well I did sort of the same thing I just took a floor jack and got the edge of the key right on the edge of the jack and after messing with for like 15 mins I got both of them on. I don't know how much lift I got yet I measured before the lift It was at 9 1/2 inches and after I cranked the bars some and got up to like 11" but the is only about a 1" of thread on top of the crossmember. So can I go more and am I measuring this right? I measure at the 2 points on the lower control arm.