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MedleyMotoCo1

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
So I have decided to build up my WJ
The goal is 6-6.5” long arm lift. I want to know what I am gonna need in addition to a complete lift kit.

The size of tire I plan to run is either a 285/70r17 or 295/70r17. I don’t want to trim anything body wise as of right now.

The plan is to buy a rough country long arm kit, the one without the RC springs and shocks, and go with a quality set of springs and shocks. Springs that net me an actual 6” if lift and some reservoir shocks. Heard that Rusty’s coils are quality and net the right amount of lift but I am all ears to recommendations.

I know I will need an adjustable track bar. Looking for recommendations that are economical.

Will I need a dropped pitman arm?
Will I be forced to go SYE and CV driveshaft?
Any companies out their offering extended brake lines?
Are exhaust modifications required?
How how well do Overland GCs respond with stock gears and 33” tires.
Anybody know of a way to calibrate the speedometer to larger tires?

Pic of the Jeep posted just for kicks
 

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#3 ·
Subscribed to follow your build. And maybe help out when I can.

My recently purchased WJ is built with a RC long arm upgrade kit with Clayton 6” front coils, 4.5” rear coils and Bilstein 5100 shocks.

I think you should be ok with only minor trimming for the 285/70 tires.
 
Discussion starter · #4 ·
LGrocks said:
Subscribed to follow your build. And maybe help out when I can.

My recently purchased WJ is built with a RC long arm upgrade kit with Clayton 6" front coils, 4.5" rear coils and Bilstein 5100 shocks.

I think you should be ok with only minor trimming for the 285/70 tires.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Please take a look under your WJ. Was the exhaust rerouted? Does it have extended brake lines? How would you say is the ride? As compared to stock
 
#5 ·
I highly suggest reading through the "FAQ" and "Suspension" sticky, will give you pretty much all of the info you need (linked below).

FAQ:
https://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f310/wj-forum-faq-read-before-you-post-1304102/

SUSPENSION:
https://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f310/wj-suspension-info-thread-314066/

The 6" RC kit has received some positive reviews.
- No drop pitman arm required, an Adjustable track bar is a much better solution.
- For springs look at Clayton's Offroad or IRO. I know Claytons are made in the USA if that matters to you.
- Multiple companies make extended brake lines, can order from Claytons Offroad, crown automotive, etc.
- Not sure on the exhaust mods but on other lifts with 6" it is required. However, RC uses an upper A-arm instead of two
long arms, so you may be OK. Would still need to make sure the lower arm doesn't contact it during full flex (thinking
you may be OK)
- Stock gears are fine. You can certainly upgrade but I would make that the least of your worries right now
- The only way I know how to calibrate the speedometer is by purchasing a Superchips Flashpaq
 
#6 ·
oh couple other things, contact Kolak here on the forum (hopefully he will chime into this thread). He will be an immense source of information. Don't forget that lifting a vehicle makes other items wear quicker or make the items that are wore out more noticeable. Double check spring isolators (should just probably replace), tie rod ends, ball joints, and since you have to remove the trans cross member may as well replace the transmission mount.
 
#7 ·
#8 ·
MedleyMotoCo1 said:
LGrocks said:
Subscribed to follow your build. And maybe help out when I can.

My recently purchased WJ is built with a RC long arm upgrade kit with Clayton 6" front coils, 4.5" rear coils and Bilstein 5100 shocks.

I think you should be ok with only minor trimming for the 285/70 tires.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Please take a look under your WJ. Was the exhaust rerouted? Does it have extended brake lines? How would you say is the ride? As compared to stock
Click to expand...
The exhaust system is not re-routed. I do have Kolak's 3" cat back and only exhaust issue reported by the PO was getting it positioned and welded in place just right as to not rattle against the RC crossmember.

As stated above, the RC rear control arm setup does not require exhaust re-routing. No interference with the upper A-arm or lower long arms.

I don't think extended brake lines are required, but I'll look at it when I get home and make sure.

The ride quality with Clayton/Bilstein is IMO excellent. Maybe even a little on the soft side compared to stock.
 
#9 ·
Oh yea, meant to add....

I just purchased a SuperChips Flashpaq 3875, used from another member here. I am not at all impressed with it. Number one, and primary reason I bought it, was to change tire size. On my 2001 4.7, it will not recognize my ABS control module and will not allow me to change tire size. Yes, it does have an ABS module. SuperChips support tech said most(not all) 99-02’s have some kind of issue communicating with the ABS module. 03-04 apparently is fine.
Number two, only performance tune I tried out was 87 octane for a couple days. Not impressed, so I’m going to re-sell it and go with the 12 O’clock Labs device to recalibrate. Similar to the SpeedoDrd mentioned above.
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
Thanks for the references. I guess I will post up progress updates as I go along.

The recalibration of the Speedo is important to me for 1 main reason. The shift points of the trans are based off of Speedo among things. I have no interest in flashing tunes for this. The power it has is more than enough for me l. I always run 93 as recommended by factory. Runs great like that.
 
#11 ·
Regarding calibrating the speedo, what model year/engine size is your WJ?

