I’ve been searching and reading and trying to figure out the best lift option for my newly acquired WJ. For reference it is a 2004 Loredo Special Edition, 4.7L HO V8, QuadraTracII 4x4, 52k miles on motor and trans; ? miles on bearings, shocks, bushings from being a motorhome tow (probably 100k). The driveshafts are both U-joint on both ends, no CV joints. It currently has 17” alloys with weak ***, and worn out, 29” tires. She needs a lift. I hit the tank skidplate going over a curb yesterday…
So I figure I should spend about $2500 on a lift and tires.
This car is my DD but I want to be able to take it offroad now and then and have some fun. No gnarly rock crawling or mud bogging, just need her to be able to ground clear some obstacles and articulate enough to get through ruts or whatever. Of course the more I do the more I’ll want to do
The lift options I’m thinking of:
2.5” Kolak special (OME springs, trackbar, shocks)
3” IRO lift kit (as seen online, probably go with Bilstien shocks)
4” RC Long Arm (probably the upgrade kit with IRO 4” springs and Bilstien shocks)
-Will probably need wheel spacers for whatever I do in order to retain stock alloy wheels. May need some other hardware like extended sway bar drops or whatever else.
Pros and cons for each (from what I can find online and think of myself):
2.5” Pros: cheapest; gets me lifted enough to clear 31-32” tires; low center of gravity and profile should help with MPG
2.5” Cons: use of stock control arms (Worn bushings? Angles on axles from a lift aren’t adjustable.); maybe not quite enough lift for everything I’d like to do; less articulation
3” Pros & Cons: similar to 2.5”
4” LA Pros: Long arms are adjustable (keep correct axle angles/lengths); more articulation; more height; replaces stock arms & bushings which might be worn (they don’t make too much noise…creak a little, no squeaks); LA improved ride quality
4” LA Cons: RC quality (I read the joints are ****, what other options do I have? Rustys are of the same quality I’ve read. Claytons? Is a “budget” LA upgrade kit just a stupid idea?); RC crossmember drops the TC ~1”; MPG will suffer a bit more (but we don’t buy Jeeps for gas mileage, and this WJ does better than my old YJ DD)
If anyone has some input I’d love to hear it, especially on the quality of RC long arms. Have they improved over the years? I feel I’m getting into the game a little late with a WJ, but that might be a good thing. If anyone has gone through this same dilemma and has a good lift package that they like, please do tell. I apologize if this seems redundant, but all the other stuff that came up while searching seemed a bit old. My main concern is RC quality now vs back when people were writing about how ****ty the joints are. I’d imagine they’d have to improve them over the years with so much input from customers. I really like the idea of a LA lift, what’s not to like. But maybe for a WJ the options for quality are either stay low or spend a **** load of money and weld a Claytons lift on.
Looking forward to hearing from others.
Thanks! :cheers2:
So I figure I should spend about $2500 on a lift and tires.
This car is my DD but I want to be able to take it offroad now and then and have some fun. No gnarly rock crawling or mud bogging, just need her to be able to ground clear some obstacles and articulate enough to get through ruts or whatever. Of course the more I do the more I’ll want to do
The lift options I’m thinking of:
2.5” Kolak special (OME springs, trackbar, shocks)
3” IRO lift kit (as seen online, probably go with Bilstien shocks)
4” RC Long Arm (probably the upgrade kit with IRO 4” springs and Bilstien shocks)
-Will probably need wheel spacers for whatever I do in order to retain stock alloy wheels. May need some other hardware like extended sway bar drops or whatever else.
Pros and cons for each (from what I can find online and think of myself):
2.5” Pros: cheapest; gets me lifted enough to clear 31-32” tires; low center of gravity and profile should help with MPG
2.5” Cons: use of stock control arms (Worn bushings? Angles on axles from a lift aren’t adjustable.); maybe not quite enough lift for everything I’d like to do; less articulation
3” Pros & Cons: similar to 2.5”
4” LA Pros: Long arms are adjustable (keep correct axle angles/lengths); more articulation; more height; replaces stock arms & bushings which might be worn (they don’t make too much noise…creak a little, no squeaks); LA improved ride quality
4” LA Cons: RC quality (I read the joints are ****, what other options do I have? Rustys are of the same quality I’ve read. Claytons? Is a “budget” LA upgrade kit just a stupid idea?); RC crossmember drops the TC ~1”; MPG will suffer a bit more (but we don’t buy Jeeps for gas mileage, and this WJ does better than my old YJ DD)
If anyone has some input I’d love to hear it, especially on the quality of RC long arms. Have they improved over the years? I feel I’m getting into the game a little late with a WJ, but that might be a good thing. If anyone has gone through this same dilemma and has a good lift package that they like, please do tell. I apologize if this seems redundant, but all the other stuff that came up while searching seemed a bit old. My main concern is RC quality now vs back when people were writing about how ****ty the joints are. I’d imagine they’d have to improve them over the years with so much input from customers. I really like the idea of a LA lift, what’s not to like. But maybe for a WJ the options for quality are either stay low or spend a **** load of money and weld a Claytons lift on.
Looking forward to hearing from others.
Thanks! :cheers2: