Trobow's Lift

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Lima.Charlie

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2009
Messages
132
Reaction score
0
Location
Ohio
I just called up JBA and ordered the first half of my lift, specifically for the front end. I have OME 927's, Teraflex bumpstops, and Rancho RSX17505's on their way next week. Then on the first of February I can order the rearend portion. Then have it installed by the end of March.
 
Last edited:

rockymountain

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2007
Messages
1,734
Reaction score
27
Location
Spencerville, IN
Cool, can't wait until I can post something like this. Anyway, I just have to ask everyone. Are the terraflex bumpstops needed for this setup that trobow is doing?
 

tommudd

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jul 14, 2005
Messages
22,456
Reaction score
3,643
Location
Southeastern Ohio
Yes please use bumpstops some say no but its very cheap insurance

No you do not need top plates but it will give you another 1/2 inch lift or so.

you can even make them out of a plastic cutting board !

Yes it works , Mudds tried it !
 

TAHOE

Full Access Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2009
Messages
508
Reaction score
0
Location
Cincinnati, Ohio
You still want my tires for a bit? I will be getting the new ones from Boiler at swap meet on the 23rd, then I will most likely get them installed on the 30/31st ( sat) if you need them in a hurry. We can meet up that Sunday if you want them after that.
You wanting to have a "lift party". There should be several who would come and help ya out.
 

Lima.Charlie

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2009
Messages
132
Reaction score
0
Location
Ohio
Isolators in the rear? Explain...

Whats the brand of wheel spacers?

Lastly, I am willing to make some cuts to get tires to fit......any good sizes?

As well, JBA Control Arms, recommend?
 
Last edited:

Boiler

New Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2009
Messages
506
Reaction score
1
Location
Muncie Indiana
FRONT:

The OME Springs add a couple inches of lift, but you've still got room to grow before your CV angles and such are maxed out. The frankenlift goes beyond just the springs and has a thicker plastic piece between the bottom of the strut and the spring, basically making the spring longer without increasing its movement. They also use daystar top plates which extend the length of the assembly slightly. From what I understand a non-saggy frankenlift is about as tall as you'd want to go.

Now, one can gain all or most of that height by adding top plate spacers and doing a clevis lift. The top plate spacer basically is just a shim of metal between the top plate of the spring/strut assembly and the body of the jeep. By putting it in there you lower the mounting surface of the jeep instead of extending the spring assembly. You get about 2x as much lift as thickness of the spacer. So a 3/8 spacer should net you nearly 3/4" lift.

You can also do the clevis lift, which often uses conduit nuts to space the clevis down away from the strut end. From what I understand people generally stick to 3 conduit nut spacing to avoid having the clevis have too little strut end to grip, but I've heard of some putting in more.

You can do both, either, or neither, just depends how much height you want. If you want to max your height out it basically depends how much weight you have over stock. With stock weight, I think a 3/8" top plate and OME HD springs and 2 clevis rings will net you about 22-1/2" give or take. I'd personally start with 1 or 2 clevis rings and add more as needed. I went with just the top plate this fall and plan to add 2-3 conduit nuts once I get my bumper on this spring.

REAR:
The rear is also not at full height with just the OME coils. The stock rear suspension has about 1/2" thick hard rubber pads on each end of the coils. What people do is buy an additional pair (or two pairs) of top isolators and insert them between the stock isolator and the spring. In the rear, adding a half inch of extra isolator gives you about another 1/2" of lift. It is more 1 to 1. Basically you end up with 2 or 3 top isolators per side. I bought my top isolators this summer for $12 or $13 each, I forget. I ended up forgetting them on my workbench when I drove to Tom's for my lift, so we put in 2 pairs of lower isolators that he had laying around. People generally say not to use lowers because the spring can supposedly slip off the lower mount, but I do have 3" of hockey puck bumpstop down there to keep it from moving, so I think it will be ok. Another reason not to use lowers is that they are more expensive than uppers.

Hope this answers your questions. I'm sure some of that isn't perfectly right. Others will tell you that I'm not expert and shouldn't be talking about lifts :rolleyes: I'm definitely not an expert, but I think I have the basics down, and I'm willing to take the time to explain it.

