My friend just tried his 4" Rancho Sport lift with the control arm drop brackets and they are a real desaster in rocks. It might be ok on mild trails, but not in rock gardens. I think he should remove the brackets and install adjustable lower or upper arms for the castor. Can the two of us with a floor jack and jack stands remove the drop brackets and align everything to hook the arms up in their stock positions? Im thinking we should be able to control the axle roll with the floor jack, but we would have both arms disconnected at a time. It would also be easier with the wheels off and the axle on jack stands. Or, is this a job better handled on a hoist? Any advise will be appreciated. Also, about where will his castor end up if we just use the stock arms for now? When I was building mine, I had the castor at 3 degrees while trying to get the pinion angle lined up with a double cardon shaft and it drove ok. He has to do something, because those brackets are a poor design for the trails we run.

 

Jack up the front of the jk, support the frame in front behind the ca mounts, leave the floor jack under the axle and go to work. For stability when taking the arms off, throw jack stands under the axle aswell. When u get ready to move/rotate the axle, just pull out the stands under the axle so u can freely move it.

 

I would take them off the same way you put them on but in reverse. Just make sure you do one side at a time and you should be fine. Rancho uses the same parts in their long arm kit (aside from the control arms or course), so with the trails it sounds like you're running, now would be a great time to upgrade to their long arms.



What problem is he having with the brackets? just clearance, or are they actually failing? I haven't had any problems with my drop brackets. But then again, my JK is my daily driver, so the rock gardens I run don't have any boulders taller than 24-30" tall usually.

 

He had the kit installed by a shop in Tucson, so I wasn't involved in the that. If I had been down here then, I would have steered him in a different direction. The brackets are strong enough, but are in the way and catch a lot of rocks. He says the ride on the road and on mild trails is good, but they're the pits in the rocks. I think he, like a lot of people got caught up in the $500 rebate, and didn't consider the rocks we have to run.

 

That sucks... he should have gotten the Rancho long arm kit instead. He could have still gotten the $500 rebate with it and it's a hell of a kit from what everyone says. Even though, he can lose the drop brackets and get some new adjustable control arms and still come out good with the $500 rebate in is pocket. I've only rubbed my drop brackets a few times on the rocks here, but I still plan on getting long arms when I get the $ to upgrade.