Rubicon310
New member
I need to help, recommendations and opinions. This will be a long one so please bare with me.
Let me start from the beginning....
2016 Rubicon Unlimited
Factory Mud Terrains and wheels for now
Stock driveshafts (front and rear)
I purchased a 3 inch TeraFlex kit with 4 adjustable Alpine Arms (front lowers & rear uppers), Fox shocks and front monster track bar. I am not a professional by no means, nor do I claim to be a mechanic or suspension expert. I have never installed a lift on a jeep before so this is all new to me.
As many of you know, most all lifts give you more lift than advertised. In my case a week after I installed the lift, I measured and was at approx 4 inches taller at all four corners. I am aware that the springs will eventually settle and should bring my lift to near 3.5 inches. I am okay with the 3.5 inches of lift or even 3 inches once I mount my front bumper and tire carrier.
Here is where I have run into the problems with TeraFlex's suspension.
Problem # 1 (Rear Shocks)
When I spoke to the TF rep at the Off-Road expo he said that Fox had recently changed the size of the rear shocks and made the 1-3 inch shocks shorter by 1 3/8 inch. He said they would not work for my 3 inch lift and he would sell me the 4-6 inch lift Fox shocks. I was okay with that as he's the pro, not me. The order was taken by Rebel Off Road, I paid and was on my way. Once the boxes arrived, I noticed I received the 1-3 inch shocks not the 4-6 inch. I called the TF rep and he said after further review, I would be fine with those shocks. Hmmmmm? Then I called the TF 800 number and spoke to 2 other guys they both said that the 1-3 will be too short and not work. They both said I needed the 4-6. I emailed the TF rep back and now he said, "yes, you are right. Those shocks will be too short on down travel." I measured the shock with the jeep under its own weight and I only have 1 inch of down travel before the shocks is at full extension. They are sending me the longer shocks but won't be available until after thanksgiving because they are on back order. Once I receive those, I need to make time to get to the shipping store and send the old ones back to them. Not sure how I feel about this whole ordeal. At least they are trying to make it right, I guess.
Fixed - TeraFlex is sending me longer shocks towards the end of this month.
Problem # 2 (Control Arms Rear)
I followed the instructions that were sent with the kit. The second problem I ran into was the Alpine arm lengths. I understand that the length numbers they supply are "good starting points" but the rear arms were about 1.5 inches longer than I needed them. This gave me a "sad face" at the rear pinion angle and a harsh vibration at 70 mph. I pulled them off and adjusted the pinion to be between 1-2 degrees difference from the driveshaft and axle. Once I adjusted the arms to the proper length, they were incredibly shorter than what is stated on their instructions sheets, not even close for a "good starting point".
Fixed - Adjusted pinion angle to be between 1-2 degrees. Vibration seems to have disappeared.
Problem # 3 ( Rear track bar bracket)
After adjusting the rear arms and getting the pinion angle dialed in, the bolt that attaches the factory track bar to the bracket they supply is now touching the driver side spring. Wtf! The contact is not a light scratch or 1/16 away, it is actually on the spring. With that spring moving up and down, it's going to really hit that bolt. Flipping the bolt in the opposite direction won't do anything to help because there is a washer below the head that will push the head out further and cause the same contact. Poor design? I guess I could lower the bolt to the middle hole but then my axle would stick out further to one side. I guess my only option is to get rid of that bracket and buy their monster rear track bar.
Not yet fixed - Ideas, suggestions or solutions? I'm thinking about just forking out the money to buy the rear bar from TF unless there's another fix using the track bar bracket supplied by them?
Problem # 4 (Control Arms Front)
Again, using the measurements they provided for the front lower arms, my caster is at 6 when measuring from the bottom of the C. Which means the other measurement at the differential should be 0. Where is the best place to measure caster? I know that wheel/ tire combo, weight of bumpers etc will make all jeeps different but what is a good recommendation? Should i adjust to 3/3, 4/2 or 5/1? I would like to get rid of the vibration I'm feeling in the front but also not have a crazy steering like I've read on forums. With a 4/2 reading, what should I expect the driveshaft to be at? I know caster is more important than pinion angle at the front but since I'll be adjusting my arms again today, I'd like as much input as possible. I have a crawler conceptz bumper that I will be installing later this week, it weighs approx 75 pounds. Should I install this before adjusting the caster?
