So I just got my lift in, TF 2.5 Coil w/ Shocks from Northridge. I have to go to work tomorrow, am I stupid to try to install this thing tonight? I just do not think I can wait until the weekend....I have seen answers to "how long does it take?" anywhere from 2 hours to 10 hours.

So what would you do if you had never installed a lift before? Would you wait until Saturday, or would you try to get it in tonight?

I would not be able to start until 4:30PM CST.

 

I have installed 3 of these so far. First one took 5 hours and that is reading the instructions very carefully and double checking even triple checking everything as I went. 2nd lift took 3.5 hours and third was 2.25 hours.

 

if you have never done it before, i would wait. i did the same lift install with the help of 3 other people and one person had installed one before. it took us about 6 hours. the things you will have to figuere out is how to push the bump stops (or i think its the rubber part that sits on top of the springs) into place,. they are not easy to get in there. Getting the springs in can be a little tricky without a spring compressor, but we did without it. And make sure you drill that hole in the right spot for the track bar bracket. I triple check it and it was off, but we did a small pilot hole and were ableto fix it.

make sure to check every bolt twice with a torque wrench, we forgot to chck the lower track bar and went for a spin and noticed it was loose.

just wait when you have the time, unless you want to be up all night if something goes wrong and you have to take the bus to work. my 2 cents

 

My lift was about 5 hours taking my time... a spring compressor for the front will help speed things up. You could get it done tonight ... you could skip the rear track bar bracket till the weekend. Do you have the wheel spacers? Some guys have had to have them from the start...

 

I already have new wheels and tires so I should be good to go there.

 

Having done it before, I could install a lift on a JK in 3 hours. The first time I did it, it took me and a few buddies at least 6 hours or messing around. I would wait until ur fresh and have the whole day unless u have some friends to help. Make sure u have a good floor jack and at least 3 ton (I use 6 ton) floor jacks and all the tools u need before u start. U will also want to have a ratchet strap to help line up axles with track bar bolt when reinstalling.

 

Wait till weekend, and install it in the daylight. No point busting your ass late at night raising and lowering the Jeep and causing an injury while tired. Although the job is reasonably straight forward, you do NOT want to rush it, forget a step or forget to tighten something. As said earlier, read and reread the TF's install steps, you're looking at 5+ hours for your first lilft install.

I presume u already have a trolley jack and at least 2 axle stands, and a large metric sized socket set.

 

If you run into issues ...call off sick. If you have all the tools and parts then go for it. My wife helped me with mine...it was fun. Like I said you can wait on the rear track bar bracket ( have to drill and strap it over ) till the weekend. The front top shock bolts on mine were a little rusted and needed soaked down some but the rest of the bolts were easy.

 

I have all the tools listed by Eddie in the write-up so I should be all set as far as that goes. If it took me 6 hours I would be OK, much more and I would have to quit to avoid mistakes. My better judgement is telling me to wait, but the inner kid is telling me to JUST DO IT.

 

I wouldn't. I am a firm beleiver in do it once and do it right. Take your time get intimate with the Jeep. Figure out what every part under your Jeep is and does. Double check everything, torque and re-torque bolts to avoid death wobble, simulate axle flex and see how close you are to rubbing or running out of brake line or what have ya. This is just my opinion but yeah I would wait and really get a chance to enjoy the install by not being rushed or stressed. I did this exact same lift and I did it over 2 nights all hand tools and by myself and spent a fair biut of time back and forth to instructions and project-jk.com for clarification. Plus you really want to get everything toqued right as you dont want death wobble as even one occurance and wollow bolt holes or crack track bar mounts, etc. Good luck and feel free to pm me with and questions as the install is still pretty fresh in my mind.