4 inch lift vs 2.5

[kj04libby]

So I have the worst lift possible on my KJ. A spring spacer in the rear and a strut compressor in the front. It was $120 shipped to my house for 2 inches so I was happy. I've yet to have sag but I know it's soon to come so I've been wanting to do it right! I Originally priced a 2.5 OME lift and buying the parts from a few different places online it was going to be $564.64 all shipped to my house. It included two struts two shocks and 4 OME slings from JBA. I was so happy with this. But I was just pricing stuff and it's $543.31 shipped to my home for a 4 inch lift. Including JBA 4 inch rear springs, JBA y link extension, Ironman springs and the strut I was going to use in the 2.5 inch lift. I will use my .5 inch homemade top plate and the clevis spacers I just bought thanks to TwoBobsKJ informing about. The way I'm lifting the front is basically based on the econo lift.

So please let me hear the criticism about this discovery lol

 

[4x4kayak2112]

I'd say do it

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[kj04libby]

Thanks man I really wanted this much lift and didn't realize it wasn't "that" hard. Just wanted some type of input from other KJ owners. Really appreciate the feedback!

 

[TwoBobsKJ]

So I have the worst lift possible on my KJ. A spring spacer in the rear and a strut compressor in the front. It was $120 shipped to my house for 2 inches so I was happy. I've yet to have sag but I know it's soon to come so I've been wanting to do it right! I Originally priced a 2.5 OME lift and buying the parts from a few different places online it was going to be $564.64 all shipped to my house. It included two struts two shocks and 4 OME slings from JBA. I was so happy with this. But I was just pricing stuff and it's $543.31 shipped to my home for a 4 inch lift. Including JBA 4 inch rear springs, JBA y link extension, Ironman springs and the strut I was going to use in the 2.5 inch lift. I will use my .5 inch homemade top plate and the clevis spacers I just bought thanks to TwoBobsKJ informing about. The way I'm lifting the front is basically based on the econo lift.

So please let me hear the criticism about this discovery lol

So are you talking about the TomMudd EconoLift package? Cuz that's a bit more than $540 shipped - more like $1300. There is no kit or group of components with the brands you mentioned that is less than $600 though the Ironman is close and would be a very good choice.

You can piece together OME springs and Bilstein shocks from different suppliers and often get free shipping (ShockWarehouse.com, AutoAnything.com, etc) but you'll still be around the $650 to $700 mark.

Maybe clarify what you're looking at. But your idea is a great one - will REALLY improve the ride characteristics of your Liberty - especially after you put that front swaybar back on arty52:

Bob

 

[Hedsic]

If you do the lift using Ironman parts and keep it close to the Econo (Ironman front spring/shock. Billstein rear shock and JBA rear spring) and JBA Y link you are looking at around $804.00 give or take plus whatever shipping would be for 4" (from JBA anyway). That's cutting out any top plates/clevis spacers and UCA's etc.

 

[kj04libby]

Let's clear things up lol. I'm using procomp rear shocks that my buddy got with his lift kit for his Durango. They aren't the greatest but they're new and free to me lol. My front struts are Monroe sensa trac struts which are somewhere around 130 shipped. I know Monroe isn't the best either and I'm not claiming that they are lol. This is what I'm getting from JBA

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[kj04libby]

especially after you put that front swaybar back on arty52:

Bob

Already back on lol

 

[Hedsic]

Let's clear things up lol. I'm using procomp rear shocks that my buddy got with his lift kit for his Durango. They aren't the greatest but they're new and free to me lol. My front struts are Monroe sensa trac struts which are somewhere around 130 shipped. I know Monroe isn't the best either and I'm not claiming that they are lol. This is what I'm getting from JBA
http://s1279.photobucket.com/user/k...hot_2013-05-24-14-16-55_zpsae71154c.png.html]

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[kj04libby]

Sorry, I was just pricing what you put in your first post that you was getitng which included the shocks and springs so that is why I came up with a much higher figure.

No No lol it's not a big deal I didn't clarify what I already had vs what I was buying. Knowing the whole story now, what do you think about the 4" lift I've pieced together? Other than control arms Which I will get eventually (I'm a college students that works at subway so I can'tbuy everything at once lol)

 

[dude1116]

Won't the shocks (not struts) that you've chosen cause some pretty bad wear and tear on the perfectly good coils you're buying? Pretty sure they'll wear out a lot faster. Waste of money in my opinion (then again, I'm not even lifted yet. Just saying that's not what I'm going to do when I do mine).

 

[Hedsic]

Are the Procomp rear shocks longer? Not sure if they would work with 4" of lift. I know some people running them with 2.5" or so.

Should work but I wouldn't expect it to last very long or be the best ride would be my guess. Like stated before you run the risk of ruining the springs whic could end up costing you more down the road.

I know you said with the job you can't just fork out a bunch of money. Honestly what I would do is buy those parts and hold on to them. You could go with OME or Ironman/Billstein shocks but just buy the parts as you go. Might take a few months of buying one shock here and one there but I think in the long run you will be much happier you did that. Than when you got the shocks put it all on together and not run the risk of ruining the springs or something else. With 4" (just a little under probably) I would highly recommend some upgraded UCA's when you can afford it as well.

 

[kj04libby]

Won't the shocks (not struts) that you've chosen cause some pretty bad wear and tear on the perfectly good coils you're buying? Pretty sure they'll wear out a lot faster. Waste of money in my opinion (then again, I'm not even lifted yet. Just saying that's not what I'm going to do when I do mine).

