What did I do???

Installed my 3.5 lift with new coilovers. Tried to lift the suspension with a jack to re seat the UCA and when lifting the suspension with a jack under the LCA , the whole truck lifts and suspension is not articulating. ???

 

Damn
I’m not the pro, but there’s some here, but they’ll probably want exact specs on components and pics.
GL

 

That’s how it works.
You need to bring the UCA down to the spindle.
Bringing the LCA up, brings the whole truck up.

 

The LCA isn't moving up at all I got the UCA attached now and still the same result,, it'll fall about an inch or so, and as I try to articulate the suspension it only goes up that inch or so then the whole truck moves up and the UCA and LCA aren't moving, but whole truck is going up.

 

After seeing the pictures, yes I second this. The UCA isn't attached to the shock assembly in a load bearing way like the LCA. So raising the LCA would raise the truck up like what happened to you.
Just bring the UCA down to the spindle as @TnShooter said. No big deal.

Once you throw the tire back on and put it on the ground you won't have as much sag from the UCA.

 

Normal for a 3.5 inch lift, usually its a bastard to connect the UCA or LCA with those lifts.

You now have loads of up travel and are limited to very little down travel.

With cheaper spacer lifts you have to pry down on UCA and up on LCA to get it to connect.

 

You could also undo the LBJ mount, bring the spindle up to the UCA, and then jack the LCA up to the spindle.

Also, you do have the control arm mounting bolts loose, right?
You an only tightened them once the weight of the truck is on the ground.

 

Drive it under load, IFS wont flex out like a solid axle

 

You installed a less than ideal suspension, and have the sway bar on to boot.

 

As mentioned. With my 2.5" really had to pry down on uca and up on lca. I think it's easier with swaybar loose and I ended up using the sway bar spacers.

 

the problem is you're basically at full droop with the 3.5 inch lift with a bunch of preload, I would adjust your coilovers to take some preload out and loosen the UCA and LCA and tighten them when they're under load so your bushings aren't in a bind.
basically loosen your UCA and bring it down to the spindle not the opposite.
good job on the UCA install they're a PITA with getting the bolt out.

 

I totally respect the knowledge you guys have, but anyone reading this (certainly including me) would take it as a foreign language. Unbelievable!

 

I have officially completed the install. Thank you all for your assistance, I was reading the comments while trying to get things installed. Wife arrived home and was able to assist.

The passenger side UCA Bolt was the worse, cause of this stupid extra piece of metal they welded on.

Once the tires were put on, it all gave in and we took her on a Test Drive,, its pleasing.

Set it to 4 for now, but tomorrow I think I'll try 1, than 8 just to see how each of the settings feel.

I know it's not the best of lift kits, but it's a start and now I know how to install everything and gained experiance and knowledge from y'all .

Already installed Dual Battery system, bumper, winch, and now the lift. Still planning Fenders, Extended Travel, Gears (5.29), Front and Rear lockers, and tires and wheels. Slow go but coming along.

Thanks again.

 

Sounds like you got it figured out!

Also make sure to check all your bolts again after driving a few hundred miles and bouncing around a bit. You'll probably have to re-torque some to spec. No big deal, it's SOP when installing a lift.