On Sunday April 29th, Shawn was wanting to test out his new Cherokee so Jarrod and I joined up with him to hit the trails at Uwharrie. The day was going great and the weather was perfect until we went through Rocky Mountain Loop. As I started to ascend the rocks I heard SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! And I knew the rear axle was toast. I put the Jeep in 2 wheel drive only to confirm what I already knew. So I limped back to the outpost to access the damage and see if we could get it home. We removed the rear drive shaft and tried to limp it home on front wheel drive but the sheared teeth inside the rear differential kept getting caught in the ring and pinion and were making some awful popping noises so we pulled over and decided to call in a tow.
Luckily Matt was with us and he called his brother Philip who had a friend named Jason Hathcock, who had a flat bed trailer. They were gracious enough to come to our aid and Jason wouldn’t even take any money for helping me.
Good to know there are still people around that will help you out, so many thanks to them.
And when I say “Uwharrie bites back”, it also means don’t forget your bug spray cause later that evening I discovered that I had been swarmed by chiggers while I was under the jeep on the trail.
-Zach
Saturday Zach, Philip, and I (chad) along with Matt and some spectators installed a 3” BDS suspension lift on a 2005 TJ.
The lift was a technically simple install. The only trouble we had was wrestling the lower control arms back on after installing the new springs. Both the front and rear lower control arms fought us during the reinstall. If you are preparing to install one of these kits be ready for a little teeth grinding during this part.
We were please to discover some improvements in the “05 BDS kit in comparison with some of the older BDS kits. Most notably the reuse of the OE pitman arm and the improved ball joint swaybar disconnects. Reusing the OE pitman arm allows the installer to skip the hassle of going through the lengthy task of removing the OE pitman arm. The new swaybar disconnects disconnect in a snap with no pins or hardware to take out. Disconnecting your swaybar with this kit is a near effortless procedure.
We recommend devoting an entire afternoon to the install.
Tools you’ll want to have around.
A torx head #55 to remove the trackbar from the axle
A deep socket set
A standard depth socket set
Pitman arm puller (if your 3” BDS TJ kit is pre 2003)
Larger and standard size adjustable wrench
An impact wrench and air ratchet is highly recommended
Jack stands
Hydraulic jack (2 if possible)
Click below for more pictures. More on the way.