OK, I'm looking at adding a small (ok cheap) lift to my stock Rubicon. I am drawn to the TeraFlex leveling kit based on forum discussions but I've got a couple of questions...

1) Similar leveling kits from other manufacturers only include the spacers. TeraFlex adds front sway bar links. What purpose do these serve? http://www.teraflex.biz/products/jk-...eling-kit.html

2) How long should this install take from a shop? I want to make sure I'm quoted a fair price.

 

The longer links bring the sway bar back straight after lifting slightly. It would be at a slightly downward angle after lift without those. Then you add those longer links to bring the ends up a little to get your swaybar flat again. It works best when its parallel with the ground.

The install is really pretty easy in your own driveway. It would be a shame to pay a shop for it. I could see a shop easily charging 4 hours for a spacer install on 4 corners.

 

plac covered everything. what SHOULD a shop charge, or what WILL a shop charge? a knowledgeable shop should be done this install in about 1 hour with a lift and air tools.

 

The install is really pretty easy in your own driveway. It would be a shame to pay a shop for it. I could see a shop easily charging 4 hours for a spacer install on 4 corners.[/QUOTE]

I agree completely. I put a TF leveling kit on last week. Looks great for the price. I borrowed a set of metric wrenches and sockets, and two jack stands. I used the stock jack from my jk.Took me three hours but it was pretty simple. Would have been a little easier with someone else there to push down on the axle for me, but I didn't want to wait....

its a great option, and now in the future I can turn that into a 3" lift or more by adding a relatively cheap coil/suspension lift and leaving the spacers in. I'm eyeing a 2 inch lift from BDS....I say go for it. You wont regret it. After you install it you'll be really glad you didn't pay 300 bucks or more for someone else to do it. Also you'll learn alot about your rig. i'm confident after that install that when the time comes I'll be able to install my own suspension coil lift with no problems.

This is not a situation where you need to pay for an install. Dive in.

 

Here's a pic of the finished product..

 

I was quoted $250 by the local shop to install the leveling kit. I ended up installing the kit myself (which is a great learning experience). If you don't have a floor jack, jack stands or the tools needed to do the job you should weigh the cost of acquiring these against paying someone else to do it for you. I guess it just depends on whether you believe you'll ever use those tools again. Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

 

The shop down the street from my house told me that labor would run about $400.00 on this install (TF level kit). I don't own any tools and i don't know anything about mechanics, but i'm doing it myself

 

Get yourself this tool set, it is a great starter set:
ht tp://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00935283000P?vName=Tools&cName=Tool+ Sets&sName=View+All

a 21mm wrench, 1/2" drive torque wrench, a 1/2" Breaker Bar, and some jack stands and you should be good to go.

 

Lol, I was reading this post, thinking a starter kit that would work in budget (around $50.00 max) haha and it just opened my eyes as I lol'd.

Thanks for the advice

 

Granted you don't need all that for a leveling kit, but if you are going to get into working on you're vehicle yourself, it will let you do most jobs on you're jeep. On the cheap, most of the suspension parts are 18mm and 21mm, so you can get just those sizes of wrenches and sockets to get started. Just remember that torquing any suspension bolt is key to having a solid suspension so I highly recomend a torque wrench that goes to 150ftlbs and 1/2" drive sockets.

Have fun.