Please Verify My Potential Setup.

sprawlcowboy · May 19, 2014

Hello,

Recently purchased an '06 Jeep Liberty Renegade. Going to install a proper suspension lift. Used Search function. Found this setup:

Front Springs: OME927 ( HD)
Front Shocks: JBA-F4-BE5-D916-H0 ( Bilstein )
Front Bump Stops: JBA-TER1903200 ( TeraFlex 3" Bump Stop )

Rear Springs: OME948 ( Medium )
Rear Shocks: JBA-F4-BE5-D917-H0 ( Bilstein )
2 drilled out hockey pucks for rear bumpstops.

**NOTE: The Rear Shocks listed above were/are for a KJ of stock height and are a replacement for the stock rear shocks. The part that should've been purchased was the F4-BE5-6458-H7 series shock for my particular set up which was approximately 2.5" of lift.** (

I plan to install 245/75/16 tires as well with a little modification to the fender wells.

I totalled up cost of these components and total without shipping ended up being $699.68.

Plan is to simply install these parts and take it to get an alignment.

Is there anything I am missing?

JeepCoMJ · May 19, 2014

JBA a arms. That will rub without them

sprawlcowboy · May 19, 2014

JeepCoMJ said:
JBA a arms. That will rub without them

I've heard wheel spacers alleviate that concern. Despite the added stress on the bearings, is that a valid option?

Hedsic · May 19, 2014

Add a little more lift for your buck and toss in a .5" clevis spacer on each side along with a top plate. A-arms would not be specifically a MUST but it will help with rubbing and getting the allighment matched back up to how it should be. It would be highly recommended you go with the upgraded UCA's just to prevent those issues and to have it done while you already have everything apart down there.

Personaly for front and rear shocks I'd go with Ironman over BIlstein. N othing against Bilstein, I'm running their shocks in the rear but if was able to go back and chose again I'd probably just go with Ironman all the way around

John3seventeen · May 19, 2014

I'm not sure he needs the A arms he doesn't have a top plate and clevis listed. The A arms help with alignment and coil spring clearance when using clevis and top plate.

sprawlcowboy · May 19, 2014

Is there a particular advantage of running a top plate and clevis spacer?

Seems like with the addition of those two items, comes the necessity of the A-Arms, which increases cost quite a bit compared to not including those items.

Hedsic · May 19, 2014

Well with or without the top plate/spacer it's recommended you get the UCA's but you don't have to. It will just help with allignment etc. the top plate and clevis spacer will give you more lift on top of what you are already going to gain from the springs. Now the higher you go the more needed the afternmarket UCA's are going to be obviously.

My 2 cents would be to go with the UCA's on top of it all. I know it's an extra like $350 or whatever those things cost these days but it's well worth it.

JeepCoMJ · May 19, 2014

The change in geometry will eventually wear out the upper ball joints. You may get by without, but you will already have it apart, so why would you want to do it twice

tommudd · May 19, 2014

Advantages of going with extra lift ( i.e. top plate and clevis) is more lift and no issues running 245-75-16s.
NOW with that said I would do the springs as listed, use Ironman shocks ( better fitment in the rear, with Bilstien you have to use a sleeve for proper fitment ) use a top plate which would give you 3 inches of lift in front . Now with that you wouldn't need to get the UCAs, you wouldn't have to do anything to the fenderwells etc , knock over the pinch weld possibly would be all. In the rear add one extra upper isolator , (2) per side hockey pucks and done. If you ever wanted more lift easy to add a clevis / UCAs etc

sprawlcowboy · May 19, 2014

tommudd said:
Advantages of going with extra lift ( i.e. top plate and clevis) is more lift and no issues running 245-75-16s.
NOW with that said I would do the springs as listed, use Ironman shocks ( better fitment in the rear, with Bilstien you have to use a sleeve for proper fitment ) use a top plate which would give you 3 inches of lift in front . Now with that you wouldn't need to get the UCAs, you wouldn't have to do anything to the fenderwells etc , knock over the pinch weld possibly would be all. In the rear add one extra upper isolator , (2) per side hockey pucks and done. If you ever wanted more lift easy to add a clevis / UCAs etc

Rear isolators I've been successful in finding. I'm not certain what to search for in terms of "top plate." Not much is coming up.

Hedsic · May 19, 2014

Here you go

Strut spacer plate set

tommudd · May 19, 2014

JeepCoMJ said:
The change in geometry will eventually wear out the upper ball joints. You may get by without, but you will already have it apart, so why would you want to do it twice

While true the extra height will possibly wear out the upper ball joints sooner,.... if the OP stays at 3 or below the likely hood is much less. Mine ran over 70,000 miles before there was such things as aftermarket UCAs and JBA etc. Did just fine and when I swaped to the 1st Generation JBA arms I installed the old arms on an unlifted KJ with only 55,000 miles and wornout UCAs.
Now when up in the 3.5 inch to 4 and above of course they are much needed item

sprawlcowboy · May 19, 2014

Thank you all very much. I believe I'll budget for all of the parts suggested in this post by order of necessity, with UCAs toward the end of the build.

TwoBobsKJ · May 20, 2014

sprawlcowboy said:
Thank you all very much. I believe I'll budget for all of the parts suggested in this post by order of necessity, with UCAs toward the end of the build.

