Verify my lift part list?

[mindbomb]

After much research done on these forums I'm gonna pull the trigger on a OME/Bilstein lift configuration for the KJ, no UCAs for now, will probably also not do the Clevis rings to not go over 3" and later have trouble with alignment - so top plates / bumpstops / struts-shocks & springs. (getting the clevises just in case since they're the cheapest part here anyways). My total parts cost is 850$.

Can you please go over my part list see I didn't mess anything up:

Jeep kj lift kit part list - Album on Imgur​

also few more noob questions:

1. What do I need to do/take apart before going to get my front coilovers set up in a shop? Can I skip that and just use spring compressors?
2. What's the essential tools list required for the lift install job?
3. Can I buy 2 sets of top plates and stick em together to get the additional 1/2" of lift instead of adding the Clevis rings? (and be at 3" all around)
4. For rear - do I need upper isos or lower isos or both?

Many thanks & happy 4th of July!

 

[tommudd]

After much research done on these forums I'm gonna pull the trigger on a OME/Bilstein lift configuration for the KJ, no UCAs for now, will probably also not do the Clevis rings to not go over 3" and later have trouble with alignment - so top plates / bumpstops / struts-shocks & springs. (getting the clevises just in case since they're the cheapest part here anyways). My total parts cost is 850$.

Can you please go over my part list see I didn't mess anything up:

Jeep kj lift kit part list - Album on Imgur​

also few more noob questions:

1. What do I need to do/take apart before going to get my front coilovers set up in a shop? The whole front suspension Can I skip that and just use spring compressors? Could but if you like your head to still be attached I'd highly suggest taking them somewhere
2. What's the essential tools list required for the lift install job? Complete set of sockets etc
3. Can I buy 2 sets of top plates and stick em together to get the additional 1/2" of lift instead of adding the Clevis rings? NO NO NO and well no if it could be done it would of been, there is not enough threads on the bolts to do so, reason why we don't do it (and be at 3" all around)
4. For rear - do I need upper isos or lower isos or both? UPPER only one per side since you are not using anything else

Many thanks & happy 4th of July!

jack and jack stands as well
front shocks for a Dodge Dakota will not fit very well on a Jeep KJ
For the small price difference I would buy all parts from one place like JBA, if there is an issue then way easier to sort out, prices on the springs for example is the same price as you have
Better gas charged shocks would ride better as well , putting cheap shocks will only cause issues down the road. You may save a nickle now , but will cost ya a quarter in the future
Just a suggestion , never even heard of some of those places before

 

[TwoBobsKJ]

Like Tom said, the front shocks need to be for a KJ - though I suppose those for a Nitro will work since it's essentially the same vehicle as a Jeep KK. Personally I'd make sure the listing shows they are for an '02 to '07 Liberty to make sure there's no screw ups.

DO NOT use a spring compressor at home. We like members here to stay alive and avoid self-inflicted fatal wounds. Just take apart the front suspension and take the old spring/shock assembly to your local tire store and have them use the parts off the old to assemble the new. Tell them you're bringing your KJ back to them for an alignment after you get your Jeep assembled - hopefully they cut you a deal on the spring/shock assembly.

Get a set of OME rear shocks - going with the mid-level Bilsteins will kind of defeat the purpose of upgrading the suspension. There are better options out there for you.

Depending on where you live you may want to buy a can of PB Blaster or Kroil to coat some of the rusted nuts and bolts before you get started. And a ratchet strap may be helpful to pull the clevis in so you can get the lower clevis bolt in place.

Bob

 

[Jbergun]

Its easy i did it last weekend. Takes some time so be prepared you need some large metric sockets like. 18-19-21. Take your time with the front have some wire or zip ties handy to hang stuff once you disconnect it. Like the brake caliper and the thing that attaches to the upper ball joint just dont want it hanging free.

 

[tommudd]

Its easy i did it last weekend. Takes some time so be prepared you need some large metric sockets like. 18-19-21. Take your time with the front have some wire or zip ties handy to hang stuff once you disconnect it. Like the brake caliper and the thing that attaches to the upper ball joint just dont want it hanging free.

