Parts

• 4 Doeschtech shocks
• 2 Front shock tower mount converters
• 2 Front brake line extensions
• 1 Rear brake line extension
• 4 Anti-axle-wrap spring perches
• 1 Track bar axle mount extension
• 2 Transfer case lowering bars w/6 nuts & bolts

I also recommend that you buy a complete set of spring u-bolts so you don't have to re-use your old ones and set aside cash for getting the rear driveshaft lengthened after the lift. Some rustproof paint would be good, too.

Tools

• Pitman arm puller
• Complete set of wrenches and sockets
• 4 Jackstands
• Floor jack and a standard scissor or bottle jack
• BFH (aka: a large hammer)
• Torx bits (for the brake line mounts)
• Large adjustable-grip pliers (for the parking brake line)
• Drill (preferably a half-inch)
• Drill bits
• Sander or wire wheel on an angle grinder
• Welder (or the services of a welder)
• Measuring tape
• Angle finder
• Needle nose pliers

Preparation

Friends

Work Area

Disassembly

We removed the wheels, shocks, sway bar and track bars and then disconnected the emergency brake line as per the instructions. Then we started on the steering linkage. I tried removing the drag link from the pitman arm with a pickle fork (or ball joint fork). After failing to remove the drag link, I used my trusty pitman arm puller to pop off the link (actually, it wasn't my puller but I think I'll keep it). If you've never used one before, the process is as follows:

1. Put some grease on the threads of the puller.
2. Position it so that it clamps around the top of the pitman arm where it connects to the drag link. The bolt of the pitman arm should be positioned against the threaded end of the draglink which extends through the arm. Tighten the puller against the link as hard as you can.
3. Use the BFH to beat on the link as hard as you can. It may help to pretend that it owes you money. With sufficient whacking, it will pop out of the pitman arm.

We used a similar procedure to remove the pitman arm from the steering box. Remember, as with most things in the boudoir, strong, vigorous thrusts are the key to success.

The instructions told us to disconnect both drive shafts from the axles but we found that wasn't necessary. The only reason we disconnected the rear driveshaft because one of the u-joints was bad and had to be replaced. Around this time, I also discovered that my rotors were terminally grooved. After cussing and shouting for a few minutes, I resigned myself to the fact that I'd have to shell out the bucks for new rotors and brake pads. For now, I left the calipers attached to the brake hoses and zip-tied them out of the way.

After removing the axle u-bolts, we used some ratchet straps to attach the axles to the frame before removing the spring packs. An electric angle grinder with a coarse wire brush was used to prepare the axle tubes for welding. Using a Johnson angle finder ($22 from Home Depot), I placed the perches at the correct angle and clamped them in place.

Perch Welding

Before John finished his official duties as master welder, Rob suggested that I ask him to weld the track bar extension to the cast axle mount. This seemed like a good idea since we've heard other other Jeepers suffering from broken track bar extensions. And since John was already there and had his welding gear setup, it made sense to do it.

No special welding process was required to attach the perches to the axle tubes. Arc or MIG could be used (RE recommends MIG because it imparts less heat to the surrounding metal). The standard welding practice of welding individual short beads rather than long beads was sufficient to avoid tube warpage.

Reassembly

The parking brake lines were removed, a lower mounting hole was drilled, and the lines were re-routed a few inches lower. The flexible brake lines were removed from where they attached to the frame-mounted hard brake lines and the RE brake line extensions were installed. The longer Doeschtech shocks were installed. The fronts were installed upside down (shock rod down) because at extreme articulation, they would hit the springs or knuckle assembly if the shock body was at the bottom. To facilitate upside down mounting, RE included a couple of adapters for the shock towers which let me use eye-mount shocks in the top instead of the threaded stud types. Using their transfer case lowering tubes, the case and skidplate was lowered approximately one inch.

