Episode 15: We Lifted our Jeep TJ 2.5 Inches to Fit 33 inch tires! Full DIY Install and Alignment

[@MaverickXeo]

This is looking great! I really like the simplicity of lifting a jeep - I remember how long it took to do my TJ, but it really is simple! I can't wait to do my JL once I can afford to!

[@Garagecouple]

Simple as long as no bolts snap during the process

[@MaverickXeo]

@@Garagecouple Oh yeah, been there! Rust makes things a real pain, haha!

[@Garagecouple]

Lol!

[@zacharymarcum5628]

enjoy your vids....first 4x4 ever was a 98 moss green sahara wrangler then later on picked up an 06 LJ rub in which i still own. TJs/LJs have a special place in my heart.....enjoying watching your content.

[@Garagecouple]

That's amazing! Thank you for sharing and supporting the channel!

[@sgtg4600]

I maybe wrong but, when mounting your front shocks I noticed you placed both rubber buffers and washers on the underside of the shock turret. Don’t you fit one underneath and one on top?

[@Garagecouple]

You could do it that way too, we've just done it this way the previous 4 times and have had good luck with it. I don't think it makes a big difference. Also the grommets fit into each other which wouldn't quite work if they were separated by a piece of metal

[@roberthardy6390]

Great video ❤ but you do need to split the shock bushings one top and one on bottom of the mount.

[@Garagecouple]

Appreciate the clarification! I'm sure it's fine either way but good to know

[@sgtg4600]

There’s no helping some people!

[@sgtg4600]

@@Garagecouple I’m glad I’m not one of your patients!

[@michaeltaladiar2303]

Good build. Just an FYI the bushings for the front shock mounts need to be sandwiched inbetween the shock perch. Bolt/washer/rubber bushing/shock perch/bushing/washer

[@Garagecouple]

Appreciate the clarification! Will do it this way next time!

[@BrowningMotorsportsFL]

You should change the front upper shock mount sooner than later. It gives the shock ability to flex. The longer you wait and drive it, the more chance you have at damaging the top threads. But good tutorial on the lift. Keep it up!

[@Garagecouple]

Got it! So here's what I'll do, I'll keep it this way and drive it until I damage the upper threads and report back to everyone how long it took etc. I dont mind if I damage any of this, irs all an experiment to us anyway. Cheers and thank you for the kind words!

[@michaeltaladiar2303]

@@Garagecouple also....if you hear a clunking in the front end this might be the case :)

[@Garagecouple]

So far, no noises at all! Actually our Rubicon we did this way about 30k miles ago and many off road trips / 3 years ago. 0 issues.

[@richsmith3120]

Its definitely looking a lot better!

[@Garagecouple]

Thank you! It looks awesome

[@fergiethejku]

Great job... looks amazing

[@Garagecouple]

Thank you!

[@KYLECREESE-db7tj]

how did you not need wheel adapters to fit these rims?

[@Garagecouple]

They are 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern!

[@topher7379]

What size tire is it, 33x what? Im wanting to get the lift kit but my 33x12.5 wheels may be too large 😅

[@Garagecouple]

Check out episode 14! :)

[@epicsineverydaylife]

I have done a 2.5 lift of my tj with shocks and springs but maintained the control arms from factory. Was I suppose to loosen control arms lift jeep then set it back down and then tighten control arms?

[@Garagecouple]

Hi! No you don't have too. But removing the control arms when lifting a jeep makes the job much much easier.

[@transamman305]

You guys should be embarrassed publicly posting this video. The shock bushings are completely wrong. Rubber is supposed to sandwich the mount, not be underneath it. Remote reservoir will contact the axle during full flex the way you have it hanging down. Also old shocks were not blown. Thats normal behavior for it to rise slow and steady after you compress it. And for adjusting the steering, you ALWAYS do it with tires on and vehicle on the ground. Maybe learn a bit more about correctly installing parts before you post a video "showing" people how to do it.

[@Garagecouple]

Hey guess what! Thank you for promoting our channel with your comment! Jeep has been perfectly fine for 3 years after this video

[@adamisherwood7163]

Awesome build guys! Subscribed - can't wait to see future build with the LJ - how do the 4 squirrels do on the highway with the lift and bigger tires? I've got a JKU but looking to add a TJ and I'm seeing some good deals on 4-cyl SE's.

