CapnMericaMyCopilot
Member
Hi all! New here and first post but I've found this place an enormous help when it comes to researching and trying to do things correctly. Since I got my JKU I've wanted to do a coilover conversion, but being unfamiliar with the vehicle and fear of something going catastrophically wrong on the road as a result kept me from doing so. Well 1.5 years later and much work on it with my dad helping and teaching me I finally pulled the trigger and am now just waiting for everything to arrive (12 separate deliveries!). While waiting, I've been digging around here and through all of EVO's install instructions to make sure I have a decent understanding and required tools. I already have several threads/writeups from here bookmarked for pictures and tips to make life easier (bleeding the brakelines, rear rockstar skid install, DIY alignment). I do have a few questions or steps that maybe can be cleared up:
1. Can anyone point to clear pictures or verbally describe the wheel well trimming required at the front? I'm just trying to get a better idea of what it should look like. I'm also assuming this becomes more obvious once I have the towers in place.
2. Can anyone point to a clear picture or describe the cutting of lower shock mount at the front? Maybe once I have my current shocks off it will be more clear but I'm having difficulty envisioning it at the moment. Maybe it's just me, but I find the pictures from the EVO install instructions to be difficult to follow with how zoomed in they are and lack of before/after photos.
These are the only specific questions I've come up with in all my research, but any other tips or pointers would help. I should add that in terms of suspension I am converting from a 2" Rancho lift. I am replacing the front & rear drive shafts, all 8 control arms to the adjustable, draglink flip, and JKS disconnects (I already have a pair on but they are at the max recommended length so I ordered the ones for up to 5" of lift). I've given myself Friday-Monday (3 full days) for the install plus the Thursday night after work to remove everything from the vehicle and stage everything. I like having the Monday in case something goes awry or realize I need something, places are open versus the Sunday. I am lucky to have access to a 3-bay garage with lift (but no high jack stands :grayno: ) so think at a leisurely pace this is reasonable. I plan to tackle the project the last week of September, and then have 4 weekends to workout any kinks before I am headed to Rausch. The only item (as far as I know) that I am knowingly not addressing is that I will still have stock fenders. But at the same time I am currently only on 33s.
Lastly, I plan to follow the D.I.Y. front end alignment and am wondering whether this is viewed as a 'permanent' alignment or something to only get you close before having it professionally done? This is my daily driver afterall. Out of curiosity I reached out to a few local shops for pricing of doing only the coil overs and draglink (not control arms or driveshafts) and most of them either never got back to me or simply hung up. The only one I had any confidence in gave me an estimate of 6 hours for the rear, 4 hours front, and 2 hours for alignment at $140/hour. Decided not to go this route for the install but if anyone has a recommendation in northernish NJ for the alignment I'd appreciate it.
1. Can anyone point to clear pictures or verbally describe the wheel well trimming required at the front? I'm just trying to get a better idea of what it should look like. I'm also assuming this becomes more obvious once I have the towers in place.
2. Can anyone point to a clear picture or describe the cutting of lower shock mount at the front? Maybe once I have my current shocks off it will be more clear but I'm having difficulty envisioning it at the moment. Maybe it's just me, but I find the pictures from the EVO install instructions to be difficult to follow with how zoomed in they are and lack of before/after photos.
These are the only specific questions I've come up with in all my research, but any other tips or pointers would help. I should add that in terms of suspension I am converting from a 2" Rancho lift. I am replacing the front & rear drive shafts, all 8 control arms to the adjustable, draglink flip, and JKS disconnects (I already have a pair on but they are at the max recommended length so I ordered the ones for up to 5" of lift). I've given myself Friday-Monday (3 full days) for the install plus the Thursday night after work to remove everything from the vehicle and stage everything. I like having the Monday in case something goes awry or realize I need something, places are open versus the Sunday. I am lucky to have access to a 3-bay garage with lift (but no high jack stands :grayno: ) so think at a leisurely pace this is reasonable. I plan to tackle the project the last week of September, and then have 4 weekends to workout any kinks before I am headed to Rausch. The only item (as far as I know) that I am knowingly not addressing is that I will still have stock fenders. But at the same time I am currently only on 33s.
Lastly, I plan to follow the D.I.Y. front end alignment and am wondering whether this is viewed as a 'permanent' alignment or something to only get you close before having it professionally done? This is my daily driver afterall. Out of curiosity I reached out to a few local shops for pricing of doing only the coil overs and draglink (not control arms or driveshafts) and most of them either never got back to me or simply hung up. The only one I had any confidence in gave me an estimate of 6 hours for the rear, 4 hours front, and 2 hours for alignment at $140/hour. Decided not to go this route for the install but if anyone has a recommendation in northernish NJ for the alignment I'd appreciate it.