Is the Daystar 2.5 really that bad?

Been reading a lot of comments and im thinking of going the daystar route before we retrofit a coil over setup from toyota on the jeep. We have very little Kj support in South Africa and I dont really want to go the OME/EFS route as they only give about a 2inch lift with new struts and coils.

The problem I see with the day star is the spacers under the coils. Does this not cause a harsh ride? I lifted my forester with spacers blocks (essentially lengthening the strut) and not much changed apart from the ride height, would this not really be a better option?


In the meantime, I need to fit new rubber and was really wanting to go up to 245/75/16 from my current 245/70/16 and the lift should help with clearing the tires.

Would you run a Daystar lift on your Jeep?

I'm going to go against the usual current here and say the lift isn't terrible on its own.

I've had a Daystar lift (or one very very similar) on my 05 now for about 6.5 years and 30,000 miles. The shocks and springs were new Mopar ones at the time (it was all installed by the dealer to try to sell it since it had a ton of miles on it for a 1-year-old Liberty). I've been running 245/75's the whole time, and did some decent trips off road over the years. Today, I have skid plates, an ARB bumper, winch, a Hi-Lift jack on my bumper, and Skink sliders - that's a lot of added weight. And I am currently getting a ton of sag and it drives terrible. I am replacing everything in the coming weeks with an OME lift.

If you have sagged out suspension already, a spacer lift is only going to make it suck worse. You'll probably be very unhappy. You can't get good performance from bad existing suspension + a spacer lift. If that's the case, get a 'proper' lift kit with parts like OME springs and shocks. You'll not spend much more on a real lift vs. all new standard shocks and springs + a spacer lift anyway. If your suspension is GOOD now, however, the spacer lift might work for a few years.

In summary, if your current shocks and springs are fairly new and aren't sagged, the spacer lift may work for you. But if they are old or sagged, get a "real" lift kit since you'll need to put in new shocks and springs with a spacer lift anyway.

Cheers,
Jamie

IF
you have a brand new vehicle you could get by for 10,000 miles maybe
( have seen spacer lifts wear out UCAs in 5,000 miles )
used vehicle
wouldn't waste my time installing one
Me on my own vehicle, would NEVER waste my time or money on any spacer style lift
Why would you?

I realized I had about the exact same things to say about the Daystar a year ago:

http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f203/lift-kits-need-advice-51158/#post568428

Still holds true, but Tom brings up the X factor - time. You still have to tear apart everything to put the Daystar lift in, including the front coil overs. So ultimately if the suspension is not brand new or very close to new already, a spacer lift on your rig is probably going end up being money and time wasted very soon.

I've lost about an inch in lift all around in the one year and 5000 miles since that post and it's definitely riding terrible now, so if you want feedback from someone who has this sort of lift, I'd advise ponying up for a real lift from the get-go. I'm literally sitting on my OME lift just waiting to put it in once I have the remaining parts that I ordered.

stev0 said:

Been reading a lot of comments and im thinking of going the daystar route before we retrofit a coil over setup from toyota on the jeep. We have very little Kj support in South Africa and I dont really want to go the OME/EFS route as they only give about a 2inch lift with new struts and coils.

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You'll get closer to 3 to 3.5 inches of lift with an OME lift. The lift height given in OME's marketing states 1.5 inches due to insurance liability issues in Australia, the country of origin for OME. Use the OME 927 front/948 rear springs, a 1/4 inch top plate and 3/8 of an inch clevis lift in front and 2 rear upper isolators in the rear and you'll be 3.5 inches over stock.

The problem I see with the day star is the spacers under the coils. Does this not cause a harsh ride? I lifted my forester with spacers blocks (essentially lengthening the strut) and not much changed apart from the ride height, would this not really be a better option?

Click to expand...

As noted above by spideyrdr unless your suspension is brand new you'll HATE doing all the work for a worse ride.

In the meantime, I need to fit new rubber and was really wanting to go up to 245/75/16 from my current 245/70/16 and the lift should help with clearing the tires.

Click to expand...

Perfect choice!

Would you run a Daystar lift on your Jeep?

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Uh, NO!

Bob

What a neccessary thread. just what i wanted to ask. I feel happy to be a member of this forum. I had a stock 2002 3.7 kj limited with lpg. I had a 35 liter liquid petrol gas tank. I usualy drive with lpg, because lpg is half price than benzine. I mean it is heavier than the others. My mechanic offer to change the front shocks. as he said shocks are at the half time. I dont know when the shocks or springs had been changed.

In this situation, I think using daystar will be worse. I should get the OME's

baris said:

What a neccessary thread. just what i wanted to ask. I feel happy to be a member of this forum. I had a stock 2002 3.7 kj limited with lpg. I had a 35 liter liquid petrol gas tank. I usualy drive with lpg, because lpg is half price than benzine. I mean it is heavier than the others. My mechanic offer to change the front shocks. as he said shocks are at the half time. I dont know when the shocks or springs had been changed.

In this situation, I think using daystar will be worse. I should get the OME's

Click to expand...

You shoul be able to run any shocks upfront, but see if you can find the HD(heavy duty) coils. They should be able to hold the weight you require. I know in South Africa a lot have issues with the CRD and fitting a steel bumper due to the extra weight of the diesel and the bumper. More often than not they fit the 3.7 coils instead of the CRD ones.

stev0 said:

Been reading a lot of comments and im thinking of going the daystar route before we retrofit a coil over setup from toyota on the jeep. We have very little Kj support in South Africa ....

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Hey man. I'm from Venezuela and it's the same here, it's difficult to find good lift kits and are too expensive. I had the same question about Daystar spacers but didn't read or research too much about it and just bougth a pair of 1.5" front coil spacer online. I installed it and didn't like the ride. It was hard and the stock shocks were too short so it would bump really ******* the strut when driving on a bumpy road. So I tooked them off one week later.

It looked nice i liked it but the driving sucked. So I recommend you to lift it with a complete suspension lift kit. It's the right way to go.

This is how it looked like when it had the spacers.



I'm running 245/60 R16 with stock suspension.

http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/members...rty/4225-before-daystar-front-spacer-lift.jpg

Yayo0690 said:

Hey man. I'm from Venezuela and it's the same here, it's difficult to find good lift kits and are too expensive. I had the same question about Daystar spacers but didn't read or research too much about it and just bougth a pair of 1.5" front coil spacer online. I installed it and didn't like the ride. It was hard and the stock shocks were too short so it would bump really ******* the strut when driving on a bumpy road. So I tooked them off one week later.

Click to expand...

hate to tell you but front shocks are all the same length, its the Daystar spacers that caused you the problems you had, that and worn out springs/shocks

I'm running a spacer lift and its not bad. It gave me the lift I wanted to run 31s. But now I'm saving for new lift with new springs and shocks. And the best part is doing it this way I'm going to get an extra 2" of lift by doing it the right way