First off Ive been on the forum for a little while and mostly dont say much but do an awful lot of reading on here-darn near every night. You guys have posted up some great info and great write ups that just about any one with a little know how can do themselves and keep the cost of mods under control (well Kinda) Ok, enough of the ass kissing thank-yous and on with the rest.
We have an 09 JK Unlimited Sahara and not looking to do a whole lot as far a lift. So after reading a ton on here, I decided on a Teraflex Leveling kit. Not a bad mod for stuffing some bigger skins under the Jeep! I'm not a mechanic but have been around a bit with a wrench so away I went this afternoon. I did the install myself. Started about 1pm with the kit, jacks, proper tools and a case of Miller Lite. As I cracked open my first good time i jacked it up and started on the front first. Front went on smooth as glass. The instructions arent to bad, but with the help of reading here I diconnected the brake line brackets and was able to drop the front axle down enough to slide the springs right out. New spacer in, and was able to again slide the spring back in. Had to work the a bit and lean on the axle, but they went in without too much fuss.
Now with the front done, tires on and back on the ground, I moved to the back. Again the instructions are pretty simple, but I found that removing the brake line brackets along with the rear sway bar links (only bottom bolts) made the rear axle drop down so the springs would slide right out. Now with the spring out, I grabbed the new Teraflex rear spacers and went under and went to pop them in. Ya right!!! I'm not a weak man by any means, but getting that ball end into the hole was not going to happen by hand!! So, I moved back to the good times for a bit to think about it (mind you im still a shade bit over a 6 pack and its only 2:30 so Ive got plenty of time to take a break and enjoy the hopps!)
After thinking for a bit and realizing that there wasnt enough room to get a good swing with a rubber mallet, I went over to the tool cage to see what I could find. Now everyone has a bottle jack. If you dont have one go down to the nearest home store and spend $25-30 on one cause man are they handy! I put a small two ton jackstand under the axle right under area where the new spacer was going in. I set the bottle jack on top of the axle and started pumping up until I was close to where it would catch the bottm of the space. I slowly jacked it up and what do you know- it popped right in! Had another good times to celebrate my triumph, and repeated it on the other side.
Now unhooking the rear sway bar links and brake line brackets was a must to get enough room to get my small bottle jack in between the axle and new spacer. Plus having more room to get the springs back in which also was not bad at all.
Just wanted to share my experience and hope maybe it would help anyone else out who is thinking about doing this as a "budget Friendly" Mod. Putting on my Body Armor bumpers with my XRC winch tommarrow and my new Nitto Mud Grapplers 295/70R18 are in at Discount. Going to try and get everything and scheduled for mounting and balancing saturday morning. Will get some pics up when it light out put them up here.
Thanks again for all you guys do on here and Happy New Year

 

Great advice!! I have my leveling kit sitting in the garage! Now, if you were to do a lift kit later, how hard would it be to take off that rear spacer that you had to force in with a bottle jack?

 

Wouldn't be hard. I didn't need a jack. I just used a lot of grease on it and with some firm pushing while twisting, it popped it.

 

I'll let you know after Saturday! Leveling kit coming off and 2.5" lift going on!

 

That was quick! Haha

 

I'm debating on doing leveling 1st, or just skipping it and going with 2.5"

Why are you switching?

 

Was also my debate ! So I'm going to meet & the middle & get a AEV 2 !!

 

Do the 2.5" & skip the leveling kit unless that's you want. I want to go higher but not to where I'm changing out a ton of parts so a happy medium of 2.5 will do me.......,,for right now.

 

Thanks for summarizing the rest of the tips; undoing sway bar, brake lines and e-brake lines. I installed mine with the help of your post and the vague instructions. Although, I was able to pop my rear spacers in no problem with a touch of lube laying on my back under the jeep and pushing straight up. Maybe the lube is the magic step.

 

KY JELLY is a weekend warriors friend!! And dish soap. LOL!!!!!