I ran mine with the setup you're planning for about 20,000 miles before I put in the JBA upper control arms. The only difference between my setup and what you're doing is I put the JBA 1/4" top plates in at the beginning. I'd suggest you do the top plates when you do the rest of the suspension since you'll have it all apart anyway. If you want to add more lift later when you add the UCA's then you can add 2" conduit nuts to the bottom of the shocks - each 1/8" nut gives you 1/4" of lift. So two conduit nuts will lift you up 1/2" - and your lift will settle a bit as you drive and especially if you take it off-road and twist things up a bit :waytogo: Once you see how easy it is to take the front suspension apart you'll feel confident in adding the conduit nuts when the time is right.

It would have been nice to add the JBA control arms to mine at the beginning because the occasional contact between the UCA and the coil spring was irritating - but the a-arms weren't in the budget. Both kids were still in college at the time so the arms had to wait. I thought I'd be able to really ramp up the mods now that they're out on their own but my daughter just got engaged - so now a wedding will take precedence over the Black Beauty upgrades. That's OK though - she's marrying a great guy who likes Jeeps :happy107:

You're on the right track so keep asking questions and we'll help you with your lift!

Bob

sprawlcowboy · May 20, 2014

TwoBobsKJ said:
I ran mine with the setup you're planning for about 20,000 miles before I put in the JBA upper control arms. The only difference between my setup and what you're doing is I put the JBA 1/4" top plates in at the beginning. I'd suggest you do the top plates when you do the rest of the suspension since you'll have it all apart anyway. If you want to add more lift later when you add the UCA's then you can add 2" conduit nuts to the bottom of the shocks - each 1/8" nut gives you 1/4" of lift. So two conduit nuts will lift you up 1/2" - and your lift will settle a bit as you drive and especially if you take it off-road and twist things up a bit :waytogo: Once you see how easy it is to take the front suspension apart you'll feel confident in adding the conduit nuts when the time is right.

It would have been nice to add the JBA control arms to mine at the beginning because the occasional contact between the UCA and the coil spring was irritating - but the a-arms weren't in the budget. Both kids were still in college at the time so the arms had to wait. I thought I'd be able to really ramp up the mods now that they're out on their own but my daughter just got engaged - so now a wedding will take precedence over the Black Beauty upgrades. That's OK though - she's marrying a great guy who likes Jeeps :happy107:

You're on the right track so keep asking questions and we'll help you with your lift!

Bob

That's the plan. Going to go with the top plates, pucks, springs, shocks and ISOs. Going to install that set up once all parts are acquired and then slowly save for the UCAs. With a little searching I was able to find a local company with a decent reputation that can do suspension lifts and alignments so I think I'm good there.

I've been weighing the pros and cons of getting the lift first or tires first. I've read conflicting reports that 245/75/16, under normal driving conditions and not under full lock (my typical driving style), will have very minimal rub. My thoughts are, if I get the lift first, would it be possible to then get 265/75/16?

Another question, does the liberty look.....off with a lift on stock 235s?

tjkj2002 · May 20, 2014

sprawlcowboy said:
I've been weighing the pros and cons of getting the lift first or tires first. I've read conflicting reports that 245/75/16, under normal driving conditions and not under full lock (my typical driving style), will have very minimal rub. My thoughts are, if I get the lift first, would it be possible to then get 265/75/16?

Another question, does the liberty look.....off with a lift on stock 235s?

245/75's will rub like crazy un-lifted.You will need at least 3.5"+ of lift and 16x7 rims with 4"-4.5" of back spacing to run 265/75's and some trimming and the pinchweld mount will need to be pounded over.Then you need to re-gear to 4.10's.

sprawlcowboy · May 20, 2014

tjkj2002 said:
245/75's will rub like crazy un-lifted.You will need at least 3.5"+ of lift and 16x7 rims with 4"-4.5" of back spacing to run 265/75's and some trimming and the pinchweld mount will need to be pounded over.Then you need to re-gear to 4.10's.

If that is the case, if I was to go tires first, and did not plan on purchasing wheels in the foreseeable future, could some Spidertrax spacers alleviate the rub somewhat?

Hedsic · May 20, 2014

Here is how mine looked with 4" lift on stock tires.

As far as the spacers. If you put a larger tire on and spacers with zero lift you will actually have more problems and more rubbing. Don't do it.

You must be registered for see images attach

sprawlcowboy · May 20, 2014

Hedsic said:
Here is how mine looked with 4" lift on stock tires.

As far as the spacers. If you put a larger tire on and spacers with zero lift you will actually have more problems and more rubbing. Don't do it.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

Ok. Think I'll go with the lift, then 245/75s, then UCAs down the line. Sounds like a plan.

sprawlcowboy · May 20, 2014

Interesting findings. Not thinking it warrants another thread:

So the front strut assemblies look to be my biggest hurdle.

With the new springs, using a set of Advance Auto spring compressors looks to be not the brightest/safest move. Is it recommended to have them assembled at a shop with proper tools? If so, that also adds to build cost. What might something like that cost?

Please Verify My Potential Setup.

Full Access Member

Full Access Member

Full Access Member

Full Access Member

Full Access Member

Full Access Member

Full Access Member

Full Access Member

Moderator

Full Access Member

Full Access Member

Moderator

Full Access Member

Full Access Member

Full Access Member

Full Access Member

Full Access Member

Full Access Member

Full Access Member

Full Access Member

Similar threads