How to tilt axle back..Help please, the snow is coming.

[Bjorn86]

First off I've got a 99 XJ, 4.0, 4x4, 5.5" RE long arm lift.
I'm new to Jeeps, so this may be something simple.

I was just replacing the upper control arm bushings and CAN NOT get the axle to tilt back far enough to get the bolt hole on the arm and bolt hole on the bushing (axle) to line up enough to get the bolt in.

Is there a trick to this? I've tried jacking on the front of the diff and the coil seat, which tilts it back some, but not enough. I could adjust my arm out a bit, but that won't that throw off my caster?

Tips, suggestions, anything? Snow is coming tonight and this weekend, so I need to get this done this afternoon.

Thanks!

 

[shelbyluvv]

Ratchet strap to the frame from the control arm mount. A big pipe wrench and a jack will work too.

 

[Bjorn86]

Thanks, Ill give that a shot. Don't know if it matters, but the vehicle is sitting on the ground, only one upper control arm is currently off, I didn't want to take both off at the same time. Do I need to get the front end up off the ground, or can this be done as it sits?

 

[OutkastBoss]

rachet straps and one time i got the jack just right (with the strap on) and it jacked into place really easily. (another time i broke the strap doing that)

i hooked onto the axle outer C on top to rotate back and hooked to frame on other end..

dont use little weak cheapo straps

 

[Bjorn86]

Well, all I've got are little 1" straps.......I'm just waiting on my wife to get off of work so she can take me to get a pipe wrench and rent a ball joint press...I destroyed my bushing in the axle when I got the two holes close and tried to line them up with a screwdriver :doh: so now i've got that to look forward to. I haven't heard anything easy about getting those things in or out. I've got them in the freezer right now, if that will help at all.

I picked one hell of a time to do this, the weather is getting crappier by the hour....no garage for me, looks like I'll be doing this in the snow.

 

[Voteban]

Like others have said, a ratchet strap works, but mine have never been that far off, all I've had to do is use a jack / wrestle the axle a bit to get them into place. I'm not sure why yours are that far off, is your driveshaft too long or something like that?

I bet you could also unbolt the trackbar, that might help, but then you might have issues getting that back in there..

Good luck!

 

[Bjorn86]

It is just a stock front driveshaft, doesn't seem to be too long. Its not off by that much, probably 1" when I jack up on the bottom of the coil bucket. This is on the driver's side, so I'm not sure if the removing the trackbar would make a whole of of difference, but I could be wrong. I might just need to throw a little more muscle into it. I'm still recovering from a hernia surgery a few weeks ago, so I'm overly cautious about how much "umpf" I put into stuff right now.

On a positive note, I finally got the driver's side control arm bushing at the axle out and the new one pressed in, only took me about 4 hours arty:. Just finished that up a few minutes ago, right as I ran out of light. I guess I'll have to try and wrestle the axle the additional inch tomorrow in the snow!

Thanks for the input and advice, it's greatly appreciated!

 

[Ben824]

Getting my upper control arms bushing went fairly easy. I looked around and only Advance Auto had a tool to rent that was actually called control arm bushing tool made exactly for this. The passenger side was a cake walk easy out and easy in. The driver side came out easy but going back in was difficult and ultimately it was a mini sledge the dig the trick to drive it in. If you are worried about damaging the bushing trying to drive it in then just place some like a thick plate of metal, another hammer, block of wood, etc. something that can take a hit but won't absorb the energy of the hit and that will take the beating and leave the bushing in good shape. I also put some grease on the metal bushing sleeve to help them slide in. Good Luck!

Oh and x2 on using ratchet straps to rotate the axle works like a charm!

 

[Bjorn86]

I ended up making my own tool out of some 3/8 all thread and some parts from the ball joint press I rented. I would have loved to use a sledge to hammer that bushing home, but the coil only gives me about 8" of room. I'll be doing the passenger side tomorrow, weather permitting. I think it should go smoother this time.
Sounds like ratchet straps are the trick, hopefully the little ones I have will suffice. If not the pipe wrench method looks promising also.

Kinda off topic, but I still have to do the lower front bushings, any tips? I've got some welded skids on the bottom of the mounts so that looks like it will make it a little more difficult to drop those arms.

 

[fyrfytr1717]

With the mini skids you'll have to drop the arms at the frame end first and then completely remove them if you're trying to get at the axle end bushings...

