Jeep Lift Kit

Today on trucks. Stacey and I take a brand new Cherokee sport and get ready for the trail by Bolton on a three inch lift kit. Then we'll bring you back down to earth with the fastest growing race series in the country. The NASCAR

Craftsman truck

after that, it's back to the shop to show you how to add durability and value to your pickup with a paintbrush.

That's all today on trucks.

Hello, everybody and welcome to this week's show as you know, sport utility vehicles are the hottest thing on the road these days and while a lot of you will never take your ride off road, there's a growing crowd out there that likes to hit the trail with their families. That's pretty tough to do. However, in a Wrangler pick up due to the lack of seating and cargo space.

Now, the four door Jeep Cherokee is the perfect vehicle for those family outings. Problem is most suvs are set up to run the street, not the trail. That's good mel.

Now, granted a stock Cherokee will do ok off road. But believe me, if you've got a more adventurous spirit, it's easy to get into trouble. So today we're gonna show you how to bolt on a three inch lift kit that'll help you climb any moderate trail you and your family can handle.

Now, this is a brand new kit from Skyjacker. Matter of fact, what you see is a prototype that has a lot of innovative features for the front end of a Cherokee

like these upper and lower control arms, as well as this track bar. We also have powder coated coil springs, soft r

nitro gas shock steering stabilizer, and the double disconnect sway bar in links for maximum articulation off road.

Now, remember this project can be done by the average wrench in his driveway with a pair of jack stands and a floor jack.

Of course, we're using a lift because we can. Now another thing we can do is get the stalkers off so we can tear into our front end.

Oh,

now the cool thing about these Jeeps is it's so easy to take the shocks out. A

nut up in the engine compartment, couple of bolts here at the bottom and out she comes

after the shocks are free. You wanna remove the track bar, bolt on the passenger side first.

If the track bar doesn't want to come out easy, don't be afraid to pry it loose. Once you have it freed up, go ahead and remove the nut on the driver's side,

then give it a good wap

with a pickle fork.

Now because this is only a three inch lift. You can use your stock pitman arm without causing any binding.

However, you still need to undo your drag link assembly so you can lower the axle down.

This would be a good time to get some support under the pumpkin.

We're gonna use a tranny jack as we're up in the air. But if you're doing this in your driveway, a floor jack will do just fine

once you have your support in place, remove the sway bar in lengths. Now, lower the axle, what this will do is free up the coil springs. So Stacy can remove the clip and pull them out.

Now it's time to start giving our Cherokee a new stance. First thing we're gonna do is put in these new coil springs.

Now don't forget to put the retaining clips back on.

Next. You wanna raise the jack to hold the springs in place.

Once you have the stock steering stabilizer out, you can bolt on the new adjustable track bar.

Skyjacker has relocated the amount of the track bar to where the steering stabilizer used to be. That coupled with the new hem

joint design means no more binding and total elimination of bump steer

after the drag link assembly is in place. We come to the only modification needed a 38 inch hole in this bracket

that holds the steering stabilizer in place. Next, go ahead and put in the double disconnect sway bar end links, which are just simple bolt ons.

Now, while Stacey's pulling the control arms, I'll go ahead and install the shocks that are designed for this system with an increased amount of travel that way they won't

find under serious articulation.

Now, the last thing we're gonna replace on the front of our Cherokee are the control arms and check out the difference between these stalkers and this new hardware. As you can see, they've got

hem joints on either end. Now, this is not necessarily new technology. Heck

hems have been used in anything from tractors to race cars for years.

The problem with

hems in the past is you've got a metal ball inside of a metal socket. This causes wear. Now, these joints have a Teflon bushing inside

that not only lubricates but also cushions and look at the range of motion. These are awesome.

These upper control arms have hi joints as well. Here's those lower arms and the,

you know, another cool feature on these is they have right and left hand threads just like a tie rod which makes your suspension fully adjustable.

We're gonna go ahead and button up the front end of our Cherokee but don't go away, Stacey and I have a whole lot more for you after the break.

Later on, trucks will take you for a ride with the fastest growing race series in the country. The NASCAR Craftsman truck series. But before we swap paint with those guys. We'll finish giving our Cherokee sport its elevated stance.

