HRG Lift Caution

[Rawah652]

I recently had some issues as well with clunking and found out that my lower control arm bolts had completely come off one wheel , the clunking was the control arm hanging lose and there was significant loosening on the other wheels. Trying to figure out if this was an install issue or loosening as the suspension settled. Any advice would be appreciative

If you had someone install your kit for you, they may have (for some unknown reason) loosened or removed those bolts as well during the install. However, previous poster is correct in that they are not required to be touched during the lift kit install (at least the 1.5'" lift- I'm not sure about their newer 2.5 inch one).

It is ALWAYS good practice to do a torque check on all your suspension bolts 50 miles after any install or major maintenance. Since you probably have to take your tire off to do this, follow it up with another torque check on the lug nuts 50 miles after that.

I wish I had followed my own advice on this- after I took my vehicle in for alignment, I told the tech that the camber on the front could be adjusted with the bolts that came with my lift kit. Apparently he loosened both bolts, but only re-tightened the adjustable one. I heard some weird intermittent clunking on the left side driving to the hardware store one day, didn't see anything obvious in the parking lot, heard a pop and the clunking again on the drive home. Decided to take the wheel off to check everything- turns out I was missing the nut on the factory bolt connecting the shock to the knuckle. Couldn't believe it. Checked the splines on the bolt and knuckle, doesn't appear that any damage was caused to the knuckle itself (luckily the bolt head was still flush and hadn't started working it's way out yet). Checked the right side of the car, and the same nut was loose, but at least wrench tight. Somewhat heart stopping considering I had driven 1000+ miles with it, and taken it on some very technical off-road excursions after the alignment. Guess it's just a little testament to the durability of the vehicle. And definitely a check in the "things to never not do again" column.

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[Victorsen]

If you had someone install your kit for you, they may have (for some unknown reason) loosened or removed those bolts as well during the install. However, previous poster is correct in that they are not required to be touched during the lift kit install (at least the 1.5'" lift- I'm not sure about their newer 2.5 inch one).

It is ALWAYS good practice to do a torque check on all your suspension bolts 50 miles after any install or major maintenance. Since you probably have to take your tire off to do this, follow it up with another torque check on the lug nuts 50 miles after that.

I wish I had followed my own advice on this- after I took my vehicle in for alignment, I told the tech that the camber on the front could be adjusted with the bolts that came with my lift kit. Apparently he loosened both bolts, but only re-tightened the adjustable one. I heard some weird intermittent clunking on the left side driving to the hardware store one day, didn't see anything obvious in the parking lot, heard a pop and the clunking again on the drive home. Decided to take the wheel off to check everything- turns out I was missing the nut on the factory bolt connecting the shock to the knuckle. Couldn't believe it. Checked the splines on the bolt and knuckle, doesn't appear that any damage was caused to the knuckle itself (luckily the bolt head was still flush and hadn't started working it's way out yet). Checked the right side of the car, and the same nut was loose, but at least wrench tight. Somewhat heart stopping considering I had driven 1000+ miles with it, and taken it on some very technical off-road excursions after the alignment. Guess it's just a little testament to the durability of the vehicle. And definitely a check in the "things to never not do again" column.

 

[Victorsen]

Thank you this is exactly what happened to me. It felt unreal again thankfully no major damage to the vehicle. All the clunking I heard with the 1.5 lift has now disappeared so possible now I feel these bolts were never tightened or somehow loosened.

 

[Victorsen]

Thank you this is exactly what happened to me. It felt unreal again thankfully no major damage to the vehicle. All the clunking I heard with the 1.5 lift has now disappeared so possible now I feel these bolts were never tightened or somehow loosened.

I also wanted to add that after everything was checked and tightened all my issues I had with the hrg has disappeared no jitter or hard impacts the car is handling real well. So I can say the hrg 1.5 is a really good product. I just had an incompetent shop install it that led to my issues.

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