Time to plan my lift

[Odinthor]

Okay so as much fun as OER was, it was no fun being the 'little guy' of the group; either everyone else took it down a notch to compensate for me, or I just parked the TJ and watched.

Andrews TJ especially is serving as an inspiration. Ive spent time today looking at various lifts in the 2.5" - 3" range, but Im not 100% on what I'm looking at and for. So, to start I guess I'll show what ive been looking at.

Quadratec 2.5"
http://www.quadratec.com/products/16400_0X32_PG.htm

Rough Country 2.5"
http://www.roughcountry.com/jeep-sus...kit-652-3.html

Phil pointed me to the BDS 3" kit
http://bds-suspension.com/product?ma...5&yr=1997-2002

and also suggested I replace the lower control arms front and rear. Obviously I would prefer to do this right the first time and not run into a "Fuck, I didnt buy a part I need to put this together" situation. I want to have it planned out and be able to pretty much complete it in one fell swoop.

[calvynandhobbs]

Out of those 3, I like the BDS kit. OME is also a quality kit.

[CumminsJeep]

Glad to see you're making moves! My kit is 100% Rough Country. Here is a list:

RC 2.5" kit with 2.2 shocks.
RC fixed lowers F/R (I wanted rubber bushings not flex joints)
RC front sway bar discos.
RC front track bar (the one with the bracket, not the ball joint style one).
Rear track bar bracket with factory track bar.

The only thing I want to upgrade is the upper control arms. I've been reading a lot of horror stories as these become the weak point and turning to a pretzel when you start pushing it a little.

The 3" BDS kit is more complete but it comes with a price tag. Unsure of ride quality between their springs and RC but I think mine rides pretty good for a short armed TJ. I would definitely get lower control arms and a legit front track bar on top of whatever kit you choose. For basic wheeling, the stock uppers should be fine. I did a factory replacement front track bar when I rebuilt this and it was smoked after 6 months. Oh and front sway bar disconnects are a good idea too.

I'm obviously going to say get the RC kit and do the add ons based on my experience. But the BDS kit is definitely the quality leader. Just depends on your budget.

[SupermanIce-J]

What size tires do you want to run???

here's My plan if i ever got a tj (not a kit but mix and match of quality stuffs)

1" h&r progressive rate springs
bilstien 5100's
1-1.5" body lift
undercoverfab tummy tuck or similar(hence body lift)
quality upper and lower CAs

Should be good for 33's (with bumpstops) with stock fenders or 35's with DIY hi-line and bumpstops.

with a 1" suspension lift and bilstiens your control arms will be basically at stock height so the ride should be TITTAYS!
With the tummy tuck you have as much or more clearance than you would with a suspension lift.(iirc it lifts the bottom of the transmission pan up about 2-2.5" over stock.)

here's the diy hi-lines and basically the same lift.

Here's mine, 1" coil spacers and 1" body lift. 35" mtr -plenty of room. Still working out the details, rocker guards to cover the fender edge...

heres one with a 3.5" lift but a fairly clean diy hi-line

[Odinthor]

Looking at the RC fixed Lowers on the site there (These ones) it says I need at least 4" of lift to use them...
Wut?

What size tires do you want to run???

Probably no bigger than 33" but for now im going to keep the 31s I have on there for as long as possible. They're great tires so Im probably going to run them bare.

For me the budget is the biggest sticking point. I went through the BDS kit and ended up with a $1136 price tag on it, (this is the kit I came up with0 vs a $927 cart full of the RC stuff Andrew listed (which, I went with the adjustable Lowers for the moment due to the above mentioned "wut?" so it could be even less) but of course, I dont want to skimp on something if I shouldnt. If the extra $200 is worth it then okay.

What about steering stabilizer?

[Pedro]

Not sure why it says up to 4". Andrews fixed length ones are fine at the 2.5". If budget is yur top priority, RC is the way to go. The only thing you're really getting different is coils and shocks. I couldn't imagine a white body shock, even from BDS, be any better than the RC 2.2s. So really just coils.

Also, am I the only one that thinks factory high lines look terrible?

[SupermanIce-J]

Also, am I the only one that thinks factory high lines look terrible?

Nope... But I think they they could definitely look better!!! Imagine a slider that covered the gap of the hi line and tied the factory fender flares into the slider...

My issue with Diy hi line vs. Aev hi line or tube fenders is
1. Cost

2. Tube fenders that actually cover the whole 12.5+" tire look like fucking wings on an air plane

Of course I live in Pa so tire coverage and street ability are key.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Odinthor]

Looks like RC is the path I'll go then.

[Pedro]

Lift on yet?

[kracker]

why not just build your own lift from ruff stuff? could be done fairly inexpensive !

[Odinthor]

No Peter, not even ordered yet. Gonna be after the 10th at the earliest, as thats when I expect to make enough $$$ to throw at a lift.

And why not build my own? Because I have no idea what I'm doing with that Plus I know and have seen the RC stuff; I trust it.

[Odinthor]

Aw yiiss...



IT HAS BEEN DONE.

[Pedro]

Pic no work

[HeavyMetal]

high failure rate detected

[Odinthor]

Meh. it was just a picture of the Order confirmation from Rough Country. No biggie. Ima write up a whole new Build Thread when we finish installing it.