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TUFF COUNTRY 4" LIFT FOR JEEP TJ

Installation Outline and Product Review

(click for larger image)

From Another Chris

OVERALL THOUGHTS AND IMPRESSIONS

Huge thanks to Rick "Hardtimes" whom once again, helped me out on this lift. Next, I would like to thank, once again, Tuff Country for a great kit and Jason B. of Pavementsucks.com.

The kit took 6 hours when Tuff Country’s wed-site stated 5-7 hours. The instructions were the best instructions I’ve ever seen, especially with the "Special Notes" and "Illustrations/Photos", which showed the parts and which hardware was used whether it was original or new. Also noted in the instructions was package numbers to locate the new hardware needed, which were also nicely separated and organized. Only Step 17 was skipped because the control arms were already greased and prepped.

Great craftsmanship was noticed on all of the brackets, welds and finishes. This kit, unlike others, is really complete. Especially with the sway bar quick disconnects, transfer-case drop and brake line extensions. The shocks have to be bought separate however.

The kit flexes nice with the progressive rate coils. The ride is way smoother than the Tera-flex coils previously installed.

Lead-time was great, only took a few days for the kit. Packaging was nice and well organized upon arrival. Hardware was bagged in with different numbered labels.

Would I recommend this kit to others? Yeah, for a short arm kit, it flexed just as well as Rick’s TJ with the Rubicon Express adjustable short arms.

A+ goes to Tuff Country for a great suspension lift kit again. If my 1985 K5 Blazer haven’t already have a fairly new 6" suspension lift already, I would run all three of my 4x4 rigs with Tuff Country lifts.

SPECIAL NOTES: Be sure to check torque and all hardware after 100 miles of first use and every 1000 miles afterwards. Everything should be checked after an off-road trip too.

ALTERNATIVES: There are other alternatives to be done in substitute with items that came with lift kit. They are listed below:
· Transfer-case drop bracket -----> Slip Yoke Eliminator and CV drive-shaft
· Extended brake line bracket ----> Extended stainless steel brake lines to replace OEM
· Front trac-bar drop bracket ----> Adjustable new track bar

REQUIRED TOOLS
1 Floor jack w/ wood blocks and/or bricks
4 Jack stands (2 for frame, 2 for axle)
Pitman-arm puller. Grab two just incase one fails like it did on us.
Tie rod separator a.k.a. Pickle fork
5/16" Drill bit and Drill
3/8" tap
Socket set w/ various sizes metric and standard. Sizes used for this lift were 13mm, 15mm, 19mm, 21mm, 11/16. Also, make sure there is plenty of various extensions.
4-7 hours of time without driving the Jeep
Monkey Wrench (pipe wrench)
Various hammers for the stubborn stuff
Red thread locker is always good

FRONT SUSPENSION
1) Disconnect battery, block wheels and make sure E-brake is on.	(click for larger image)
2) Raise front end up and place jack-stands under frame behind the stock lower control-arm frame bracket. 3) Remove the front tires off. 4) Take the Traction bar off. Keep stock retaining nut. 5) Take sway bar links off both sides. The links or hardware will no longer be used. 6) Undo bottom nut of pitman arm with 19mm socket, and then break the Taper with the tie rod separator (pickle fork). Keep stock nut. Note: Be careful not to damage the grease boot.	(click for larger image)
7) Remove nut/lock washer from the gearbox. Then remove the stock pitman arm with the Pitman Arm Puller (Available at any auto part store to buy or rent.) Keep stock hardware. Note: I had to use the "monkey wrench" since the unknown size wasn’t available for us. Also make sure not to tighten the pitman arm too tight, it can break the pitman arm. After breaking one, I had to tap the next one w/ a hammer once tightened to break the arm loose.	(click for larger image) (click for larger image) (click for larger image)
8) You’ll then have to raise the sway bar completely out of the way. 9) Undo the shocks using a 13mm socket for the top and lower bracket. Set aside, new shocks and hardware will be installed. 10) Undo brake line bracket so it’s free then go ahead and lower the axle low as you can go watching the brake lines, control arms and drive-shafts. Note: This will make it easier to removal and installation of new coils. Also, carefully watch for lines being stretched too far and keep an eye out for the front drive shaft so it doesn’t come apart with in the middle splines or the boot doesn’t tear. Also, watch for the drive shaft and pinion yoke so metal and metal isn’t rubbing. I used a jack stand there on the pinion part of front differential. 11) Remove lower control arms on both sides using the 21mm socket and scribing a mark on the stock alignment cams and another directly across on the reinforcement bracket which will give a good alignment reference until the vehicle is taken to the proper alignment shop. Keep original hardware. Note: It’s not necessary to remove the stock upper control arms, they’ll stay on with new lift. 12) Remove the coil retainer clips. Note: For some reason, TJ‘s only come with one retainer clip on the drivers side, I went ahead and bought another one for the passenger side when installing the new coils.	(click for larger image)
13) Install the new 4" Tuff Country coils using factory isolator pads and stock coils lining up to imprinted original seating. Start with the divers side first, then repeat for passenger side.	(click for larger image)
14) Re-install coil clip containers. 15) Once axle is lined up with new 4" coils in, it‘s now time to install new lower Tuff Country control arms. 16) Take two new control arms lengthened to 16-1/2" from eye outlet to eye outlet like the instruction specs.	(click for larger image) (click for larger image)
17) After arms are lengthened to right distance, insert new 90-degree grease (sert) fittings and follow the special illustrations/photo’s in the back of the instruction manual. Note: Be sure to use grease on the new bushings on the control arms and screw apart the control arm to make sure there’s plenty of grease inside the arm. This will increase life and prevent squeaking. Also, the arms arrived lengthened and greased w/ sert fittings already placed, so I skipped this step. 18) Install the new arms placing grease (sert) fittings positioned upward position. Use original stock hardware on both ends of the arms. Tighten, but do not torque at this time.	(click for larger image) (click for larger image)
19) After control arms are installed on both passenger and driver-side, go ahead and raise the front axle back up w/ the floor-jack. Note: It might be easier for alignment of the holes if the axle is raised up before installing new control arms. 20) Install new shocks with original bottom mount hardware and new hardware for the top. Note: It doesn’t hurt to grease the rubber bushings that come with the shock kit to prolong the bushings and stop them from squeaking.	(click for larger image)
21) It’s time for the to reinstall the stock traction bar. Place the new drop bracket on the frame and hook up the stock arm w/ giving metal sleeve and install new hardware from bracket to original frame where stock traction bar was located. Tighten according to manufacture’s specs and instructions torque specs.	(click for larger image) (click for larger image)
22) Reinstall new Pitman arm with old hardware. Be sure to use thread-locker and retighten the outer tie rod sleeve (adjustment sleeve/link).	(click for larger image)
23) Now it’s time to install the stock sway bar to the new sway bar quick disconnects. Start by hooking up the new sway bar link bottom connector using the provided hardware. 11/16" socket needed.	(click for larger image)
24) After that is done, go ahead and install the upper new link to the stock sway bar and then position the sway bar link up against the frame so the new upper connector can hole can be marked. Once that’s completed, drill the 5/16" hole on both passenger and drivers side and then use a 3/8" tap to thread the new hole for the new hardware. Note: Be sure to drill and tap as straight as you can get so the new upper connector is lined evenly to the sway bar link bottom bushing/hole.	(click for larger image) (click for larger image)
25) Next, install the extended brake line bracket that’s provided with the kit. 26) Retighten every piece of hardware on the front end that was disturbed during the lift process and re-check torque to Tuff Country’s specs. Put old or new wheels back on. 27) Finally, the lower new control arms should be at the right specified torque.	(click for larger image)

