How NOT to lift a Truck or Jeep

it's as easy as that. And that's how you tell a story and install a shock at the same time. This is Banker, guys. How's it going? Good, Banker. How you doing? Good. I'm at the headquarters of Custom Offsets, and we teamed up with RBP, and we're going to be showing these guys how not to install a lift on a Jeep. But we're going to go a little bit further than that. We're also going to talk about the difference between a suspension lift and a body lift. Sure. and what the pluses and minuses possibly minuses on the body lift. Everybody says that. So, we want to actually let these guys know exactly what we're talking about when we do that. But, as we show them the right way to install the lift, can you actually walk us through some of the common beginner mistakes that guys make and maybe guide them along the way? Before we get too far into this, what do you do for these guys? I'm the main installer on here. We actually just hired a new guy, which you'll see when we uh start on the Jeep, but I do all of the scheduling. I do all the talking with the customers, getting these builds in the door, set up, and then putting the kits on. And you do builds like this. I do builds like this. Look at I I recruited a cameraman. We got their cameraman right [laughter] here. So, this is one of the uh jobs that Banker's actually been building on. So, this thing's got what, 40in tires, coilover lift. Yep. 8 in coilover, some 40s. Um he's got about 30,000 stuck into this truck on top of the truck itself. And so the fun thing is where's my stuff? It's hidden. It's hidden. Honestly, guys, I have no clue what RBP sent. I don't know. No, I have not gone over that yet. Do you know what they I know what they sent. [laughter] This is going to be so fun. It's going to be fun. So, make sure you guys stick around cuz we got a lot of ground to cover today and maybe we should start doing that. Yeah, might as well. [music] Heat. Heat. It's Jeep week here, I guess, at the shop, apparently. Uh, this is going to be another 4-in kit. This is actually going to be RBP. Um, RBP, if you don't know, actually has their own suspension line. And this is going to be their JK kit for the JK Wranglers in particular. This one's going to be a four-door kit. You always got to remember the JK's are two door, four-door. They have different lift kits depending. This is going to be a full spring kit, meaning that there's no spacers that are providing the lift. It's all going to be through new springs. So, you got new springs all around. And then up front, we got the new adjustable track bar here as well, which is nice. uh to keep the front axle centered under the truck once it's lifted. And then for the back here, we got a key component is the rear track bar relocation bracket, which is going to do essentially the same thing, but you're going to be reusing the factory rear track bar. So, new sway bar end links for the back. And the factory back ones actually will go up on the front to be used up there. Uh this kit is optioned with the Fox Adventure Series 2.0 shocks. Um this is an upgrade. It's a really nice upgrade for the money. You know, shocks are never something you really want to skimp out on. They make a big deal when it comes to ride quality. Uh, another nice option is we got some new tubular control arms here for the Jeep as well. And then another option is going to be dual stabilizer. So, this thing's going to have a dual steering stabilizer setup up front, which is a great thing to have, especially on Jeeps, cuz we all know um Jeeps sometimes like to death wobble. Oh, no. Got a question for you, bro. Nope. I have to go. [laughter] What? What is a What is a death wobble? Jeep owners are Why are you laughing? You know what a death wobble is? He's a previous Jeep owner. I'm sure he's very aware of it. Basically, it's a a problem prone to really any solid axle front vehicle. Um, in particular, Jeeps seem to have the most common issues with them. Um, especially when going with larger tires. uh they will have a tendency basically if you hit a bump going down the road, your front wheels will actually begin to shake very violently. So much so that it will can potentially rip the steering wheel out of your hand when going down the road. Usually, it's not so much of a problem until people put larger tires on their Jeep and that's when you really notice it because of the extra mass that's moving around. These prevent that from basically moving back and forth at a high rate. It's a dampener just like a shock. Jeeps have one from the factory which actually can be reused, but it's a single stabilizer. So, this is just a nice upgrade. You get two stabilizers on there. You're basically doubling your dampening power. This is the factory stabilizer right here. As you can see, it's on a fixed point here. The other end attaches to your tie rod. So, the tie rod is actually what moves back and forth when you turn your wheel. The dual one will basically clamp around the axle tube here, and then you'll have two stabilizers running to both sides of this tie rod here. But