 

[rockclimber]

does your 5.5" RE kit have adjustable uppers?

if so DO NOT use ratchet straps to line the bushings up. you will pre-load the bushings and destroy them quickly.

these are the steps to getting it right:

1. support rear axle of jeep, make sure it is level, remove front springs and shocks.
2. make sure body of jeep is level to the rear axle, measure from the axle to the frame rail on both sides to make sure.
3. disconnect the upper CAs.
4. jack front axle up to ride height, center under jeep using trackbar.
5. measure the distance of the front axle to the rear axle on both sides, make sure they are the same; adjust lowers accordingly.
6.set pinion/caster to desired angle using the drivers side upper.
7. adjust passenger side upper so that there is no pre-load on the bushing.

NO STRAPS.

 

[Lowrange2]

does your 5.5" RE kit have adjustable uppers?

if so DO NOT use ratchet straps to line the bushings up. you will pre-load the bushings and destroy them quickly.

these are the steps to getting it right:

1. support rear axle of jeep, make sure it is level, remove front springs and shocks.
2. make sure body of jeep is level to the rear axle, measure from the axle to the frame rail on both sides to make sure.
3. disconnect the upper CAs.
4. jack front axle up to ride height, center under jeep using trackbar.
5. measure the distance of the front axle to the rear axle on both sides, make sure they are the same; adjust lowers accordingly.
6.set pinion/caster to desired angle using the drivers side upper.
7. adjust passenger side upper so that there is no pre-load on the bushing.

NO STRAPS.

...He's fighting the weight of the Jeep on the coil springs... not unlevel ground and misaligned control arms...

 

[Bjorn86]

does your 5.5" RE kit have adjustable uppers?

if so DO NOT use ratchet straps to line the bushings up. you will pre-load the bushings and destroy them quickly.

these are the steps to getting it right:

1. support rear axle of jeep, make sure it is level, remove front springs and shocks.
2. make sure body of jeep is level to the rear axle, measure from the axle to the frame rail on both sides to make sure.
3. disconnect the upper CAs.
4. jack front axle up to ride height, center under jeep using trackbar.
5. measure the distance of the front axle to the rear axle on both sides, make sure they are the same; adjust lowers accordingly.
6.set pinion/caster to desired angle using the drivers side upper.
7. adjust passenger side upper so that there is no pre-load on the bushing.

NO STRAPS.

Yes, uppers and lowers are adjustable. ^this sounds like the procedure if the axle was out from under the vehicle. The axle is still under the vehicle, the only thing that was removed was the drivers side uca so I could press the bushing in easier. I very well could be wrong, please correct me if so.

...He's fightiing the weight of the Jeep on the coil springs... not unlevel ground and misaligned control arms...

This sounds like what's going on. Everything should be aligned, it's just a matter of muscling it back into place.

 

[Bjorn86]

With the mini skids you'll have to drop the arms at the frame end first and then completely remove them if you're trying to get at the axle end bushings...

That's what I figured..... Those might have to wait a while until my tool selection is better, which sucks because I can see that they are shot.

 

[rockclimber]

...He's fighting the weight of the Jeep on the coil springs... not unlevel ground and misaligned control arms...

maybe.

Yes, uppers and lowers are adjustable. ^this sounds like the procedure if the axle was out from under the vehicle. The axle is still under the vehicle, the only thing that was removed was the drivers side uca so I could press the bushing in easier. I very well could be wrong, please correct me if so.

This sounds like what's going on. Everything should be aligned, it's just a matter of muscling it back into place.

your best bet is to remove the springs. your RE 5.5" kit should give you plenty of dropout with the shocks and sway bar disconnected.

once the springs are removed then you should be able to get the upper back in easy. if it doesn't go, adjust it until it does.

it sounds like its a pain in the ass, but is the only way to know for sure you aren't pre-loading the bushing and going to destroy it in a short amount of time.

cheap insurance imo

 

[Bjorn86]

maybe.



your best bet is to remove the springs. your RE 5.5" kit should give you plenty of dropout with the shocks and sway bar disconnected.

once the springs are removed then you should be able to get the upper back in easy. if it doesn't go, adjust it until it does.

it sounds like its a pain in the ass, but is the only way to know for sure you aren't pre-loading the bushing and going to destroy it in a short amount of time.

cheap insurance imo

Are you saying I need to remove the springs, disconnect the sway bar and the shocks?