Bungee straps :gr_grin:

 

[krisP]

Bungee straps :gr_grin:

i used twine used for tying grapes when i did mine :gr_grin: saved me an extra trip to the barn

 

[Jbergun]

Yea bungee straps i was working alone one night and the zip ties were closer. I wouldnt consider myself a well versed wrench turner but i handled it no problem an extra set of hands helps. Dont over think it just go at it knowing what needs to be done. I live in an area that uses alot of salt on the roads and i did t have a problem with my 02.

 

[mindbomb]

jack and jack stands as well
front shocks for a Dodge Dakota will not fit very well on a Jeep KJ
For the small price difference I would buy all parts from one place like JBA, if there is an issue then way easier to sort out, prices on the springs for example is the same price as you have
Better gas charged shocks would ride better as well , putting cheap shocks will only cause issues down the road. You may save a nickle now , but will cost ya a quarter in the future
Just a suggestion , never even heard of some of those places before

First, thanks for the response Tom. Appreciate the help!

What places you never heard of? eBay/Amazon? I know you're a big endorser for JBA but come on.. Actually Amazon/eBay are real easy to deal with in case you have some dissatisfaction as a buyer..

Regarding the Bilsteins - must say I'm kinda confused now.. Front Dakota struts will fit fine coz they are the same PN for the Liberty, and yourself has recommended me on those exact PNs/setup from shockwarehouse in a previous post - here:

http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f203/bds-lift-kj-opinions-59854/#post683262

I can pull the trigger on the full OME setup from JBA (and pay extra shipping) but I understood that the rear OME 60069 shocks are same as stock height which is not what I want... confused. :Insane:

 

[krisP]

you can buy individual parts and mix/match .... so just add all of them individually to cart and go with whatever shocks you desire

 

[Icethegreat]

jack and jack stands as well
front shocks for a Dodge Dakota will not fit very well on a Jeep KJ
For the small price difference I would buy all parts from one place like JBA, if there is an issue then way easier to sort out, prices on the springs for example is the same price as you have
Better gas charged shocks would ride better as well , putting cheap shocks will only cause issues down the road. You may save a nickle now , but will cost ya a quarter in the future
Just a suggestion , never even heard of some of those places before

First, thanks for the response Tom. Appreciate the help!

What places you never heard of? eBay/Amazon? I know you're a big endorser for JBA but come on.. Actually Amazon/eBay are real easy to deal with in case you have some dissatisfaction as a buyer..

Regarding the Bilsteins - must say I'm kinda confused now.. Front Dakota struts will fit fine coz they are the same PN for the Liberty, and yourself has recommended me on those exact PNs/setup from shockwarehouse in a previous post - here:

http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f203/bds-lift-kj-opinions-59854/#post683262

I can pull the trigger on the full OME setup from JBA (and pay extra shipping) but I understood that the rear OME 60069 shocks are same as stock height which is not what I want... confused. :Insane:

Yes, the front shocks are fine. According to the FAQ's of this forum's lift kit section on KJ, the shocks you got are the recommended one's. It just shows the new Bilstein product number vs the old.

This is taken from one of Tommud's recommended websites to purchase shocks (Shockwarehouse.com):


Price: $103.77

Bilstein B6 4600 Heavy Duty Shock Absorber Dodge Nitro Front 24-139168

Old Part No: F4-BE5-D916-H0

Dodge Nitro 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 , Jeep Liberty 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012


Now in terms of ease of returns from eBay & Amazon, please carefully read the sellers terms. Unless your purchasing directly from eBay and/or Amazon (which you are not), you will be dealing with these individual companies. You will save money by going with these sellers because youll save in taxes, free shipping and sometimes the price but if something goes wrong, please be sure you'll get the attention and support you'll need to get it fixed with them. It's a chance some people are willing to take to save some money in the land of the internetz (including myself :gr_grin: )

Good luck and let us know how everything goes :winner_third_h4h:

 

[jeeplib05]

After much research done on these forums I'm gonna pull the trigger on a OME/Bilstein lift configuration for the KJ, no UCAs for now, will probably also not do the Clevis rings to not go over 3" and later have trouble with alignment - so top plates / bumpstops / struts-shocks & springs. (getting the clevises just in case since they're the cheapest part here anyways). My total parts cost is 850$.

Can you please go over my part list see I didn't mess anything up:

Jeep kj lift kit part list - Album on Imgur​

also few more noob questions:

1. What do I need to do/take apart before going to get my front coilovers set up in a shop? Can I skip that and just use spring compressors?
2. What's the essential tools list required for the lift install job?
3. Can I buy 2 sets of top plates and stick em together to get the additional 1/2" of lift instead of adding the Clevis rings? (and be at 3" all around)
4. For rear - do I need upper isos or lower isos or both?