They're the same length as OME struts So I'm not worried about them messing up my coils (I call the shock that goes in the actual strut assembly a strut sorry lol)

 

[kj04libby]

Are the Procomp rear shocks longer? Not sure if they would work with 4" of lift. I know some people running them with 2.5" or so.

Should work but I wouldn't expect it to last very long or be the best ride would be my guess. Like stated before you run the risk of ruining the springs whic could end up costing you more down the road.

I know you said with the job you can't just fork out a bunch of money. Honestly what I would do is buy those parts and hold on to them. You could go with OME or Ironman/Billstein shocks but just buy the parts as you go. Might take a few months of buying one shock here and one there but I think in the long run you will be much happier you did that. Than when you got the shocks put it all on together and not run the risk of ruining the springs or something else. With 4" (just a little under probably) I would highly recommend some upgraded UCA's when you can afford it as well.

They're procomp shocks came from a Durango 3" lift kit and my buddy ran a type of coil over shock.. shock lol it's weird and I don't know if I'm explaining it right but point being he didn't need The shock that came with the kit

 

[TwoBobsKJ]

Are the Procomp rear shocks longer? Not sure if they would work with 4" of lift. I know some people running them with 2.5" or so.

Should work but I wouldn't expect it to last very long or be the best ride would be my guess. Like stated before you run the risk of ruining the springs whic could end up costing you more down the road.

I know you said with the job you can't just fork out a bunch of money. Honestly what I would do is buy those parts and hold on to them. You could go with OME or Ironman/Billstein shocks but just buy the parts as you go. Might take a few months of buying one shock here and one there but I think in the long run you will be much happier you did that. Than when you got the shocks put it all on together and not run the risk of ruining the springs or something else. With 4" (just a little under probably) I would highly recommend some upgraded UCA's when you can afford it as well.

Now that I understand what is being put together I completely agree with Hedsic.

I did the same thing - I bought the springs in one transaction, the shocks in another, and the isos and top plate in a third. Once everything arrived I installed the lift.

Those shocks on the front will kill the Ironman springs - you'll have too much jouncing creating excessive stress and wearing them out way ahead of their scheduled service life. It just won't be the kind of lift you want - with the type of control a good set of shocks will provide.

And double-check the length of those rear shocks. Compare them to shocks for a 2003 Dakota 4X4.

Bob

 

[kj04libby]

Now that I understand what is being put together I completely agree with Hedsic.

I did the same thing - I bought the springs in one transaction, the shocks in another, and the isos and top plate in a third. Once everything arrived I installed the lift.

Those shocks on the front will kill the Ironman springs - you'll have too much jouncing creating excessive stress and wearing them out way ahead of their scheduled service life. It just won't be the kind of lift you want - with the type of control a good set of shocks will provide.

And double-check the length of those rear shocks. Compare them to shocks for a 2003 Dakota 4X4.

Bob

What about these?

Rancho RS5000 Front Strut

 

[TheBlueKJ]

What about these?

Rancho RS5000 Front Strut

It's not a strut assembly it's a coilover shock. And those Ranchos are a poor choice to put in the coilover assembly. Use bilstien or OME inside the coilover as they are a better shock and you won't have to replace them as soon as you would with the Rancho. Now for the rear go ahead and use the Ranchos because that's what I'm doing. They are much easier to change once they go bad in the rear then in the front.

 

[TwoBobsKJ]

What about these?

Rancho RS5000 Front Strut

I've got a better deal for you:

Bilstein HD front shocks - $10 cheaper and free shipping from ShockWarehouse.com.

If those Durango shocks don't work out you can get the same free shipping deal from Shock Warehouse for the rear. But since the rear is so much easier to switch out than the front you have more flexibility to make changes back there.

You're getting closer!

Bob

 

[kj04libby]

It's not a strut assembly it's a coilover shock. And those Ranchos are a poor choice to put in the coilover assembly. Use bilstien or OME inside the coilover as they are a better shock and you won't have to replace them as soon as you would with the Rancho. Now for the rear go ahead and use the Ranchos because that's what I'm doing. They are much easier to change once they go bad in the rear then in the front.

Coil overs are adjustable. Jeep liberties have struts. I got laughed at when I said coil over shocks at the local ORC.

 

[WickedBruce]

Coil overs are adjustable. Jeep liberties have struts. I got laughed at when I said coil over shocks at the local ORC.

Wrong. Struts do not use an upper control arm. Therefore, we have shocks

 

[TwoBobsKJ]

Wrong. Struts do not use an upper control arm. Therefore, we have shocks

X2

A MacPherson strut, for instance, only has a lower control arm. The strut structure functions as the upper control arm with a spring on the outer portion with a shock contained inside.

Our Liberty has both an upper and lower control arm with a shock contained within the spring. Bolts go through a top plate attached to the upper part of the shock and are attached to the unibody. A spring perch on the bottom portion of the shock contains the spring between it and the top plate; the bottom of the shock connects to the lower control arm with a clevis. All these components make the assembly in the Liberty a coilover shock.

Yes, some places/sites call it a strut but it is not. As tjkj2002 says, if it can be driven without the shock and coilover spring then it is a shock. If the vehicle cannot be driven with the spring/damping component removed then it is a strut.

Bob