Rob was having trouble attaching the rear driveshaft to the axle, even after we had lowered the rear of the Jeep so that it was resting on the wheels. The resulting lift was approximately 10 inches over stock. This accounted for while Rob couldn't extend the driveshaft far enough to connect to the axle. Something was definitely wrong. Although comparisons with Traci's stock YJ and previously gathered information from Jeep list subscribers indicated that the 5-leaf spring pack should go in the rear, we decided that the springs should be switched. Hopefully, the 4-leaf pack which we had installed in the front would, when put in the rear, lower it to a more reasonable 6 inch lift. When this didn't work, we were really confused. Why was it sitting so high in the rear? Then I smelled something burning, like an electrical short. I quickly recognized it as coming from the bad wiring for the dim light bulb in my head: I was having an idea. We had been testing the lift height with the rear of the Jeep sitting on its wheels and the front on the jackstands. The problem was that the jackstands in the front were located behind the front spring hangers, which was at least two feet farther to the rear of the front axle. This meant that the weight distribution was skewed. So test this theory, we put the wheels back on the front axle and lowered the Jeep onto all fours. Sure enough, the lift measured out to the advertised lift of 5.5 to 6 inches. Having been at the job for far too long, we elected to leave the springs as is since the Jeep sat "kinda" level. I couldn't find the nut and bolt to attach the track bar to the axle so I left it unattached. I've been driving my Jeep for over a year with no track bars so I wasn't too concerned about not having it connected, even though RE suggests that the front should be attached.

The last bit of reassembly had to wait till Sunday morning because Canadian Tire had given me a mismatched set of brake pads. Then, to liven things up, I tried to bleed one of my rear brakes with the drum off. That earned me some penalty time while I frantically tried to tear apart the brake to put the piston back together. Oh, did I mention that we were supposed to meet some friends to go for a 4x4 day trip up to Blue Mountain?

RESULTS

2.5" lift vs. 5.5" lift Before and after, front 3/4 view. Notice the added fender clearance.

Test Drive ... Driveline Vibration Rears Its Ugly Head

The ride on the street was noticably better and the 6 inches of total lift didn't seem to make the Jeep handle any worse than when I had my 2.5" lift. Best of all, the lack of a front track bar didn't not significantly affect the handling. I noticed some mild bumpsteer when I braked hard but it was easily controllable and not much worse than with my 2.5" lift.

Offroad, it was even better. With the tires aired down to 20 lbs and the front sway bar disconnected, the ride was absolutely beautiful. The articulation was dramatically improved over my old 2.5" lift which, in itself, was no slouch, either. Trail sections which used to cause me to lift a tire were negotiated with all four tires on the ground.

Addressing the Driveline Vibration Problem

My transfer case skidplate has taken a lot of damage over the past three years so I decided I should lower it another inch which should bring it in line with a "stock" transfer case. I also obtained and installed a set of rear 5-leaf spring packs (now I'm running 5-leafs in the front and back). That improved things so now the rear axle is only pointing 2-3 degrees higher than parallel with the transfer case output. The driveshaft angle is approx. 20 degrees (I have an MIT transfer kit so the transfer case is effectively 4 inches shorter than stock). The vibration is still there but it has diminished significantly and only occurs around 40 km/h. Basically, it's livable, although I'll probably go with a CV joint driveshaft when I swap in a D44 rear axle later this year.

Bonuses

1. With a lift kit, the added arch of the lift springs usually causes the rear wheels to move backwards when they are pushed up into the wheel wells because the springs straighten out under comrpession. This backwards motion results in contact with the rear, bottom portion of the fenders, which is why many YJ owners with 33" or greater tires must trim this area. With the flat, stock springs, the rear wheels actually move a little bit forward when they move up into the wheel wells so the available fender clearance is maximized.
2. Similarly, because the springs are at their maximum length (as measured between the spring eyes) when the vehicle is on level ground, the shackles will not move any farther outwards when the suspension cycles. The result is that you don't have to worry about the rear shackles' movement being hindered by the frame crossmember because they won't be going any farther back when the suspension is being maxed out.
3. Removing and re-installing the sway bar links at the beginning and end of trail runs used to be a hassle because it was often difficult to level the front axle so that the bar could be re-attached. Now, because the springs are so soft, all it takes is one person to lightly jump up and down on my front bumper in order for me to align the link with the sway bar ends.
4. Thanks to the added articulation at the rear, it's not as frequently necessary to disconnect the sway bar as before.

