By this time, it was about April I think. I had been offroading alot with my friends and their Jeeps and couldn't wait to get my license so I could drive with them. Experience showed me that ground clearance was key while offroading. The one useful thing I did to the Jeep was to lift it. I bought a ProComp stage 1 2.5" suspension lift which included poly bushings, new U-bolts and degree wedges to adjust the pinion angles (which have many uses as I'll point out later). I also bought Rancho RS5000 shocks (cause shocks weren't included in the ProComp kit) and a Skyjacker steering stabilizer.

About a week after I ordered it, the kit was at my door. I madly opened it to see my awesome lift kit. Then, my stomach sank as I realized that I have absolutely no idea how this thing is gonna go on my Jeep. It sat in the corner of my garage for 3 weeks while I did other things.

Finally, the day of my license was approaching and I decided it was time to lift the Jeep so I could offroad ASAP. My friend MJ and I managed to jack it up, remove the drivers side rear tire and unbolt a shock in about an hour. MAN! This is gonna take forever I remember thinking to myself - or out loud, whatever. Well, upon attempting to remove the shock, it wouldn't budge and we wound up having to cut it in half and remove it in sections by twisting each piece from its mount.

Around 11, my friends JT and Hall arrived to help out and yes, we definitely needed help. JT had lifted his 87 Wrangler so at least he knew what the hell he was doing. It turns out that U-bolts are a BITCH to remove on an old Jeep and we just weren't having luck getting them off that night. So we switched to the other side and jacked it up. Upon removing the shock, the reason why the Jeep's ride sucked was because the rear passenger shock was gone - Yep, it was missing. COOOOL, I thought...

The next day, Hall came over with a Sawzall and we cut off the rear U-bolts and removed the old springs. My only problem with the installation was that the poly bushings were too damn wide and had to be trimmed a bit to fit. After taking a projectile piece of poly bushing to my eye, we finished up the rearend with no problems. We started the front that night but we didn't get too far.

The next day I got my license! Well gee, I just had to finish up the lift so we could offroad - it didn't get done. The U-bolts in the front had NO clearance to be cut off and I wound up driving the Jeep to my mechanic so he could finish up the lift with his AIR TOOLS (I'm jealous).

I got the Jeep back 3 days later I think. It rode a little bit better but it was DEFINITELY better than JTs lift. The Jeep was really high now and I was ready for offroading!

OH, I did manage to install the steering stabilizer without a problem. All thats involved with that is jacking up the front and removing two bolts, taking off the old stabilizer and replacing it! Easy, huh?