if you are looking for an upgrade, it's certainly a good one to go with. All right. Thanks, Brad. [music] So, what is it you're doing right now? Just taking the uh the factory brake line brackets off so we can get the old coils out and make room for uh getting the new ones in. So, now are these new coils a lot bigger? Is that where we're getting our 4-in lift on them? Yep. They're taller. Okay. So, that's really where the suspension lift comes from when they talk about doing a suspension lift. Yep. So, as you drop that front tire down, you're actually allowing clearance for the spring to come off so you can get it get it off, right? And that shock he pulled apart right there. And then he's he'll pull it apart up on the top, too. So, it's as easy as that pretty much for the most part. Yeah. As long as you've got the right tools. The right tools. Is there any places where a guy will typically mess up trying to do this on their own? Um, I did one like this yesterday for the uh the bump stop extensions. I had to put the coils in and I forgot to put those drill the holes first. So, I had to take the coils back out. It It [snorts] was my fault. I uh got going on the lift kit and I overlooked it. Just forgot about it. Yeah. So, uh So, that's what you're doing right now? Yep. I'm just going to drill a 5/16 hole in the bottom here. And then they actually send you a bolt that selftaps. That's what cuts the threads for the bolt. What is the point of that bolt? This is that selftapping that cuts the threads for the bolts when we bolt that uh bump stop extension down. Okay. So, even though you did one yesterday, almost the exact same Jeep, you're still reading the instructions, I noticed. Yep. Okay. Had to drill use them. Y Okay. Even though you've been doing this your whole life pretty much. Well, for the most part. Yeah. There's uh everyone's a little different. You know, you think you have a down pat and then they throw something else in there. So, okay. This is the one you did yesterday, right? So, you got your spacer. I zip tie it to the coil so it's easier to set in there. You're having to try and hold the spring and hold that all in there. I just zip tie it in. It kind of stays all in there. It's a little easier. You pull down on the back for a little bit. I'm not very heavy. No, that's all we need. There you go. Thanks. At this point, is there any common mistakes guys would be making besides what we've already covered getting this in here before you get the the uh coil spring installed? This is the biggest mistake. Guys will overlook this every single time without getting, you know, you get the coil spring together and you'll be like, "Oh crap, bump stop doesn't fit through the coil spring." The other mistake guys might make, you saw how we had to pull down on the axle on the other side. That's because these lower control arms are holding the axle. guys will loosen these lower control arms. These lower control arms are what's holding this axle from falling in your face. So, you take these bolts out, you take these lower control arms out, even though you're going to be replacing them, this axle is going to tip backwards and you're going to have a whole mess on your hands. So, don't disconnect this trying to get space. But what if you're putting like a six or an 8 in lift in or some monstrosity? When you go that big, you have to take a little bit extra precautions on stuff. So, if we were doing that kind of height, we would have our bigger jacks underneath supporting the axle by itself, free of the Jeep itself. It would just be an axle floating under here with some brake lines. If you know what you're doing, how long will this take? If you know what you're doing, you have all the proper tools. The internet will tell you 6 hours, more like 10. Okay. Um, if you're doing this in your driveway with some hand tools, a full weekend. And that's if you don't break anything or if nothing's rusty. Good luck with both of those. [music] A mistake is a mistake is a mistake and they all absolutely suck when you're out in the field and you're trying to get something accomplished and if you're like me in Minnesota freezing your tootsies off. And that's why with [music] the help of Custom Offsets, we're going to make this two-part series where we teach you how to avoid some of the common mistakes when you're attempting to put in your own lift kit. So, big thanks goes out to Custom Offsets. Make sure you go over to their channel and check them out. These guys are just they're a good group of people. And this entire video was also helped out with from Rolling Big Power RVP. Without their help, none of this would be possible. And make sure you stick around because we got more how not to indo videos [music] coming your way. In fact, well, here's a couple video. I actually honestly don't know what I'm pointing at right here cuz while I'm pointing, I can't see nothing. But these probably are pretty cool. Either way, you guys, God bless. Go get them. Stick around and check out Custom Offset cuz they're kind of buds of mine. Why not help a friend out, brother?