lift kits

[Escher]

Newbie to the jeep thing......

what lift kits should i stay away from and what do you recommend...

98 tj 4.0 4x4

daily driver but wednesdays is offroad day!!!

want to be able to put 32's on some 15 x 8 rims...

terra flex 3", rancho 3", etc... let me know and post me a pic pleze

thx

[PRS]

I did the Rancho Rock Crawler. Install was pretty straight forward. I haven't gotten to try it off road much yet but with the RS9000 shocks it rides pretty nice.

Here's a link to some install pics.
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1601129&a=12203726



Here's a shot from a little muddy.http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1601129&a=12399879&p=45454854

[Chris S]

A few Opinions:

Pro-comp is too stiff.
Rancho is a bit stiff. Upgrading to RS9000 shcoks helps.
Terra is good, but there have been some problems with rear sag.
Rusty's rides really nice, but his customer service isn't always the greatest (small shop, sometimes more orders than he can fill).

With a 3" lift you may need to correct your drive shaft angles. T-case drop :(, adjustable control arm cams, adjustable control arms, or raised motor mounts are the usual ways to do this. A SYE is the best, but that nearly doubles the cost of the lift, and is overkill for a 3" lift.

Make sure the backspacing of your rims keeps them under your fenders.

[BrewJeep]

I'm running the Old Man Emu (ARB) 2.5" lift on my '98 TJ and am pretty happy with it. ARB says it's designed for 31x10.50s (which I'm running), but will handle 32x11.50s. Some Jeeprs have gone with the OME kit, then added a 1" body lift and are now running 33s.

There are three spring rates available for the OME -- standard, heavy duty and super duty. At the advice of Stage West 4x4, I opted for the heavy duty coils up front and standard coils in the rear. So far I haven't regretted it, but might have to swap in the rear HD coils if I add a tire carrier and rack.

The ride is a dream, especially with OME's Nitrocharger shocks. They seem to handle most anything I use the TJ for (moderate trails, more highway than I like, etc.). I added JKS "Quicker Disconnects" and a Teraflex adjustable front track bar, which I'd definitely recommend to bring the front end square. I'm also thinking of adding lower control arms at some point.

For the money, it's been a good kit for my use. If I had the $$$, I would've gone for Rancho's Rockcrawler 2.5 -- it's a nice suspension. I'm considering picking up Rancho's uprade kit that includes LCAs, extended brake lines, drop pitman, etc., using the existing OME as the base.

HTH,

--Paul

[Jerry Bransford]

Lots of happy TeraFlex lift owners are around, me included. And though I follow lifts and who likes what quite a bit, I wouldn't say Tera has a reputation for rear springs sagging at all. It also came in first place in a magazine review last year of all available lifts for offroad and onroad ride and performance, it's a well designed lift. I will also say this about Tera's customer service... I needed a couple of parts for some several-year old Tera adjustable control arms last week and Tera sent them out via UPS that same day... free!

[Escher]

will i need to adjust or realign.... anything???

will i need to correct any angles... t-case, etc... ???


i don't wanna raise it, and brake or cause any damage!

or is this raise not that significant???


2.5 seems what i want to go with for pocket and for daily driven with no rock crawling!

[BrewJeep]

Most 2.5" kits (OME, Rancho, etc.) include a t-case drop kit that will lower the t-case about 20-25mm and line things up again. It's usually a "install only if needed" item. Try it first without the drop, check for vibes at highway speeds. If there's vibes, install the drop kit.

If you've got the Dana M35c rear axle, there's a chance you won't need to install the drop, especially if you've got the auto transmission. It all has to do with rear driveshaft length -- the longer the better. I've got the M44-3 with AX-15 5-speed with a REAL short driveshaft, so the kit was a must for mine.

Of course, you will need an front end alignment when it's all installed. Toe-in will probably be excessive, plus caster will be off a touch if you use the stock control arms, so a good alignment is a must.

The install is really pretty straight forward. There's a couple of tools you'll probably need -- 90 degree drill head to drill one of the holes for the rear trackbar bracket; coilspring compressor to install the coils; 6" puller if you plan on installing QDs on the front swaybar; pickle fork for the front trackbar if you replace that; floor jack, jackstands and a bottle jack, etc.

Seriously, it's not a bad install at all -- just go methodically and slowly and you'll be just fine.

HTH,

--Paul

[shlingdawg]

The Tera 3T will work great with 32's and occasional offroading. Rusty's kit would work fine too, for about the same money. I've had both the 3T and the S3T. they both did great on and off road.

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=647321&a=6314074&p=21304146&Sequence=0&res= high
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=647321&a=6314074&p=23506034&Sequence=0&res= high
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=647321&a=6314074&p=37774565&Sequence=0&res= high