DIY 4" Lift TJ

[Baas]

Anyone ever made their own lift kit??

I am building my 2nd 4? lift kit for a mate?s TJ. I made my kit similar to the Terraflex one with the adjustable control arms being adjusted by one tube slipping over a smaller one with a threaded end. This allows it to twist on the thread as well. It worked well except it is a pain to adjust, as you must remove one end and then rotate it.

My new kit I want to use heim joints or rod ends on each end. One will be left hand thread and the other right hand thread. Adjusting it you will just have to rotate the centre portion. Obviously there will be lock nuts locking it in place. My question: How well does these joints perform on the track? Any comments on the sizes I should use? I am thinking 14mm for lower control arms, 10mm for upper front control arms and 14mm for rear upper control arms? The heim joints I want to use is manufactured in Jpan by IKO.

They do have grease nipples on them so I will grease them up before and after playing in the dirt.

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by Baas
Anyone ever made their own lift kit??

I am building my 2nd 4? lift kit for a mate?s TJ. I made my kit similar to the Terraflex one with the adjustable control arms being adjusted by one tube slipping over a smaller one with a threaded end. This allows it to twist on the thread as well. It worked well except it is a pain to adjust, as you must remove one end and then rotate it.

My new kit I want to use heim joints or rod ends on each end. One will be left hand thread and the other right hand thread. Adjusting it you will just have to rotate the centre portion. Obviously there will be lock nuts locking it in place. My question: How well does these joints perform on the track? Any comments on the sizes I should use? I am thinking 14mm for lower control arms, 10mm for upper front control arms and 14mm for rear upper control arms? The heim joints I want to use is manufactured in Jpan by IKO.

They do have grease nipples on them so I will grease them up before and after playing in the dirt.

The smallest diameter I would use for the uppers is 3/4's of an inch. Metric equivalent is about 19 mm. The smallest I would use for lowers is 25 mm.

It's not strength you need, but bearing surface for durability. Also, you need to let us know what your numbers represent. Is that the bore through the rod end or the shank size?

Rod ends are funny creatures, there are so many grades and varations, it's hard to predict performance without knowing all the specs.

Personally, I'd buy some of the new JJ's from Currie with the one piece design.

btw- welcome, I don't know that I've ever seen a post from South Africa before. Are there many Jeeps over there? I figured Land Rovers would be the norm in that part of the world.

[Baas]

Originally posted by mrblaine
The smallest diameter I would use for the uppers is 3/4's of an inch. Metric equivalent is about 19 mm. The smallest I would use for lowers is 25 mm.

It's not strength you need, but bearing surface for durability. Also, you need to let us know what your numbers represent. Is that the bore through the rod end or the shank size?

Rod ends are funny creatures, there are so many grades and varations, it's hard to predict performance without knowing all the specs.

Personally, I'd buy some of the new JJ's from Currie with the one piece design.

btw- welcome, I don't know that I've ever seen a post from South Africa before. Are there many Jeeps over there? I figured Land Rovers would be the norm in that part of the world.

Thanks, The most SUV's sold in SA are Jeeps (Liberty & Grand Cherokee combined). But they are what we call Sandton 4X4's (An upmarket suburb of Johannesburg where yuppies spray fake mud on their 4 X4's) Land Rovers are big as well. Wranglers are very scarce and it is impossible to get anyone reamotely clued up on the subject (including the dealers).
They are also expensive with the Sport weighing in at about US$33 000.00!!
Importing anything from the States is too expensive (Shipping) so I have to make it myself. The bore through the rod end and the shank size is the same. I used the 10mm & 14mm because they will have the same size bolt going through the rod end as the standard bolt size as I don't want any drilling so that it is a complete bolt on kit.
The maximum working force of the 10mm is 2000kgf and the 14mm is 3000kgf so they will be strong enough but as you said the longivity might be a problem.
The company that manufactures them are from Japan and called IKO (Visit www.ikont.co.jp). The part numbers are POS10 & POS14.

Hope this helps
Thanks!

[Croaker]

Originally posted by Baas
The part numbers are POS10 & POS14.

Just me, or do those part numbers make anyone else leery?

[Baas]

Where can I find a pic of the JJ's from Currie? I will try and copy it then!
Thanks

[Baas]

Originally posted by Baas
Where can I find a pic of the JJ's from Currie? I will try and copy it then!
Thanks

OK found it Johnny Joint!!
Won't be able to imitate that chepely so heim is the best I can do!!