2000wrangler
New member
i woke up this morning @6:30 to put my 2" budget lift, new shocks and disconnects on. after arriving at my parents house around 7:00 i started my "easy" project :lol: . after putting the rear of the jeep on jack stands and taking off the tires i started on the passenger side shock. got 2 of the bolts out with no problems. when i got to the 3rd on, the bolt decided to be stubborn and snap off inside the frame :evil: . it was the bolt near the gas tank. after a few choice words i started to drill. after a half four of drilling the bit just wouldnt go any farther. so much for plan a. on to plan b. i took a punch and a 5lb mini sledge and drove the bolt (along with the threads) out. i retapped it with a slightly bigger thread and proceeded.
after fighting for an hour to get the bolt out, i installed the budget lift and went to the other side. that side went without a hitch. the back is done.
on to the front. after removing the wheels i start with the sway bar end links. the driver side has a torx bolt on it. OF COURSE i dont have that size. i try an impact wrench with allen wrenches in the torx hole. no luck. i then get a pipe wrench and put it on and with the impact, it comes right off. on to the other side. i then notice that someone already had this side off at one time (i was told when i bought the 2000 wrangler that a 50 yr old nurse owned it and never had a problem.) and there was a bolt in it. no problem. i take that side off easily. then on to the shock. i sprayed wd-40 on the nut on top of the shock and let it sit. when i start taking it off, the nut stops about 3/4 the way off and wont budge. of course i turn harder and strip the little flat spots at the top of the stud. :evil: after trying pipe wrenches and vise grips, i had to use a cutting wheel and cut the retaining cup off the top of the shock, and cut the shaft off. then i notice that there is no retaining clip in the coil on that side. other side went without a hitch, on to the disconnets.
i put all the disco stuff on (rubicon express discos)and find that nothing lines up. after close inspection i notice that my sway bar looks bent and twisted a little. after some minute adjustment with the now well used 5 lb. sledge, i beat the bottom tabs over the 1/4 insh or so i needed. i line up the discos slide one side in and pin it, go to the other side and that side needs to come down almost an inch!!! so i put a jack under the axle and jacked it up till it was in place. when i put it back down it looked like the sway bar didnt twist so i dont know what is going on there. i finally finished up at 3:00 p.m. for some reason i thought that this would be an EASY project. what could go wrong? man..was i wrong.
anyway it looks cool and rides awesome so i am not that displeased. cant wait to take it on the trails.
after fighting for an hour to get the bolt out, i installed the budget lift and went to the other side. that side went without a hitch. the back is done.
on to the front. after removing the wheels i start with the sway bar end links. the driver side has a torx bolt on it. OF COURSE i dont have that size. i try an impact wrench with allen wrenches in the torx hole. no luck. i then get a pipe wrench and put it on and with the impact, it comes right off. on to the other side. i then notice that someone already had this side off at one time (i was told when i bought the 2000 wrangler that a 50 yr old nurse owned it and never had a problem.) and there was a bolt in it. no problem. i take that side off easily. then on to the shock. i sprayed wd-40 on the nut on top of the shock and let it sit. when i start taking it off, the nut stops about 3/4 the way off and wont budge. of course i turn harder and strip the little flat spots at the top of the stud. :evil: after trying pipe wrenches and vise grips, i had to use a cutting wheel and cut the retaining cup off the top of the shock, and cut the shaft off. then i notice that there is no retaining clip in the coil on that side. other side went without a hitch, on to the disconnets.
i put all the disco stuff on (rubicon express discos)and find that nothing lines up. after close inspection i notice that my sway bar looks bent and twisted a little. after some minute adjustment with the now well used 5 lb. sledge, i beat the bottom tabs over the 1/4 insh or so i needed. i line up the discos slide one side in and pin it, go to the other side and that side needs to come down almost an inch!!! so i put a jack under the axle and jacked it up till it was in place. when i put it back down it looked like the sway bar didnt twist so i dont know what is going on there. i finally finished up at 3:00 p.m. for some reason i thought that this would be an EASY project. what could go wrong? man..was i wrong.
anyway it looks cool and rides awesome so i am not that displeased. cant wait to take it on the trails.