Many thanks & happy 4th of July!

Go check out my thread

http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f203/ome-bilstein-60258/

If you're wanting the OME/Bilstein setup like I chose, this thread has everything I ordered with links to each item
If you're wanting full OME, just go to JBA and order the front and rear shocks from there and the rest from Quadratec/Amazon. I pieced my lift together from different sites because I wanted to save money.
If you want to pay for the crazy shipping and tax then order it all from JBA!
You'll pay about $100+ ordering from JBA than putting it together by yourself

 

[tommudd]

Go check out my thread

http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f203/ome-bilstein-60258/

If you're wanting the OME/Bilstein setup like I chose, this thread has everything I ordered with links to each item
If you're wanting full OME, just go to JBA and order the front and rear shocks from there and the rest from Quadratec/Amazon. I pieced my lift together from different sites because I wanted to save money.
If you want to pay for the crazy shipping and tax then order it all from JBA!
You'll pay about $100+ ordering from JBA than putting it together by yourself

You have to pay for shipping no matter where you buy parts, unless you catch a deal somewhere with free shipping
BUT like I found out the hard way years back, one shock was bad , where I bought from gave me the run around, tried the company , said talk to dealer . In the end bought new shock out of pocket
You may save a few dollars today but many times it cost you later
As far as springs they are the same price everywhere OME/ARB pretty much sets the price on them

 

[tommudd]

First, thanks for the response Tom. Appreciate the help!

What places you never heard of? eBay/Amazon? I know you're a big endorser for JBA but come on.. Actually Amazon/eBay are real easy to deal with in case you have some dissatisfaction as a buyer..

Regarding the Bilsteins - must say I'm kinda confused now.. Front Dakota struts will fit fine coz they are the same PN for the Liberty, and yourself has recommended me on those exact PNs/setup from shockwarehouse in a previous post - here:

http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f203/bds-lift-kj-opinions-59854/#post683262

I can pull the trigger on the full OME setup from JBA (and pay extra shipping) but I understood that the rear OME 60069 shocks are same as stock height which is not what I want... confused. :Insane:

ORDER THE EXTENDED OME REAR SHOCKs as I have also said many times , not a huge deal
As far as dealing with Amazon, well buying through them BUT actually getting things from various vendors . After buying an unlocked phone for my wife while she was in Tanzania only to be sent a bottle of cheap perfume, NO THANKS. 3 months later they were still saying I got the phone, no money returned and out over 450 bucks.
SORRY but I'll pay a bit more and deal with someone who I can trust, who I know, where I know what I am getting and will get it .
Its like buying parts at the NAPA store down the road, maybe a bit higher sometimes than say ROCKAUTO but I'll get the right parts I want

 

[jeeplib05]

You have to pay for shipping no matter where you buy parts, unless you catch a deal somewhere with free shipping
BUT like I found out the hard way years back, one shock was bad , where I bought from gave me the run around, tried the company , said talk to dealer . In the end bought new shock out of pocket
You may save a few dollars today but many times it cost you later
As far as springs they are the same price everywhere OME/ARB pretty much sets the price on them

The only website I had to pay shipping or tax was from JBA
And almost everything I bought was either ten or more dollars cheaper or had no shipping costs like JBA
Like I've said before, I agree that it's better to buy all from one place, but when I can save almost $150 just by not buying from JBA I will
And to add, the only "deal" I got was from Amazon (no shipping/tax) and from Quadratec- by spending over $49 you get free shipping which is what I believe it should be from JBA

 

[TwoBobsKJ]

First, thanks for the response Tom. Appreciate the help!

What places you never heard of? eBay/Amazon? I know you're a big endorser for JBA but come on.. Actually Amazon/eBay are real easy to deal with in case you have some dissatisfaction as a buyer..

Regarding the Bilsteins - must say I'm kinda confused now.. Front Dakota struts will fit fine coz they are the same PN for the Liberty, and yourself has recommended me on those exact PNs/setup from shockwarehouse in a previous post - here:

http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f203/bds-lift-kj-opinions-59854/#post683262

I can pull the trigger on the full OME setup from JBA (and pay extra shipping) but I understood that the rear OME 60069 shocks are same as stock height which is not what I want... confused. :Insane:

The Dakota shocks and Liberty shocks are NOT the same thing. Be sure what you're ordering - like I said in an earlier post shocks for a Nitro will work since that's the same vehicle as an '08 thru '12 Liberty but the Dakota uses a different setup.