Welcome back to the shop. Now that we have a front end in place, it's time to deal with this transfer case. Now, remember anytime you put on a lift kit,

you change your drive shaft angles. Now, there's a couple of ways you can take care of that problem. You can either tilt your axle or lower your transfer case.

This kit comes with spacers so you don't have to modify your axle or mess with your camera.

Now, remember when you lower your transfer case, you also need to lower your shifter linkage. If you don't, it won't shift right? Because it'll bind up on you.

The lift in the rear comes totally from the leaf springs. So you don't have to use blocks or drop shackles

between each leaf in the spring is a Teflon pad. There's also a special pad of Delrin

in between the leaf stack and the overload spring that'll help reduce friction and noise. This kid also comes with a set of rear, your shocks. Now, the axle on our Cherokee runs under the spring so you better get a jack under the chunk here for support or you'll be doing some heavy lifting. Yeah, heavy lifting. Indeed. Not that we know anything about that, right.

No

workouts inside. First thing we need to do is get the rear shocks off.

After that, the U

bolts need to come out.

Now, when you pull the leaf spring, don't go reaching for a torch. If there's a trailer hitch in the way of this shackle bolt from sliding out,

just come up here and get it on this upper bolt.

Now, remove the front bolt and that spring will slide right out of there.

All right, man, I got it.

Here's another cool feature on our upgrades. This wedge piece of steel on the bottom of the spring pitches your rear end up just enough to give you the right drive shaft angle which eliminates vibration and wear in your U joints.

Now, one of the biggest mistakes that people make when they install a lift kit

is they don't leave enough clearance in the brake lines and you can take care of that a couple of ways. You can buy longer hoses or you can modify your hard line like we did up here. Now, if you do this, make sure that your hard line doesn't rest against metal or it could wear through.

Now it's time to strap on our new hardware. Quick tip. If you're doing this project by yourself, do it one side at a time. So you don't have to balance the rear end on your floor jack. The last step before we can lay some new meats on our Cherokee is to slap on the new shocks.

Now, while mel finishes the lift, let me show you what we're gonna do about the tires and these are super swampers from Interco. And you can see they're a whole lot more lumpy than these old stalkers.

Now, while they won't be as quiet and gentle on road, they'll definitely get you where you wanna go off road and that's exactly what we want.

You know, for years, Krager Wheels were synonymous with street rods and muscle cars. So with the increased popularity of trucks, it was only a matter of time until they came out with this brand new XL S series.

Now, before we show off the new stance of our Cherokee, there's a few things to bear in mind.

You may need to adjust your steering wheel. If you want to chew it up, you may need to adjust your transfer case linkage and your speedometer might be off a little bit depending on the size of tires you used.

Speaking of tires, the tar you go, the tar, your gear ratio is gonna be with these 31 inches. Our stock 355 only about 325 which is perfect for what we want. But before you hit the road or trail, don't forget to take it to an alignment shop to have your toe in adjusted after that tear into it like that bag of chips you just polished off. Listen, don't go away. We'll be back with more right after the break. Hey man, what you do with our bag of chips? I ate

the whole bag every last one

up next on trucks. The former king of NASCAR thinks he might know where some future Winston Cup stars are running right now. And one thing's for sure if you like watching them rub, you'll love watching them race.

The popularity of trucks has reached an all time high. In fact, in 1995 Ford's F series surpassed the Volkswagen Beetle as the world's best selling vehicle. Take that same Ford Chevy

or Dodge Ram truck body, wrap it around a racing chassis stuff, nearly 700 ponies under the hood and you're ready to drop the hammer at any track in the country

started the frail along with some of its biggest names from the past and present. And you got yourself a show. You know, it's the same as any of any of your Saturday night racing, but you got a bunch of Winston Cup cars with

pick up bodies on them. So it makes a heck of a show out of it if I'm correct, I think the bigger percentage of vehicles sold in the United States is pick up trucks. So

I think, you know, people can relate to them. I think they put on good races. I think we put on good races. Uh,

you know, it's just a great,

the NASCAR Craftsman truck series is the single most successful launch of a new series in the history of motor sports. And hey, why wouldn't it be? These guys are bringing a whole new meaning to the term tailgating averaging a mere 1.4 seconds between 1st and 2nd place in every race last season.