[@Garagecouple]

Hi! Thanks for subscribing and for the kind words! The SE has been mostly fine. If you can get one with a 6 speed you will be in good shape. Also. If you've never driven a stock 4.0 with a 6 speed you'll be fine. The LJ feels like a race car after driving the SE, but quite honestly can't complain with the SE. Getting 17+mpg with the 33s and lift which is pretty epic. Our TJ rubicon on 38s gets 12mpg

[@Driven716]

No matter what you would of removed, the axle wouldn't drop enough unless you removed the arms as well, plenty of work just to get those springs in. Good job skipping all that and compressing your coils! Nice job guys! :) Follow back :P

[@Garagecouple]

Cheers!

[@SkyjackerSuspensions]

Great video guys!! The ADX shocks look great on your TJ! Can't wait to hear how you like them!

[@Garagecouple]

They have been amazing so far! Can't wait to report back after some off road action!

[@onemorep6]

I noticed one of the rear reservoirs looked close to the springs. Does the vendor advise which side to mount the reservoirs? Great job, y’all made it look easy. 😂

[@Garagecouple]

The fronts they recommend to face towards the rear The rear shocks the best we've found is to have them the way we did and then to cycle the rear suspension and adjust them so that they don't hit anything. We've tried many different shocks and these reservoir shocks are unbelievable. Crazy smooth ride. Feels like we're driving on q cloud

[@JeepFreak1941]

Just some things I notice with those shocks resevoirs , the fronts might come in contact with the brake lines , and the passenger rear looks like it will come in contact with the axle when it compresses , you might wanna cycle the suspension with a jack, and are you guys going to install an SYE kit to take out the T-case drop?

[@bryanallison1533]

Your TJ looks great! In your experience since putting on the 2.5-inch lift, the flat fenders, and the 33's, have you had any rub issues when fully articulated with the sway bar disconnected?

[@Mr1bumblebee]

Whats the plan for the LJ? I have a 2005. Can’t wait !

[@Garagecouple]

Will start with the LJ once we are done with the TJ.. about 4 more episodes

[@georgealeong8188]

The lift looks awesome; I like to use wheel grease or anti-seize on all nuts and bolts in the undercarriage of an off-road vehicle

[@Garagecouple]

Good idea!

[@rickyn1858]

in the future don't use a spring compressor for just the springs(good for struts).. just unbolt sway bar and shocks and articulate the suspension with a jack.. much safer easier.

[@Garagecouple]

We had the sway bar and the shocks unbolted and they were nowhere near close to fitting without compressors even using a jack on the opposite side and articulating the axle. Would obviously love to do it that way

[@rickyn1858]

@@Garagecouple maybe the driveshaft was binding and not letting it drop since it is on short control arms.. Nice job!

[@Garagecouple]

This is the 5th jeep we're lifting and it's been that way for all. I could imagine it potentially working with unbolting track bar as well but realigning all of the above sounds worse than just using spring compressors. Our Rubicon got nearly a 5 inch spring lift.. that took loads more work with the compressors to get in lol

[@carlos200972]

Amazing look guy’s I love the way you explain step by step… keep up the great work…

[@Garagecouple]

Thank you!

[@Mickale-Moranis]

Nice on the coil work. PITA they are without disconnecting the track bars. Too bad kit didn't come with replacement bump stops. The extension is simple enough to get the proper length to make sure you don't bottom out the shocks. Assembling the stabilizer bushings, WD40 works great. Curious of the arms you've chosen. Hopefully will be the CORE4x4 rubber end arms. Alignment is done with weight on springs. Looks like it was a full droop. As for those ridiculous upper shock bolts, I've used PB Blaster under the body access through the wheelwell and used an old toothbrush to clean out the threads of those bolts. What happened to the switch box you mentioned in vid1? As for the front sway bar disconnects, those are a PITA to disconnect and reconnect. As you saw when assembling, you had alignment issue for the pin off vehicle. Imagine to do the same with on the vehicle on flat surface or near flat surface. Its a vertical movement so you have to raise up and then down to just get the tubes to slide together. Simple enough for one side, but then to do the other side, well, that sway bar doesn't rotate on its centerline axis. So that is what makes that disconnect design pretty much useless. Other disconnects slide on a pin horizontally, so, even this can be difficult on near flat surface but its much more doable cause you only have to push the TJ up/down to get the bushing to slide on the pin. Hate the trans/tcase skid plate drop kit. With the taller body mounts, you could look to raise the engine with engine mount spacers or taller engine mounts to get similar operating angle to the drop kit. Upgrade of the z-mechanism is the cable shifter setup. With a drop kit, don't forget to look into the tcase shift z-mechanism rods since the pivoting rod sets into 2 different mounts - 1 is on trans, the other is on the bottom of the floor. Dropping the trans and not doing anything to the body to compensate, that pivoting rod will jam up or become a fault to operate the tcase shifter.

