HELP with Rubicon Express 4.5 Short Arm kit

Hello,

The new brake lines should come with new crush washers. Use the new ones. If they didn't come with new ones, you should be able to get a set from any auto parts store.

Don't know, but I like to avoid denting my exhaust whenever possible. Can you take a picture and show us?

I would adjust them to give you the proper pinion angle in the rear and castor up front.

I thought you could adjust them while they were bolted in with that adjuster jam nut. Flip the bottle jack to push the pinion down and jack from the frame down to push it down if you can't pull it by hand. Also, try jacking the axle up and down to help align the bolt holes.

Leave the lower track bar mount unbolted. Once you have everything else all dialed in. Then bounce the jeep as hard as you can a few times. This will center the axle under the Jeep assuming it's on reasonably level ground. Then adjust the track bar to fit in the mount.

Sounds like you are making out reasonably well. We're here to help if you need more.

I just eyeballed mine, but I was welding on leaf spring perches. Install your SYE and CV shaft kit, then adjust the control arms to give the lower U joint -1 degree angle (it should point juuuuust barely lower than straight on). Usually a keen eye can eyeball it.

Bad idea. Try munging your address. Add an obvious word like REMOVE to at least make the spammers work a little bit for it. Check mine for an example.

Hope this helps.

Carl

I forgot to ask one last question. With the electrical and emergency brakes lines on the rear, once disconnected from the original upper control arm that flap around with lots of potential damage from the brackets attached to them. What to do about the brackets that won't be used? Any easy way to remove them? How to bunch the wires without much fuss? Perhaps fabricate a bracket that wraps the upper left control arms to keep things in place? Thanks again!

in article snipped-for-privacy@11g2000cwr.googlegroups.com, ULB at snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote on 1/14/07 9:58 PM:

I installed one back in August. I blogged the experience here:

'll want to click on "Go to archive" to see all the posts. Another good resource from Red Rock: Go to an Auto parts store, and get new brake washers. My kit did not come with them - a dissapointment. You could go to the dealer, but my dealer had to order them. I had a little trouble the day I went looking for them - many stores did not have them in stock. I got a package of varying sizes. Match the thickness (most important) and diameter with the originals. Don't reuse the originals because they might develop a leak. The washers are a soft metal like copper or aluminum, and will get squeezed into any scratches or variations in thickness of the brake line end, and the master cylinder.

I think I made notes on the lengths I used for the control arms. On both front and rear, I decided on 5/8 of an inch longer for the lowers, and 3/4 (the recommended length) for the uppers. Make sure each pair of control arms is exactly the same length by putting one bolt through both arms and then check by looking through the other ends. I had determined the threads per inch for future reference, but I don't have those numbers with me. This will give you an idea of how much a half turn will lengthen or shorten the arm.

When you are messing around trying to get control arms attached to the axle, two small floor jacks (the smallest kind) work pretty well since you can push on them. Put one under the axle tube on the side you are working on, and the other under the pinion.

As for the brackets attached to the rear brake lines, I thought about cutting them also, but I ended up just using cable ties. I'm checking regularly for any ill effects.

I didn't have any exhaust problems. Not sure what is going on there. Remember that it is hard to judge clearances until the Jeep is sitting on the ground.

Go get a cheap plastic protractor. Make a small notch that cuts down to where the center (where the degree lines extend from) is. Get a string and tie a nut onto one end. Hold the other end of the string with the protractor so the string hangs from your cut. One other trick (from a guy at Tom Woods) on a Dana 44 - there are machined flanges with what looks like dowel holes in them on the diff case. These surfaces are 90 degrees from the pinion shaft.

Use new ones. I had my brake lines replaced at a brake shop, I don't trust myself enough on brakes.

You might be able to re-position the exhaust. Best to wait and see if you have any issues.

There should have been a specification in the instructions on how long they should be. Do you have the adjustable uppers as well? When I installed mine the instructions included a dimension for the upper for proper front caster & pinion angle. In the rear, adjust them for proper pinion angle, in your case with the CV shaft, the pinion angle should and driveshaft angle should be the same in relation to level.

No easy way. The jam nuts just lock the threaded coupling, they don't adjust the length. That has to be done with one end of the arm disconnected. Once it's done, there shouldn't be any reason to readjust, barring an accident or spring replacement.

Center of the axle: measure from the inside wheel lip to inside wheel lip, divide by 2, mark the center on the axle. Match that with the center of the body at static height.

You can get a magnetic angle finder at Sears for about ten or fifteen bucks.

You will need to have it professionally aligned, see if you can find a shop that knows 4x4's and have them dial in the various adjustments for you.

The jam nut only locks the coupling in place, the adjustments have to be made with one end of the arm disconnected.

That's what I did and have been OK for about five years.