REAR SUSPENSION
1) Block front tires with blocks. Jack the vehicle up. Masonry blocks or wood might have to be used to reach the frame. Best positioning for the jack-stands will be in front of the lower control arm bracket (towards front of Jeep). 2) Remove wheels 3) Next undo shocks starting from the bottom with 15 & 18mm socket. Then continue with the upper which is an 18mm keeping the stock bolts. 4) Disconnect the stock trac-bar that connects to the axle tube itself. Note: Loosening might be necessary for the other end of trac bar for easier play. 5) Gently lower axle little at a time with each Floor Jack on the side using the middle jack as a guide for the differential so no contact of metal is done to the pinion yoke where it connects to the rear drive shaft. Note: Make sure not to over extend brake lines or hoses. 6) Remove stock coils and install new coils matching original seating marks.	(click for larger image)
7) Then you’ll have to slowly raise the axle up little by little for new lower control arm installation. 8) After the axle is elevated on both sides, installation of new Tuff-Country lower control arms will need to be done. REPEAT STEPS 16-18.	(click for larger image)
9) Now it’s time install the new drop traction bar bracket. All new hardware will be installed when installing the bracket. Use thread-locker and torque down to instruction specs. Note: If it’s hard to re-align and install stock track bar to new bracket, it might be necessary to install tires and shocks and tires and lower the vehicle letting the vehicles weight be on the ground.	(click for larger image) (click for larger image)
10) If haven’t done so yet, go ahead and install the tires and lower the vehicle onto the ground. 11) Install the new sway bar links. Original hardware will be used. Note: Be sure to grease new bushings to pro-long the life of them.	(click for larger image) (click for larger image) (click for larger image) (click for larger image) (click for larger image) (click for larger image)
12) Then install shocks using old hardware. Retighten every piece of hardware on the rear, as you did on the front end, that was disturbed during the lift process and re-check torque to Tuff Country’s specs. Put old or new wheels back on. Note: If shocks are too large to fit into the stock shock bracket. Use a crowbar to spread them apart as shown on photo.	(click for larger image) (click for larger image)
13) After that’s all done, you can now recheck and torque down everything instructions note for the rear end. 14) Lowering the transfer case is the last thing to be done if a Slip Yoke Eliminator and a new CV drive shaft are not being installed. 15) Take the jack stand w/ a wood block and raise it until it comes into contact with the transfer case skid plate. Remove old hardware BUT DO NOT LOWER JACK YET. 16) From the inside of the Jeep, the carpet from the driver-side floorboard will need to be pulled back. There will be 4 bolts that hold the transfer case pivot assembly to the tub/body of the Jeep. Remove these and keep for later installation. 17) Now, lower the T-case skid plate and install new lowering pucks that’s provided with the lift kit. Install new hardware. Thread lock and torque to instruction specs. 18) Finally locate the transfer case linkage pivot assembly from underneath the Jeep and install the new shifting linkage drop bracket that’s provided with the lift. The instructions provide a pretty good photo that shows how this is done. Note: Be sure to check to make sure the transfer case goes through all gears smoothly. If 4Lo is hard to get into, There’s an adjustment rod attached to the transfer case pivot assembly. This can be adjusted and lengthened to the right amount.	(click for larger image)

IMAGES (click for larger image)

Tuff Country EZ-Ride Suspension was incorporated over 15 years ago realizing the desperate need for quality suspension products in the after market world. As well as supplying the 4WD enthusiast with the best quality, Tuff Country EZ-Ride Suspension also offers you the most competitive price structure in the industry.


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