I apologize for any dumb questions.
Thanks for the help!
Let me start from the beginning....
2016 Rubicon Unlimited
Factory Mud Terrains and wheels for now
Stock driveshafts (front and rear)
I purchased a 3 inch TeraFlex kit with 4 adjustable Alpine Arms (front lowers & rear uppers), Fox shocks and front monster track bar. I am not a professional by no means, nor do I claim to be a mechanic or suspension expert. I have never installed a lift on a jeep before so this is all new to me.
As many of you know, most all lifts give you more lift than advertised. In my case a week after I installed the lift, I measured and was at approx 4 inches taller at all four corners. I am aware that the springs will eventually settle and should bring my lift to near 3.5 inches. I am okay with the 3.5 inches of lift or even 3 inches once I mount my front bumper and tire carrier.
Here is where I have run into the problems with TeraFlex's suspension.
Problem # 1 (Rear Shocks)
When I spoke to the TF rep at the Off-Road expo he said that Fox had recently changed the size of the rear shocks and made the 1-3 inch shocks shorter by 1 3/8 inch. He said they would not work for my 3 inch lift and he would sell me the 4-6 inch lift Fox shocks. I was okay with that as he's the pro, not me. The order was taken by Rebel Off Road, I paid and was on my way. Once the boxes arrived, I noticed I received the 1-3 inch shocks not the 4-6 inch. I called the TF rep and he said after further review, I would be fine with those shocks. Hmmmmm? Then I called the TF 800 number and spoke to 2 other guys they both said that the 1-3 will be too short and not work. They both said I needed the 4-6. I emailed the TF rep back and now he said, "yes, you are right. Those shocks will be too short on down travel." I measured the shock with the jeep under its own weight and I only have 1 inch of down travel before the shocks is at full extension. They are sending me the longer shocks but won't be available until after thanksgiving because they are on back order. Once I receive those, I need to make time to get to the shipping store and send the old ones back to them. Not sure how I feel about this whole ordeal. At least they are trying to make it right, I guess.
Fixed - TeraFlex is sending me longer shocks towards the end of this month.
Problem # 2 (Control Arms Rear)
I followed the instructions that were sent with the kit. The second problem I ran into was the Alpine arm lengths. I understand that the length numbers they supply are "good starting points" but the rear arms were about 1.5 inches longer than I needed them. This gave me a "sad face" at the rear pinion angle and a harsh vibration at 70 mph. I pulled them off and adjusted the pinion to be between 1-2 degrees difference from the driveshaft and axle. Once I adjusted the arms to the proper length, they were incredibly shorter than what is stated on their instructions sheets, not even close for a "good starting point".
Fixed - Adjusted pinion angle to be between 1-2 degrees. Vibration seems to have disappeared.
Problem # 3 ( Rear track bar bracket)
After adjusting the rear arms and getting the pinion angle dialed in, the bolt that attaches the factory track bar to the bracket they supply is now touching the driver side spring. Wtf! The contact is not a light scratch or 1/16 away, it is actually on the spring. With that spring moving up and down, it's going to really hit that bolt. Flipping the bolt in the opposite direction won't do anything to help because there is a washer below the head that will push the head out further and cause the same contact. Poor design? I guess I could lower the bolt to the middle hole but then my axle would stick out further to one side. I guess my only option is to get rid of that bracket and buy their monster rear track bar.
Not yet fixed - Ideas, suggestions or solutions? I'm thinking about just forking out the money to buy the rear bar from TF unless there's another fix using the track bar bracket supplied by them?
Problem # 4 (Control Arms Front)
Again, using the measurements they provided for the front lower arms, my caster is at 6 when measuring from the bottom of the C. Which means the other measurement at the differential should be 0. Where is the best place to measure caster? I know that wheel/ tire combo, weight of bumpers etc will make all jeeps different but what is a good recommendation? Should i adjust to 3/3, 4/2 or 5/1? I would like to get rid of the vibration I'm feeling in the front but also not have a crazy steering like I've read on forums. With a 4/2 reading, what should I expect the driveshaft to be at? I know caster is more important than pinion angle at the front but since I'll be adjusting my arms again today, I'd like as much input as possible. I have a crawler conceptz bumper that I will be installing later this week, it weighs approx 75 pounds. Should I install this before adjusting the caster?
I apologize for any dumb questions.
Thanks for the help!