If you watch the California truck race or the Texas truck race or the Indianapolis truck race, how can you beat it? How can you beat the racing that's going on?

NASCAR has put something together with these truck series and making the, the Fords, the Dodger Chevrolet. So competitive anybody can win a race.

These trucks, these chassis that I run here are built on the same jigs that Jeff Gordon's car and uh

Terry

Leonie's car built on

all the same parts are on them.

The engines, you know, obviously they're different. These are nine to ones, but the horsepower is relatively close.

Uh These are two inches longer in a wheel based department.

It's basically a Winston Cup car with a pickup body on it

now, while the vehicles are important, it's the drivers, the fans come to see

in the Craftsman truck series, you have a choice of pulling for a young gun like Stacy Compton or a Cagey old veteran like Joe Rutman who twice finished third in the

Daytona 500.

Well, I think there's no question that the, uh, they were, they were kind of closing the lid on the casket, you know, and I'm,

I'm going, oh, my goodness. You know, my, my, my career is over and

then all of a sudden someone said something about NASCAR starting to race pickup trucks. And I go,

what a stupid idea, pickup trucks are. But I go, well, I'm unemployed so maybe I ought to give it a try. And

it just, it really blossomed into a great deal for me personally.

But also now, uh, they put on great races and the interest is really skyrocketed through the country.

It's not,

uh, uh, old timers here,

so to speak, but there are some older guys that are running well

and it also gives a young guy a place to come in and try to get some experience again. Uh, you know, this is a good, a good breeding ground for brand new drivers. They had never drove, uh, with the radio tires and all this kind of stuff. So, uh, you'll see probably a lot more new drivers coming in,

but regardless of who you want to see, take home the hardware, most of the races on the NCTS circuit cover less than 200 miles, which means you'll see a whole lot of paint getting swapped before the checkered flag drops,

ruins racing. And, uh, I've been rubbed and, and I, I dish it and take it.

But I think that's what the fans all about. You know, the fans like to see good close racing.

The fans are used to seeing good Saturday night race in their local deals, but when they get out there and see 3400 pounds of, uh, Chevrolet for

and dodge dicing it out

and anybody's gonna win this race and all of a sudden you see sparks flying and tire rubbing and, and fender been up. It's pretty exciting to watch a truck race. We run a lot of tracks where

it gets physical out there and, and, I mean, bottom line is, we know it, people like to see wrecks. I mean, it's bad to say we hope we're not involved but, um, people like to see wrecks. People like to see rubbing and racing and,

and uh the truck series right now I feel like is the most competitive uh as far as hard, hard nose racing

up next on trucks. We'll show you how to add durability as well as value to your pickup and all you need to do it is a paint brush.

Welcome back to the shop. You know, one of the hottest add ons for trucks these days is a bed liner, can either slide them in or paint them on. Of course, country singer Hal Ketchum built a wood bed for his 53 GMC. So he doesn't need one but our 94 range. And now that's another story, this is a real work truck with plenty of battle scars to prove it. So we're gonna go with a painted liner due to its corrosion resistance and incredible durability. Let's go ahead and take a look at the kit we're gonna use.

Now, the problem with painted on liners in the past is that you always had to take your truck somewhere to have it done. Not to mention they were expensive.

That's not the case with her

Kiner from old world industries. This kit comes with special textured rollers and handle, a paint brush for seams and corners, a scotch, bright pad for scuffing the surface and of course, a gallon of her

liner that covers about 60 square feet.

It's crucial to make sure the bed of your truck is clean. Don't assume it's clean unless you've done it yourself. Now, we like to use Trisodium phosphate or TSP. First, once your bed is clean, take your scotch bright pad and some Xylene and scuff the bed.

What this does is give the liner something to bond to.

Here's a quick tip. Don't use Lacquer or alcohol based cleaners or the liner won't stick

if you have holes or cracks in your bed. This would be a good time to seal them up. Best way to do that is with silicone,

make sure it's good and dry though before you apply the liner,

the most time consuming part of this project is taping everything off.

Now, that's important

because once her

liner dries, it's a pain to remove. Now we're gonna tape on the outside of our bed here, but you can do it any way you want.