My only issue with this is:
1)I have no jack stands.
2)I really don't have the cash right now to purchase said jack stands. This school year has taken a toll on my savings.
3)If I do get jack stands, I doubt they will be tall enough to reach the frame, and I have nothing to place underneath them to safely get them to that height.
4)I don't have spring compressors. I guess I could rent them, so that would be easy to solve.

Bottom line, I'm ill-equipped. I am in college and due to a lack of space, had to leave the majority of my things behind other than some hand tools.

I certainly don't want to destroy the bushing and have to replace it again, but at this point, it looks like I may have to just try to bolt it back up as it is and hope that won't be the case. I only need about just under an inch, so I think it's just a case of fighting that weight as I'm pretty sure the arms were well aligned to begin with. If it does get destroyed quickly, I'll be home and working for the summer in about a month and will be better equipped to go at it then.

Thanks again for the advice guys, I appreciate it. Like I said, I'm new to Jeeps, so I'm learning as I go.

 

[techno1154]

I do not see this being so difficult to do evn with the springs in place and the weight of the XJ on them. The OP said he have adjustable UCA's. All he have to do is;

Adjust the driver side UCA to fit then remove the passenger side UCA.
Using two jacks under the spring, adjust the caster to where it should be.
Adjust passenger UCA until it fit.
Tighten every thing and drive away.

The use of ratchet straps and other tools/equipment as suggested by others is not a problem. I always use one jack under the front of the spring base and another under the pinoin yoke and adjust one up and the other down as needed to get the desired caster.

Forceing the axle one way or another ie: haveing one UCA work against the other will pre-load the rubber bushings and cause them to wear prematurely.

 

[Bjorn86]

I do not see this being so difficult to do evn with the springs in place and the weight of the XJ on them. The OP said he have adjustable UCA's. All he have to do is;

Adjust the driver side UCA to fit then remove the passenger side UCA.
Using two jacks under the spring, adjust the caster to where it should be.
Adjust passenger UCA until it fit.
Tighten every thing and drive away.

The use of ratchet straps and other tools/equipment as suggested by others is not a problem. I always use one jack under the front of the spring base and another under the pinoin yoke and adjust one up and the other down as needed to get the desired caster.

Forceing the axle one way or another ie: haveing one UCA work against the other will pre-load the rubber bushings and cause them to wear prematurely.

I've got a couple questions/concerns:
1) I have heard/read that removing both UCA's poses some sort of safety issue with the axle rolling out or something along those lines, potentially falling on me.
2) I am hesitant to start adjusting my arms and messing with the caster, both of which were fine before I started doing this. The worn bushings may have thrown my caster off a bit though. I simply wanted to replace the worn bushings.

Im thinking the reason it is so far off is because of how worn out the old bushings were: the axle side bushing was ripped in the back, letting the axle roll forward on that side, the rear bushing was ripped in the back as well, which seems like it would allow the arm to travel forward and assist in twisting the axle forward. When I disassembled it, this is how it was sitting, now that there are new bushings in both ends, I need to make up for the 1/2" of play in each bushing, probably where my ~1" is coming from (Does this make sense??) :dunno:. I'm assuming that the passenger side is equally worn, and I may be fighting that right now. I plan to change that out as well.

As it is, I wont be working on this today, there is 6" of snow on my driveway so I'm hanging out inside today.

 

[4x4fever]

I've always used cable or small chain rachet come alongs to move axles after bushing or spring jobs

 

[techno1154]

I do agree that removing both UCAs at the same time could cause the axle to move which could spell disaster for someone under the XJ. Before doing that, you have to secure the XJ, both the front wheels and the rear wheels so the do not roll. Having two jacks under the axle at the same time would minimise the potential of it rolling away. In addition, the use of chains, straps or come-alongs would go a long way towards keeping the axle securely planted in one spot.

The reason you have bad bushings could be attributed to the fact that the UCAs were working against each other. I replaced the OEM UCA on my XJ for some adjustable ones at over 150,000 miles and the bushings were almost perfect. It was easy to remove the bolt in one arm then support and roll the axle to get the other out, but I had a paved drive way to work in.

If all else fails, adjust the other UCA until you could get the bolt to go in and drive it like that then take it to a shop to have the caster set.