[@Garagecouple]

Appreciate your comment! All of the above are extremely valid and we agree on all fronts. The switch panel install is coming up! Good catch with that one! As far as the toe being done with springs under load, I don't think that changes the toe angle, I can see how it changes other alignment aspects like caster and camber. Then again, I'm a doctor, not a mechanic. Love learning about this stuff and teaching as I go. Thanks for taking the time!

[@jk_wrangler13]

One thing that might hep you the next time you do a lift with the springs, is to jack your jee u a little higher so your axle will drop farther down. But great job on installing the kit.

[@Garagecouple]

The axle was still completely suspended and did not touch the ground at any point. Jacking it higher wouldn't make a difference

[@DaveA441]

As a fellow Lj owner. Did I peep a new Lj in the thumbnail 👀

[@Garagecouple]

We got an LJ! Will be next up after we finish with this Jeep! Cool thing is we are the second owners of the LJ!

[@robertthrem3382]

They respond to my comments the least I could do subscribe for a while🎉

[@robertthrem3382]

You need the weight of the Jeep on it to line it up

[@Garagecouple]

Nice

[@TheDon8771]

Ouch. Hahahahah. I love my jk. Hahahahhaa.

[@Garagecouple]

We love ours too

[@colegeisen6214]

Thanks for the inspiration to get back in the garage! My TJ has a long way to go.

[@Garagecouple]

You got this!

[@bucket909]

10:35 looks more like 8 inches to me

[@Garagecouple]

Lmaoooo

[@SavvyCris]

Do you have a discount code for the skyjacker shocks

[@DRONESVU]

happy couple

[@Garagecouple]

❤️

[@raycobra6078]

It looks amazing

[@richsmith3120]

Hello from sunny Spokane WA!

[@Garagecouple]

Hello!

[@richsmith3120]

​@@GaragecoupleThat was a fast response! I'm still watch it! 😂😂😂

[@spurgeon71]

Very nice!

[@Garagecouple]

Thank you!

[@gofasters1]

Wow great video. I love all your videos and have done a lot of your upgrades to my 04 TJ. Butttttttt I think I'll work some OT and pay my mechanic to get my lift installed. I don't want to tackle this one on my own. lol

[@Jakethepwasher]

All that work and didn’t order new bump stops lolz and thought he was going to get the bump stops in after 😂

[@THENEWWRANGLER]

I just stumbled across your channel. I love it, I am wondering if I can bring my 2011 Rubicon down for a lift and tires, I can help help with the install and could buy all the parts in advance. let me know, I live in Vancouver Canada bit of drive but well worth it.

[@Garagecouple]

Lol! Would be quite the adventure for you!

[@mesa662]

15:45 LOL choice words

[@Garagecouple]

Lolol! Sometimes they sneak past the edits 😄

[@bradk859]

You may not know but All and I already have a secret relationship!

[@TheArtOfCool]

How is it on the freeway? I have a 4 inch lift and 33’s and it’s terrifying

[@Garagecouple]

Pretty good!

[@thejeepinrealtor5742]

Enjoyed the video! What do you have on the LJ? I’m about to install the JKS 2” lift this weekend on my LJ.

[@Garagecouple]

Check out the last video we uploaded! Has our LJ Lift install!

[@thejeepinrealtor5742]

@@Garagecouple will do thanks 👊🏼

[@scottchisholm2032]

Love it ! Looks awesome. I appreciate the inspiration to get to work on mine if I can find the funds 😂. Even with my MS I can get it done one way or the other

[@Garagecouple]

You totally could!