r3cluse

Okay, I underestimated the EVO DoubleD bolt-on long arm kit. Day two and I don't even have the rear end back together. I'm taking pictures and I'll do a write-up but man this is rough. The rear drive shaft kicked my @$$. The exhaust kicked my @$$. The high-torque drill nearly took my finger off when the bit got jammed, and turned the drill with my hand stuck between the trigger and the Jeep body.

I had to go to AIH twice, Lowes once, Autozone once, and ACE hardware once so far.

Lowes for a sawsall because my cute little pneumatic cutter can barely cut warm butter without draining my 27 gallon/150 PSI tank.
AIH for decent metal cutting sawsall blades, then again for an electric grinder because my cute little pneumatic grinder... let's not go there.
Autozone for a center punch because I can't find mine and that was the only way I got the rear drive shaft off.
And ACE for drill bits when I bent the p!ss out of my 1/2" after getting it stuck in the frame.

Tons of picks and advice once I'm done. I'm glad no one was here to watch me yanking my driveshaft and getting nowhere. Ha!

r3cluse

Annnnnnnd... I'm stuck. It looks like I'm missing a few bolt/nut packs. I'm waiting on a phone call back from Andrew at EVO or Shawn at Northridge4x4 to get this cleared up. I can't mount my control arms to the frame because the stock bolt won't reach. And I bent the heck out of one of the frame mount 9/16" nuts on the passenger side because it wouldn't thread all the way through.

Going to call tomorrow morning and then cancel my leave. Looks like I'm biking it to and from work. I could use the exercise.

Delux2769

Hope that gets cleared up for ya.

Same thing happened to me with my Ball Joints, accidentally got two sets of Uppers and didn't notice until 5 am when I finally got the others out and first of my Uppers in. Had to bike the 6 miles to class, then work, then NAPA for a set of Lowers.

Good Luck

r3cluse

I wish it was that simple. After I work out the issue with EVO/Northridge I have to wait for whatever I'm missing to be shipped up. It'll be at least two days. Alaska's great and all but shipping things here is the pits.

r3cluse

So... Monday is when I get the bolts. I hate this state. On UPS the last input was an arrival scan in Anchorage at 6am this morning. It also had a scheduled delivery on Monday.

FYI - When dealing with UPS "Arrival Scan" does NOT mean it's arrived. It just means they EXPECT it to arrive that day. Dumb and misleading.

Bonedoc

I think everyone on here feels your pain. Working on our jeeps can be so gratifying...even therapeutic....especially when walking out of the garage to throw that part or tool as far as you can...

Not laughing at you man...laughing with you. We've all been there. Hang in there the end result will be so worth it. Sometimes taking a deep breath and walking away from it for a few is the best remedy. Hope it all gets worked out quickly!!

Jeek.OlllllllO

Best advise haha when you work on your jeep be prepared to get cuts on your hands, bruises, and a lot of cussing lol but sure is fun! Lol

r3cluse

It's all good. If I was in the lower 48 it wouldn't be so bad. I live close enough that I can bike to and from work.

I'm working on a BS in IT management and I told my classmates that I'd rather work on the Jeep than deal with IT any day. I've been doing IT in the AF for nearly 19 years.

I've come to terms with "universal" kits not being universal, torque specs not being right and the wonderfulness of JB weld and Loctite. When I retire I'd like a nice garage like Dr. Dirty has and just tinker around.

All in all, I wouldn't trade the Jeep for anything. It's still the best thing I've ever bought and spent money on.

r3cluse

SHE MOVES!!!!

Rear end done with everything (minus differential breather extension, it's tight, like a tiger). No exhaust yet either and it's surprisingly quieter than I expected. I didn't go over 10 mph but hit a few speed bumps and nothing broke. Now for the front end.

r3cluse

Not that they'll read the forum but I want to thank Fastener and Fire (International and C-ish) for hooking me up with a few nuts and washers that were still missing from the kit. Dude gave them to me for free after trying several out to make sure they threaded all the way. I think his name was Jesus (Spanish version) which is oddly fitting.

Tomorrow I'm tackling the front and hope to have it done no later than Sunday.

Thanks again to Andrew at Evo for his patience with me through this install. It just goes to show that *anyone* with the right tools can put this kit on in a garage with a few jack stands and calm nerves.