You also wanna make sure to mass between the tailgate and the back of the bed. Otherwise you could have a nasty surprise. Waiting for you. When you lift your tailgate.

Before we apply the liner, we need to mix it up. So the rubber particles are suspended evenly and you can do this the old fashioned way with a stick or an old screwdriver. But

we strongly recommend getting one of these inexpensive paint mixers.

You'll need to apply two coats to the bed. The first of which is just a light cover coat after it's tacky or touch dry, go ahead and apply the second coat, make sure it's thick and even. And the nonskid rubber crumbs are showing

it's important to have proper ventilation when you do this project. Also let the second coat dry at least eight hours before you use the bed.

Well, there's little doubt for about 100 bucks. We not only have a liner that looks great but it'll provide years of protection from both the weather and heavy workloads.

Best of all, if it's ever damaged under heavy use,

it's repairable up next. Let's see what stace has for you in this week's quick tip.

One of the most important and useful tools in a shop is a floor jack. Unfortunately, they can wreak havoc on a nicely detailed undercarriage by chipping and marring the paint

easy way to avoid. This is take an old buffing pad and mount it down on the lifting cup. This will give you a cushion.

The jack handle is notorious for slipping down and hitting the fender of a nicely painted vehicle. This will make you cuss to avoid this.

Take a rag or an old sock,

grab some tape and tape it to the handle. I'll make sure you don't tape your finger there too.

A jack stand. They can also stand some attention in this area.

They'll take a piece of cardboard, cut it to the size of the head.

Grab that trusty tape again

and tape it down on there.

And what this will do

is give you a little bit of cushion

and the tape will provide a rough surface so the jack won't slip. Stay with us. We'll be back with truck gear after the break.

And now truck gear, parts, tools and equipment for pickups and sport utilities.

Welcome back to the show, everybody. It's time for this week's edition of Truck Gear. If you own a sport truck four by four SUV, and wanna upgrade the performance of your electronic automatic transmission B and M shift plus is the way to go.

It electronically improves the shift points and firmness of your tranny and let you change it while you drive shift. Plus also reduces heat and slippage, extending the life of your transmission. It's easy to connect just two wires and you're ready for the road shift. Plus goes for about 50 bucks won't affect your warning and is 50 state emissions legal.

One of the most important pieces for off road performance is the manual locking hub.

Unfortunately, they're also easy to grenade due to axle torque and any rocks you might hit.

Now, these hubs from super winch have a steel locking mechanism which is a lot stronger than stock installation is a single snap ring and six allen head bolts for 100 bucks. Your axles will thank you.

Finally, today, if you're anything like me keeping the carpet clean in your truck or SUV can be quite a challenge. What you see here is the losing end of an early morning bow with the cup of Joe. And while I may have lost the battle, I won't lose the war. Thanks to lifter one carpet stain remover,

just spray the soiled area, be it? Coffee tar ink or grease blot with an absorbent cloth. And without any scrubbing, you've knocked out your stain. A

14 ounce can runs about four bucks. Well, that's gonna do it for today's truck gear. Let's take a look at what Stacey and I have for you next week on trucks.

Stacey and I show you how to turn your pickup into a dump truck with a bolt on kit you can do in your own driveway.

We'll also take a look at a 96 Chevy Show truck complete with hydraulics and custom body work.

Then we'll quicken the pace on our classic 66 with a manifold and carburetor upgrade.

That's all next week on trucks.

Well, I'll tell you what they really did this interior, right? Didn't they Yeah, they did look at the stock gauges and they still work nice headliner too.

Hey, thanks for being with us. We'll see you next week on trucks.

Oh,

yeah, he's running the old Edelbrock manifold and carb.

Uh oh, look at that man stock exhaust

hal should know better than that. We'll need to put some hookers on here for him. Definitely. Look at this is

kicked down, is disconnected. We'll have to fix that. He's running the mallory ignition though. That's pretty true.

It's nice.

Air conditioning, power steering, power brakes.

He's not even gonna recognize this thing when we're done. Too many

out a chance, man. Yeah, I need a spark

rch. You wanna get that for me? Cool.

Oh,

yeah,

careful there. Big boy

knuckle buster. Every time

trucks is an RTM production.