As they say, buyer beware :waytogo:


Bob

 

[tommudd]

The only website I had to pay shipping or tax was from JBA
And almost everything I bought was either ten or more dollars cheaper or had no shipping costs like JBA
Like I've said before, I agree that it's better to buy all from one place, but when I can save almost $150 just by not buying from JBA I will
And to add, the only "deal" I got was from Amazon (no shipping/tax) and from Quadratec- by spending over $49 you get free shipping which is what I believe it should be from JBA

LOTS of difference from dealing with a huge company like Quadratec which ships 1000's of packages a day and a small company like JBA
who gets the best deals on shipping when they can back a trailer in and fill it compared to maybe 25-30 packages a day
I agree to a point with you but its like dealing with the local home town hardware store here thats locally owned or Walmart. I'll pick the home town hardware every time ( I hate Walmart by the way)
Comes down to service for me

 

[mindbomb]

ORDER THE EXTENDED OME REAR SHOCKs as I have also said many times , not a huge deal
As far as dealing with Amazon, well buying through them BUT actually getting things from various vendors . After buying an unlocked phone for my wife while she was in Tanzania only to be sent a bottle of cheap perfume, NO THANKS. 3 months later they were still saying I got the phone, no money returned and out over 450 bucks.
SORRY but I'll pay a bit more and deal with someone who I can trust, who I know, where I know what I am getting and will get it .
Its like buying parts at the NAPA store down the road, maybe a bit higher sometimes than say ROCKAUTO but I'll get the right parts I want

You're right about the Amazon resellers, I'll go with Quadratec instead (or other reliable seller with free shipping).

OK now I previously emailed JBA about getting the long rear shocks with the OME lift kit, still no reply... I don't see this option on the website. Any idea?

I double checked about the front Bilstein struts - they are for Jeep Liberty and Dodge nitro - 100% fit. About the rears - is there any issue with those? Is this not a recommended setup? Are the OMEs better than the Bilsteins?

Also another thing I don't understand - why do we go stock height shocks on front and lifted height shocks on rear?

 

[tommudd]

You're right about the Amazon resellers, I'll go with Quadratec instead (or other reliable seller with free shipping).

OK now I previously emailed JBA about getting the long rear shocks with the OME lift kit, still no reply... I don't see this option on the website. Any idea?

I double checked about the front Bilstein struts - they are for Jeep Liberty and Dodge nitro - 100% fit. About the rears - is there any issue with those? Is this not a recommended setup? Are the OMEs better than the Bilsteins?

Also another thing I don't understand - why do we go stock height shocks on front and lifted height shocks on rear?

132Ls are the OME longer rear shocks for lifted KJs and KKs
When you lift any solid axle you need longer shocks ( such as on the rear of the KJ / KK )
On IFS setups its a totally different animal , so longer front shocks are not needed and even if you had longer ones would do nothing at all overall
As far as better yes OMEs are better if for nothing else they are made for the rear of the Liberty's, as far as valving etc.
The Bilsteins that you have listed are valved for the Jeep YJs so much lighter vehicle etc
Although its been a 50/50 split on the ones we have lifted at my place, and have driven ones with Rancho RSX's, Bilstein, Ironman and OME and first impressions are all perform close, I'd go OME

 

[dude1116]

You're right about the Amazon resellers, I'll go with Quadratec instead (or other reliable seller with free shipping).

OK now I previously emailed JBA about getting the long rear shocks with the OME lift kit, still no reply... I don't see this option on the website. Any idea?

I double checked about the front Bilstein struts - they are for Jeep Liberty and Dodge nitro - 100% fit. About the rears - is there any issue with those? Is this not a recommended setup? Are the OMEs better than the Bilsteins?

Also another thing I don't understand - why do we go stock height shocks on front and lifted height shocks on rear?

Extended OME shocks were no longer available on his site last I checked.

 

[tommudd]

Extended OME shocks were no longer available on his site last I checked.

I'll have to ask him again, was just talking about them the other day ( well couple of weeks ago)