Hey I wanted to take a moment and let anyone who cares know...the ft econo lift i just recieved from northridge-full traction...(thanks dave youre the best- i will always order my parts thru northridge in the future because youre customer service is par none) this kit i recieved was poorly made and missing hardware-you will quickly run out of matching nuts and bolts needed to complete the project(seemingly tossed in without regard for thread pattern). I want to recommend that you start at the rear, with the rear relocation track rod bracket installation portion. The fab team royally missed the mark on pre drilling the holes(not even close). I had to redrill(massivelly slot) all three holes on that strap bracket with a drill press to even get this thing to bolt up...leaving me with a slightly offset rearend...please start at the rear...I hope this is just my kit and noone else goes thru this on a late on there fricken daily driver...even the bump stops were off...nightmare...have spare bolts/nutts to fit this lift.

 

Wow. That is really scary. I just ordered this kit because of all the positive feedback from this site. Has anyone else had similar problems. I was expecting this to be a bolt on application.

 

dont get me wrong - its a good lift- i drove home(100 miles or so...), looks amazing-you will not be sorry(just center your steering wheel correctly to avoid the esp braking shocker-) the parts are sweet and the outcome is silly- i am not sold on the m-force shccks though(seems too floppy-not better than stock)but i believe bilstin makes them based on the looks and the model number...5100(high expectations) - just be prepared to git-r-done. i started at the front and when i got to the back and the part didnt fit...i couldnt roll back- maybe its a jeep thing

but i was tired and cranky...and so was my buddy who may never talk to me again....

 

That's another good reason to get the adjustable track bars. Hopefully my FT Ultimate will come with all the right hardware.

 

yes I agree, i got the front adjustable track ($199)- thought the rear relocation would be good enough -again maybe i just got a poor kit(i know they are backlogged) I will need to purchase the rear adjustable to center my ass...at that point i am no longer economical....would buy the ultimate if could purchase again, poor fitting parts are never a bargain...but touche and noted

 

I had the same problem with one hole on the relocation bracket. Not a big dal though. I actually had quite a few nuts and bolts left over because i didn't use the front bracket. One thing is though you have to be careful with matching the nuts and bolts as there are supposed to be different threads, even at the same size i believe ther were bolts with different threads. Just make sure you have the correct bolt. In any case on most of the parts you could just reuse factory if you did get shorted.

Did your M-force have a bar pin that you had to remove and then add the metal sleeve? Mine came with the bar pin, but no sleeves in the box. Not a big deal, i just pressed some sleeves out from an old set of shockks to correct it.

Overall i am very happy with the lift. I plan on adding the rear trac bar and piece some arms together as the funds become available. In hindsight i kind of wish i would have just spent the money up front and got the ultimate, but in the end it will only cost less than a $100 bucks to upgrade later.
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Well let the enormous money sink begin. I think I will go ahead and use this as an excuse to order the track bars. Hopefully I will them when I do the install next Saturday.

I ordered the kit with the 5100 Hydro shocks. Anyone know if they come with a boot? I would hate to have to take things apart later to add boots to the shocks if they dont.

 

With the front shocks, yes i had to remove the bar pin and reuse sleeve from old shocks...The rear shock bar pins were two narrow to bolt on and instead of swapping them- I "grinded" them slightly wider to fit...

 

My force came with boots, i don't why the others wouldn't either.

 

Can you guys comment on the on-road performance of the M-Force? I've heard they are a little stiffer than stock on road but perform great off. When I get my Ultimate FT lift I'm wanting shocks that perform better than stock on road and am deciding between the M-force, Bilstein and Old Man Emu. I don't think the OMEs are out yet but should be before I get my '08 JK.