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Rubicon Express 4 1/2" Lift

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I had been monitoring the development TJ lifts for some time.  I had initially thought I'd put in a Tera Flex lift but was disappointed that their shorter lift height could only accommodate 33" tires with the addition of a body lift.  Another area I was very concerned about was rear drive shaft vibration with a hefty TJ lift.  I did not want to give away any of the gains from the lift by dropping the transfer case as is commonly done with other lift kits.  Then I read Harry Brosofsky 's report on installing a 4 1/2"  Rubicon Express lift.   Clearly, Harry was very pleased with his RE lift.  Harry assured me that with a CV drive line and shortened transfer case output shaft (allowing a longer driveshaft with less angle)  the Rubicon Express kit had everything it takes to conquer the nasty drive line vibes without lowering the transfer case.   I also liked the adjustable chrome-moly track bar that would eliminate the need for a dropped pitman arm (keep that steering linkage up as high as possible - it bends easily in confrontations with boulders).

At last, a hefty lift with the potential of handling 35s without a body lift (Rubicon Express does recommend one, however) and eliminating drive line vibrations without lowering the transfer case!  After exchanging several E-mails with Harry and talking to the people at Rubicon Express, I ordered a kit for the 4X4NOW TJ.  Since I would be installing an Advance Adapter Atlas II transfer case immediately after the lift, I ordered the Rubicon Express lift without their slip yoke eliminator kit and replacement drive line.

The control arm design is one of the key elements that differentiates the Rubicon Express lift kit from other lift kits. Rubicon Express uses "Heim" joints to allow articulation without binding.  The Heim joint is a spherical bearing embedded in a chrome-moly steel head to provide unhindered movement in any direction.  This is both one of Rubicon Empress' greatest, and at the same time, most questioned innovations.  The steel to steel contact is bound to wear over some period of time.  But how long?  A previous version of their Heim joint was reported to be good for about 20,000 miles.   The newer design  shown here and used in and all the kits they have been selling for some time are expected to last much longer - but since none have yet worn out, we don't know how much longer.  If they do wear out the Heim joint head can be screwed out and replaced.  Another concern is noise.  This is a special concern if the Heim joint is placed directly in contact with the body.  This should not be a problem in the RE TJ lift kit since all the Heim joint connections are either to the axle or the frame.  The frame is buffered from the body by the factory bushings between the frame and body.

The RE kit contains 8 "Super-Flex" chrome-moly steel control arms.  Their are two upper and two lower control arms for both the front and rear suspensions.  Each has a Heim joint on one end.  Most have a bushing at the other end but one has a U bracket.  An example of each control arm provided is shown at the left next to an 18" steel rule and pencil.  The top control rod is the front upper (2 supplied).  The next one down is the rear upper (2 supplied).  And the bottom one is for both the front and rear lower positions (4 provided).  All are adjustable for length on at least one end by screwing the Heim joint in or out.  This provides for very precise axle location and pinion angle control.  They appear to be quite rugged and have a well engineered appearance - especially when compared to the stock stamped metal control arms (shown at the right above the respective RE "Super-Flex" front control arms).

Another distinctive component of the RE lift is their adjustable chrome-moly front track bar.  Harry has an excellent shot of the completed front suspension including the track bar at his web site.  Harry also has an excellent step by step installation guide there which I won't repeat here.

As a sub-novice mechanic, working alone, in the family garage, in temperatures that allowed me to see my breath, it took me much longer to install the lift than Harry and his friend.  I worked at a leisurely pace on and off for 5 days to complete the lift.  Harry and a friend did his at a properly equipped garage in one day.  I labored through Christmas week with 4 jack stands and a floor jack.

Here are a few tips from my experience.

1. Don't remove all the control arms at once. Instead, remove the lowers, put on the new RE lowers, then remove the uppers and then put on the RE uppers. No need, that I can see, to leave that axle balanced on jack stands for so long.  I nearly turned the front axle off the stands when I tried to break a bolt loose when I was removing all the control arms at once as the RE instructions indicated.

2. You can get the new springs in without a compressor if you disconnect the track bar - this worked both front and rear.

Reusing stock bolt

New Longer bolt instead

3. Get some new longer bolts for the front upper control arm axle mounts. The stock hardware is too short with the thicker RE U-bracket.

4. Check the photo detail of the brake line assembly to make it easier to sort out the supplied brake line replacement parts.

5. Mount the rear shocks can up.   As you can see from the photo, there isn't enough clearance at full rear axle droop to mount them can down.  It is good to realize this before you put the bar pins in the wrong end!

6. Rubicon Express has some recommended starting lengths for all the control arms.  If they're not shown on your instruction set, call them to get these numbers.

7. Axle breather hoses may need to be extended - check both front and rear axles.

8. As with all modifications, a factory shop manual comes in very handy.

The staff at Rubicon Express was available, courteous and knowledgeable whenever I had a question.  The updated instructions they now use should reduce the number of questions generated on future installations.

All in all it went well and I was pleased with the result.  The RE control arms give the suspension a refined and professional look.  At the right is a close up of the underside of the lower front control arm axle mount.  Note the spacers on each side of the Heim joint to keep it from hitting the axle mount as the axle articulates.  The lower control arms are offset to the inside in the front to allow more room for large tires at full lock.   Another well thought out detail by Rubicon Express.  Also note the factory cam adjusting hardware continues in use.

The RE lift appeared to provide adequate room for 35s although the official stance of Rubicon Express is that you should add a 1" body lift to run 35s without rubbing.

Flexibility Testing

(Sway bar disconnected) DEFINITELY A "DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME" APPROACH!  NOT RECOMMENDED!

The first time I tried flexing the RE lift with my BFG 35" MTs and the Ramsey Pro Plus 9000 winch I forgot to pull the sway bar disconnects.  That produced mixed results.  The good news was that the lifted front tire did not contact the top inside of the wheel wheel.  The bad news was that I got a wheel off the ground with only about 14 1/2" of lift on each corner which would produce an RTI of only around 900.

Here's the formula I use to compute what the RTI would have been when I lift tires at the opposite corner.  RTI = {[(lift at one corner+lift at opposite corner)/sin 20 degrees] divided by the wheel base of 93.4"}times 1000.  That's a little trig that computes how far up a standard 20 degree RTI ramp the TJ would have gone to reach the height of the two lifted corners combined, divided by the wheel base and multiplied by 1000.  That simplifies to 31.3 times the total lift at both corners for a TJ.

Then I tried it with the sway bar disconnected.  My floor jack maxed out at 19 1/2" on the front corner with the lumber stacked to 15 1/2" in the rear corner and the tires were still touching.  That converts to an RTI of about 1100.  But the left rear was touching the fender flare and the right front was hard up against the top inside of the wheel well.  In fact the right front was driven into the top inside of the wheel well before I started raising the jack.  So clearly something has to be done.

My plan is to extend the bump stops to stop compression in the front springs just before the 35" BFG MT contacts the top of the wheel well.  That should leave me with an RTI of over a thousand without having to deal with the hassle of a body lift.

For more information contact:

Rubicon Express
http://www.rubiconexpress.com
3315 Monier Circle
Rancho Cordova, CA 95742
(916) 858-8575
Fax (916) 858-1963

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