Lift w/o upgrading tires

[jeepkj02]

I really want to lift my Jeep....but don't want to spend $$$ on bigger tires when the ones I have a still new. Last night, I put a floor jack under the skid and jacked it up 2.5", I really don't think it looked bad with 235/70 tires. I took a picture:

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What do you think?? I'm thinking of using the following:

Front: 1.50" OME Springs + 5/8" Clevis Lift + 3/4" Poly Spacer - 3/4" Pre-lowered = 2-1/8"
Rear: 1.75" OME Springs + 1/2" Iso Pad (2) - 3/4" Pre-lowered = 2.00"

....with Rancho shocks all around.

EDIT: Just read this on Rocky's site: "..Thus when fitted to a late model KJ, one would receive approx. 40mm (1.5") of lift. When fitted to an early model, one would receive approx. 20mm (3/4") lift." Since my suspension has 70K+ miles on it, I don't know if it is still considered "pre-lowered" at this point, because of all the sagging. I measured about 13.5" at the rear pinch-weld. What does everyone else measure?

 

[Mick]

I've been considering the same thing, keeping my 235/70/16s with only 10k miles. I've been looking at rusty's springs and the OMEs. What are your reasons for leaning toward the OMEs? I asked a similar question a while back and jeepjeepster posted some pics of his with 235/65/17's and with 245/65/17's http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32457. His 235/65/17 is the same size as our 235/70/16. With your black rims I don't think yours would look as small as jeepjeepster's shiny chrome ones; think it would just be a perception thing.

 

[K Dje Ryu]

OME springs come in three different spring rates. All of which are stiffer than Rusty's coils (Med and heavy work well for aftermarket bumpers, I hear). I like my soft ride, though. And I feel like the body of the Jeep tips less when going over an obstacle, myself, especially with the sway-bar disco'd. If I ever get around to getting a rear bumper, I'll probably get a pair of OME coils for the back but for now, I love what I got.

 

[jeepkj02]

What are your reasons for leaning toward the OMEs?

I wanted OME because of the higher spring rate, but they are only 1.5", but because I'm pre-lowered I would only get a 3/4" lift. I want a 2-2.5" lift. If I put Rusty's 3/4" Poly Spacer and a 5/8" clevis, that would net me 2-1/8".

 

[VTNomad]

Tire

With that lift you could only fit 245/75/16's. There's only about a 1.5" difference in height. Stick with your 235's.

 

[Lewii]

I lifted my KJ with the 2" Revtek kit. I kept the factory tires on till they wore out and bought 8.45-75's to replace them. The factory tires didn't look too awful, but I will admit I bought new ones a little sooner than I normally would have...

 

[Lewii]

oops, typo, should have read 245-75's....

 

[tommudd]

go OMEs much better than Rustys in the long run

 

[J-Thompson]

HA HA
I think that tommudd and I have posted the same thing in every lift topic

just to clear things up
the spec on the OME stuff is based off of stock NEW jeep not one that is 5 years old
when we did our KJ it had about 38K on it and was 3 1/2 years old
we gained 2-2 1/2" with just going OME med all around and it sits fairly level
It still clear the 245/75's just fine and it is near 50K so about 12k on lift
it is noticably higher than some one local running the full rustys coil lift
although he has a few more miles and a few more off road trips on his it is still not looking good

you will get what you pay for
oh yeah and as far as running lift with stock tires
we did it for like 6 months and it looked fine
looks 100X better on the MTR's

 

[wildrussian]

I got Rustys coil lift with the factory tires and it looks like a roller skate but its not really that bad. I can see a lot of my fender well I only have 37000 on mine so it still will be a little while before the new tires come.

 

[LibertyFever]

Am I wrong to say that when you put a lift on a Libby you're actually increasing the clearance under the front axle but not under the rear?

Please correct me if I'm wrong.


Most people I know with YJ's & TJ's get lifts so they can run much bigger tires thus increasing their clearance under their axles.

 

[K Dje Ryu]

Am I wrong to say that when you put a lift on a Libby you're actually increasing the clearance under the front axle but not under the rear?

Please correct me if I'm wrong.


Most people I know with YJ's & TJ's get lifts so they can run much bigger tires thus increasing their clearance under their axles.

That's correct. You gain about half the lift height or so under the front but, you really don't want to be putting obstacles under that area, anyway. Always under the tires. You're also allowing room for larger tires, as well, which is where you'll gain the most clearance.