In Conclusion

Pros

• Softer ride.
• Vastly improved axle articulation.
• Improved fender clearance.
• Easier to remove/install sway bar link.
• Use of easily and cheaply replacable spring packs.
• Improved rear shackle clearance.

Cons

• The on-street handling is a bit worse than before.
• The steep driveshaft angle makes it very sensitive to incorrect angles. I'm not sure if parallel angles can be maintained over the life of a spring pack as it starts to sag.
• Minor bumpsteer over hard bumps or hard braking.

Is This Kit Right for You?

Should you convert your Jeep to a spring-over set-up? It depends, as always, on the types of trails you frequent and your tolerance for reduced highway performance. I've been fourwheeling rather seriously for the past three years and have encountered very few situations where my combination of 31x10.5 mud tures, 2.5" suspension lift and rear locker were insufficient for the trail. For the majority of Jeepers, this kind of modification is not needed. BUT...if you want to get into the extreme trails then the RE spring-over is a good route for obtaining better ground clearance and articulation for a great price.

I must caution you, however, that this kit and its instructions are only the starting point for a spring-over conversion. Fine-tuning will be required. Component fitment problems might be magnified and need to be rectified. In my case, the steeper angle on the front driveshaft is causing it to rub against my exhaust pipe.

My Recommendations to Future Installers

1. DO NOT accept the installation instructions as gospel. This is a very critical operation and you are obliged to exercise extreme care in all the measurements and angles. Although it may seem cumbersome, I strongly recommend tacking the on the rear spring perches and then measuring the transfer case and pinion angles to ensure that they're parallel. Only after you've successfully done this test should you finish the welding.
2. See above. I just wanted to re-iterate that very important point.
3. Contrary to what you might have seen in RE's how-to video, removing the pitman arm and drag link are very difficult. Spraying them with penetrating oil helps. A pitman arm puller is absolutely mandatory. You can also use the puller to pop the drag link off the pitman arm (I thoroughly mangled the grease cup on my drag link by using a pickle fork before realizing that the puller was better suited for the task).
4. Buy the installation video, it's worth watching.
5. I have an MIT tail cone eliminator kit on my transfer case. That makes my driveshaft approximately 4 inches longer than stock. Even with that advantage, it's still running at about 20 degrees which seems kind of steep to me. I shudder to think what angle a stock driveshaft would be running at. I've thought about this point quite a bit before committing it to paper (figuratively speaking, of course): Include a CV joint driveshaft and tail cone eliminator kit as part of your upgrade. From a durability stand point, these are must-have items. You may be able to get by for a few months or a year but the broken parts will start catching up to you.
   RE is already offering a CV joint driveshaft for their kit and will also sell tail cone conversion kits. Buy them.
   I will be researching the need for a CV joint in more detail so I reserve the right to change this particular point.
6. This is a long job. Make sure you plan at least two full days for semi-relaxed pace and try to do it when parts stores are open.
7. RE says that you need to attach the front track bar if you install their kit due to bump steer problems. I have detected bump steer but it's not much worse than with my 2.5" lift kit and no track bar. I've been commuting in my Jeep with the spring-over and no track bars for the past two weeks and don't consider bump steer to be a problem. Do be sure to keep the sway bar attached, however. With the spring-over and no sway bar, it is now a very terrifying experience to drive on a curvy road.
8. After you complete the spring-over, your steering wheel will be cock-eyed when the wheels are straight. To remedy this, you need to adjust the drag link. Just loosen the clamps on either end of the drag link, spray the threads liberally with penetrating oil, then use a monkey wrench to turn the tube in the proper direction (watch the steering wheel to figure out which way to turn). Make sure your ignition steering lock isn't on.

Well, that's all that I have to say about that! Please send me email if you have any questions.