installed one on my coworkers Rubicon and that thing is beefy.

Or if I can find the ZJ parts at the auto stores I will do that.

 

Is yours!.....But you will need hardware.

I paid around $70 total at AZ for the ZJ parts.

 

I can get Federal Mogul bearings through work for $112ea but they are on backorder until June. And they are made in Korea.

O'Reilly has them for $75ea in stock. Found some Timken bearings online for $45 or so with free shipping.

Debating on which route I want to go...

 

Ordered the front hub bearings earlier this week. Should be here hopefully next week. Shouldn't be anything out of the ordinary as far as replacing... I have done my fair share of replacing these back in the days.

Apparently the bad hub bearing caused the brake rotor to warp slightly, which I can feel through the brake pedal. Nothing major but it sucks because I just did all the brakes a couple months ago!

So far I just need a few more items for the lift.
- adjustable track bar
- extended brake lines
- axle shims

Starting the lift next weekend since I will have more free time. I have a feeling that this will take a long while to complete since I only have a few hours per day to work on it after work... now to find my camera and take some pictures, because everyone loves pictures!

 

Sold the black steelies. Made money on all the parts I have sold so the entire suspension has basically paid me!!
I still have more parts to sell including my old 4/6 McGaughy drop kit from my Silverado. And stock parts from that too. If anyone is in the market for a lowering kit for a 99-06 Chevy/GMC full size I have one!

 

Recent trip to Pahrump over the weekend I scored a pair of KC Daylighters 100w long range lights for free.

Jeep is now in the air on stands and soaking in PB blaster for the next few days.



I removed the front sway bar, breaking the link in the process. Luckily the lower mount is still okay, just a little rusty.

Rear bumpstops were shot. I am surprised they stayed on this long! Passenger side fell off when I barely touched it.



I am now collecting the old broken pieces in a box, I want to see how much crap will break or fall off by the time I finish

 

Pic of broken front sway bar end link.


Deteriorated front sway bar end link bushing.


Rear lower shock bushings are shot. And these are the original shocks from 1996!


Rear sway bar is out, FINALLY!


Kind of hard to tell by the pic, but this is the axle mount end of the rear sway bar. Completely rusted but it did come off fairly easy.



TOOLS NEEDED FOR:

REAR SWAY BAR REMOVAL
Axle mount requires 18mm wrench/socket. I used a 1/2" drive 18mm socket and a wrench, due to the tight space.
Body mount requires 15mm wrench/socket. I used a 3/8" drive ratchet and 3" extension to get the rear bolts out due to the confined space.

FRONT SWAY BAR END LINK REMOVAL
15mm deep socket or wrench to remove end link from sway bar. I had to use a breaker bar on this one for leverage. Managed to get it off to where I only had a few threads left, but the corrosion won and it snapped on both ends. Oh well, if you are lifting it you will want disconnects anyways and those come with new lower mounts too.
18mm socket or wrench to remove end link from axle mount. PB blast the hell out of this one if needed. But then again, if you are putting quick discos on you will replace the stud with the kit. AND DO NOT FORGET **THE STUD IS PRESSED IN NOT THREADED IN** so get a 2-jaw puller. Any auto store will rent them or sell them. They are fairly inexpensive. I have had mine for several years and maybe only used it a handful of times.

I will be removing the lower stud at a later date, once I order my quick discos.

 

And to add to the previous owners lack of common knowledge... the driver rear fender. He attempted to spray it with rubberized undercoating spray but did not take the proper steps to prep the surface.


Now I get to fix his work!

 

I have a case of this and have only used one can so far. This stuff glows in the dark too!


Front spring removed.


Passenger spring bucket.


Drag link to tie rod. Needs replaced of course.


Stock coil next to RC 4.5" coil.


Stock shock next to FBG shock... which I think is a RC shock without the stickers.


So far, all the scrap pieces from the Jeep.


Drag link at pitman arm. Dust boot is shot as well.