I'll have a few pairs of top plates with me next week if you want to pick up a pair then. No rush though.
 

Lima.Charlie

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2009
Messages
132
Reaction score
0
Location
Ohio
Thanks Boiler! I appreciate the info.


I am going to get some front and rear iso's now. 4 for the back, 2 each side and 1 pair for the front.
 

paullgj

Full Access Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2007
Messages
78
Reaction score
0
Location
Brownsville, Texas
Answers my questions.

FRONT:

The OME Springs add a couple inches of lift, but you've still got room to grow before your CV angles and such are maxed out. The frankenlift goes beyond just the springs and has a thicker plastic piece between the bottom of the strut and the spring, basically making the spring longer without increasing its movement. .

Hi!

This answers my questions in another thread. I am definitely going to go with OME 927 springs and not the Frankenlift/spacers. The reasoning behind this is not to stress the CV's.

Thanks for the info.

Gene,
Brownsville, TX
 

Boiler

New Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2009
Messages
506
Reaction score
1
Location
Muncie Indiana
Thanks Boiler! I appreciate the info.


I am going to get some front and rear iso's now. 4 for the back, 2 each side and 1 pair for the front.

Just make sure you've got some weight in the back if you're using 2 extra per side in the rear. If not you'll probably be sitting 22-1/2 to 23, which can be a lot. I'm pretty sure my 23" due to that setup with no skids on yet is giving me some driveshaft vibration. Putting skids on this week though so that might help a little bit. It has relaxed some with settling, but I'm going to shoot to keep it around 22-1/4 or so.

I don't know that I've heard of front iso's, just the shims. Iso's are rubber that the spring sits on. Shims sit between the top plate and the body. I'm guessing you meant 2 shims in front and 4 isos in the back.
 

Lima.Charlie

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2009
Messages
132
Reaction score
0
Location
Ohio
Yeah I hope. I am trying to piece everything together by the middle of the month.


I meant shims. Set of shims for the front and set of isos in the rear.
 

tommudd

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jul 14, 2005
Messages
22,456
Reaction score
3,643
Location
Southeastern Ohio
Going to 23 inches will not cause driveline vibrations
if so mine would of had them the last 50,000 miles or more
 

autoboy454

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2009
Messages
189
Reaction score
1
Location
MASS
Going to 23 inches will not cause driveline vibrations
if so mine would of had them the last 50,000 miles or more

YRMV... every KJ is different, so X-amount of lift on KJ(a) will net different results and effects compared to the same X-amount of lift on KJ(b) Not one KJ is the same, specially all the AWESOME ones on here! perfect10.gif
 

tommudd

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jul 14, 2005
Messages
22,456
Reaction score
3,643
Location
Southeastern Ohio
OK autoboy 454
so the 16 (or more) that I have either installed lifts on or helped with lifts are different from all the rest then:D
Plus not that much difference at all, if you install X brand of springs with X top plate or X clevis I can tell you pretty much where it is going to sit after settling in
 
Last edited:

autoboy454

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2009
Messages
189
Reaction score
1
Location
MASS
Tommudd,
Wasn't in any way trying to discredit you personally in any way, just trying to let EVERYONE know that performing the same install on different vehicles could lead to different outcomes. It could also lead to an identical outcome. Truth be told no one really knows whether or not my u-joints will start to make noise if I add extra ISO's to the equation (I have a pair sitting around and toying with the idea...). We can all form educated theories and hypotheses as to why when A is installed, B occurs (Honestly its what i LOVE about forums, is the open discussion on topics such as this).

I get sidetracked and like to ramble, sometimes probably trying to make myself out to appear smarter than i am :eek: .

ON TOPIC:
Depending on the mileage and abuse your KJ has been put through, you may find noises that weren't necessarily there before the lift. After putting Medium OME springs in my KJ, i get a wicked vibration coming from most-likely the intermediate shaft in the front axle. Was never there before the lift, and just sort of popped up days after doing the lift.

Buy the best you can afford Trobow, and come here if it isn't working as it should. We are privileged to have access to a group of people here with real experience in this exact field who know more about KJ's than i could possibly know. I swear some of you guys must have taken your KJ all the way apart (to see how it works) then reassembled it like a lego kit...
 
Top