Spacer Lift will be your doom!

[JeepJeepster]

Al's arms are not necessary. What are you worried about? What problems are you having with the lift? Just the fact that its so high? That lift is known for that and thats the way it was made.. To be the highest lift.. O

 

[Eddo]

It ***** to have that happen, the same is happening to me and as soon as I can get a response from Al I will be ordering the new arms.

The thing is you can't put blame on an OTT lift. If you put some actual 3thought into it you would understand that all lifts are going to extend the upper arm downward and closer to the spring. Any bottoming out on any lift will cause contact with the UBJ and the spring.

Actually that is incorrect. When the suspension droops the upper a-arm falls into the spring. In stock form the strut is what prevent the suspension from drooping so far that UBJ contact is made. The max extension of the strut is what prevents further droop. Most lifts only include slightly longer struts, but taller springs to provide the lift. The strut still keeps the shorter enough to prevent the suspension to droop far enough into the spring. Yes, a lift will place the upper control arm closer to the spring, but it should be stopped by the limiting length of the struts extension.

Lifts such as the OTT place a spacer on top of the strut assembly and push the strut assembly further down. This allows the suspension to droop further and thus the contact is made. Other lifts such as the Frankenlift use a different top plate that place the upper mounting point for the strut lower to increase droop and relieve some strut pretension. This creates the same problem as with UBJ contact and the spring as described above.

The UBJ contact can be fixed with a lower bumpstop that is shown in corywn's picture of the daystar lift. It is the small polyurethane square strapped to the bottom of the strut.

The issue with the OTT style lifts is they do not incorporate the lower bump stop or provide one. They really need too. The other issue with the OTT kits is bottoming out the strut (not over extension) which is a little different.

The Frankenlift does have the lower extension bumpstop. However is recent revision it did not function properly and therefore they when back to the old system. That is why there is mention of the UBJ contact with the Frankenlift by some folks. Also, sometimes All-J does not tight the clamp down tight enough and the bumpstop slides off. I've seen that happen on two KJs.

Double post! I'm just messing with you. Anyways, I guess I've got too used to dealing with trucks and that with the lifts. I've known many people with full size trucks who lifted them and could forget about it becuase everything worked out perfectly. I guess it's a "Jeep Thing". Anyways, I kinda wished I had known that it really required all of this to be an effective kit. I wouldnt have done it. I was already under the impression that the stuff like the A-Arms and greasable ball joints were an option, not a necessity.

Good point. The Frankenlift is a good kit but has a few issues. High quality parts, but due to it height (yes they all say 2.5" but its more like a almost 3.5" for most) and different top plate you run into some issues. They can be addressed rather easily if you understand the suspension geometry. However, I really don't think the Frankelift is the set and forget, suspension fix either. The little red extension bumpstop work, but you need to make sure they are thigh and keep an eye on them. Also the additional height makes alignment to factory spec a little difficult without new upper a-arms. Plus CVs can be a little steep for some.

A kits such as Rusty's Spring kit does not have any of those problems. The struts are just slightly longer than stock and no spacer to further droop and create UBJ problem. Also since Rusty's sits lower than the Frankenlift, new upper a-arms are not entirely necessary to bring it close to factory alignment specs, and offcourse the CVs will not be quite as steep.

For a first timer or someone that wants a set and forget kit then I believe Rusty's is one of the best choices.

I run the Frankelift and have installed a few others. I've also ran the OME lift for a bit. Also, ran a bit of a homemade OTT kit for short time. So I have probably torn apart my suspension countless times tweaking things.
I've also installed a few Rusty's kits and they go very smoothly.

 

[desertkj]

Jeepjeepster, PM sent.

 

[Corwyyn]

Whew, thanks Eddo, now I don't have to explain it. Suffice to say, I do get the UBJ contact, but the bumpstop eliminates it. And I do keep an eye on the hose clamps holding them in place to make sure they don't fall off. Now I just need to get the upper bumpstops installed (boy are they a P.I.T.A.)...

 

[Marlon_JB2]

Those spacers do not look like mine...

I think I have the bumpstops built in?

 

[MoladoGuy]

I have the BDS lift kit and had UBJ contact. I ran it like that for some time since I never really took it totally off-road (maybe a few) but that caused me to rip my UBJ. After replacing the front with Al's Arms I have 100% cleareance and no longer make contact with the spring.

Sorry to hear about all the problems. Like everyone says though there are no install and forget kits. At least for the Liberty.

 

[Eddo]

I have the BDS lift kit and had UBJ contact. I ran it like that for some time since I never really took it totally off-road (maybe a few) but that caused me to rip my UBJ. After replacing the front with Al's Arms I have 100% cleareance and no longer make contact with the spring.

Sorry to hear about all the problems. Like everyone says though there are no install and forget kits. At least for the Liberty.

There are set and forget lifts. I know first hand Rusty's and OME are both set and forget. I've installed 3 Rusty's and have experience with 2 OME lifts and none of them had UBJ contact.

I didn't think the BDS lift would have UBJ contact so I revised my previous post. But for a quick look at a picture it looks like they include a different top strut plate-- similar to the Frankenlift. That allows the suspension to droop too far before and the struts can not stop it before the upper a-arm swings into the spring.

 

[ogfalcon]

I also have the Rusty's suspension lift on my KJ, and there is no UBJ contact; it truly was install it and forget it. I replaced my Rough Country spacer lift because it was horrible.

OG