Trackbar at bracket. Dust boot is leaking and this damn thing has play in it too.

 

Passenger tie rod dust boot is cracked. This is bone stock at 138k miles and showing signs of wear.



Replacement parts are in the works. ZJ upgrade steering. Was going to do a Rusty's tie rod but for the cost of it and shipping, it would have been double of a complete ZJ steering upgrade. So I figured I would rather have all NEW parts that can be replaced relatively quick and easy where ever I am at.

 

Using a tap and die to clean the threads on bolts/nuts/threaded holes. Personally, I was going to invest in new hardware for the front shocks but decided that I would just clean the old ones and see they looked at first.

I purchased this tap/die set about 7 years ago from Harbor Freight for about $25 I think. I have only used a few of the taps and dies over the years and now it is being put back to use for this Jeep!

This is the front lower shock bolt. You can see the corroded part of the threads toward the middle.


M8x1.25 die inserted in the handle. This is the correct thread pitch for the nut and bolt holding the front lower shock bar pin on.


Sprayed some lubricant on the bolt and die. This will help clean the threads as well.


Insert bolt into die and turn it with a wrench.


In the above picture, you can see the shiny cleaned threads halfway on the bolt. I ran the bolt to that point, sprayed more lubricant on the bolt and die and went all the way on it.

Rule of thumb is for every few turns on the die, back off some to clean the threads. This will help eliminate some of the metal shavings and debris while cutting the threads. This applies to the tap as well.

Finished product. Clean threads on the shock bolt.


Here is the tap. M8x1.25 same as the bolt.


I didn't take any pictures on clean the threads for the nut, but it is the same process as above.

Also, the lower spring retainer uses the same pitch M8x1.25. I cleaned the threads on the coil seat and retainer bolt. It is a lot easier to reassemble with clean threads instead of fighting and possibly cross threading the bolt.

 

In my attempt to remove the lower control arm, I was faced with a stubborn chassis bolt. This is common from what I have read and I was given a few options.

1. Beat the crap out of it with a sledge hammer and hope it moves.
2. Use an impact and break the bolt from the bushing sleeve.
3. Cut it out.

I tried the sledge hammer for a couple hours this morning. My shoulder was starting to hurt and I was getting hungry so I decided to stop. I was getting nowhere with the sledge hammer, other than potentially damaging the mount. I went online and came across a few threads on JF and here about cutting the lower arm out. So I went back to my garage and got the sawzall out, opened the case and NO BLADES!!

Oh well, off to the store (Home Depot) for blades and new hardware.

I picked these up for my old school Milwaukee. 14TPI 6" blades. These work awesome! And I used one blade per side.


On one side it said to cut the lower arm in order to gain access. I looked at mine, put the saw in place and went at it without cutting the arm in half. There is room, you just have to be somewhat flexible and let the blade do the cutting.

Aftermath of cutting the lower arm bolts from the chassis mount.




And my trustworthy corded Milwaukee sawzall, which is about twice my age by the way.


Metal shavings and parts of the bushing.


Because I was working from above, none of that fell on me. But the smell of burnt rubber isn't the greatest... at least not this crap. Remember safety and wear glasses regardless. I had crap falling from the fender well because of the vibrations.

This is to you, seized control arm bushing.

 

At least he attempted to do more than some people do.

But other than that, cool build so far. I like XJ's with the coyote tan paint job.

 

New lower arm is installed.


And after I took the pic, I realized the brake line might be a little to short... but there was still some play in it. I removed the caliper from the bracket and used a bungee cord to hold it up, taking the stress off the line. But that was after I took the pic.



There is no info on the arms, but they do measure out for the 4.5" lift spec. They look like RC but could be Fat Bobs Garage (same as RC) or Rusty's. Although they have poly bushings and are fixed.

 

True. The front is worse though! The stuff was falling off when I cut the control arm out haha.

And thanks for the compliment. EricsXJ inspired the paint job, along with a few other members on here.