MedleyMotoCo1 said:
Thanks for the references. I guess I will post up progress updates as I go along.

The recalibration of the Speedo is important to me for 1 main reason. The shift points of the trans are based off of Speedo among things. I have no interest in flashing tunes for this. The power it has is more than enough for me l. I always run 93 as recommended by factory. Runs great like that.
Click to expand...
 
Discussion starter · #13 ·
I got off the phone with rough country just to verify some things. they are saying that their long arm kit is good for 6" of lift, that they don't require a drop pitmarn arm but do require and adjustable track bar, exhaust does not need to be modified. kit comes with brakeline relocation brackets which SHOULD be good with my lift. I can get away with keeping the rear driveshaft adjusting Pinion Angle, a custom front driveshaft is most likely required on my Overland WJ because many have reported excessive vibrations. already in contact with Tom Woods
 
#14 ·
The Superchips 3874 Flashpaq will reprogram your speedo. It's also a PCM programmer. They don't have anything in a hand-held programmer for the WJ that just does the speedo programming.

JET makes the Accu Speed which is an inline speedometer programmer but it's been on backorder for months now.

If I can assist with anything for your lift or for the Superchips you can PM me here on the forum or email me at kolak@aol.com

MedleyMotoCo1 said:
2002 WJ Overland 4.7HO
Click to expand...
 
Discussion starter · #16 ·
So far I have pieced together some things. Long arms, shocks....

But advise me on this. I was looking into buying the Clayton 6” springs. But I remembered I have in storage a set of Metalcloak 6” springs FOR A TJ. After doing a little bit of google searching I believe I can use t he tears without issue. The fronts can be made to work with a proper spacer.

My only concern is spring rate. Clayton’s are at like 200lbs per inch. Any set of springs for a TJ should have less spring rate than a WJ. Clayton’s 6”springs for a TJ have about 10-20lbs per inch left than the WJ counterparts.

Clayton front springs are 22.5” long MC is like 25-26” long. Should I use my metalcloak springs or go for a set of the Clayton’s.
 
#17 ·
The wrap on the ends of the front coils is different on the TJ vs the WJ. Been awhile since I thought about this but I recall having to cut the ends off of them to get them to fit the WJ.

Those springs are really long so they must be fairly soft. But why not just throw them on there and take some measurements? Since you have them on-hand it's certainly worth a shot.
 
#18 ·
MedleyMotoCo1 said:
So I have decided to build up my WJ
The goal is 6-6.5" long arm lift. I want to know what I am gonna need in addition to a complete lift kit.

The size of tire I plan to run is either a 285/70r17 or 295/70r17. I don't want to trim anything body wise as of right now.

The plan is to buy a rough country long arm kit, the one without the RC springs and shocks, and go with a quality set of springs and shocks. Springs that net me an actual 6" if lift and some reservoir shocks. Heard that Rusty's coils are quality and net the right amount of lift but I am all ears to recommendations.

I know I will need an adjustable track bar. Looking for recommendations that are economical.

Will I need a dropped pitman arm?
Will I be forced to go SYE and CV driveshaft?
Any companies out their offering extended brake lines?
Are exhaust modifications required?
How how well do Overland GCs respond with stock gears and 33" tires.
Anybody know of a way to calibrate the speedometer to larger tires?

Pic of the Jeep posted just for kicks
Click to expand...
Speedo calibration can be done using the interface from 12OclockLabs http://shop.12oclocklabs.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=31&product_id=59. I have done this on mine and it works great. Here is a video explaining it.Good luck!

 
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Discussion starter · #19 ·
Kolak said:
The wrap on the ends of the front coils is different on the TJ vs the WJ. Been awhile since I thought about this but I recall having to cut the ends off of them to get them to fit the WJ.

Those springs are really long so they must be fairly soft. But why not just throw them on there and take some measurements? Since you have them on-hand it's certainly worth a shot.
Click to expand...
It's true for the front the coil wrap up top is different but the worst thing anyone can do is to cut springs it's simply a matter of having a machine shop fabricate a top spacer or puck to retain the TJ top winde on the coil.

Metalcloak told me trail forged's WJ uses front TJ MC coils but they use JK rears. I have been trying to get a hold of trail forged over the phone to ask why, no luck. I would ASSUME.... they chose to use rear jk Metalcloak coils due to the fact they load up a lot of weight on their off-road trips and the JK has a higher spring rate or load rating for the added weight.

I don't want the hassle of calculating all that so I am going to use what I got and see what happens. And take measurements for the record.

That being said. When it comes to Clayton springs the WJ 6 inch and TJ 6 inch coils share the exact same height there is a slight difference however on the spring rates, very little, I am betting that the same can be said for Metalcloak springs. The spring rate should be identical to Clayton's TJ spring rates. MC does not publish there spring rates and won't divulge it to anyone.

The TJ MC springs are 2-3 inches taller out the box. It's more distance to be compressed and I hope it will make up for the WJs weight.
 
Discussion starter · #20 ·
gsxr800 said:
MedleyMotoCo1 said:
So I have decided to build up my WJ
The goal is 6-6.5" long arm lift. I want to know what I am gonna need in addition to a complete lift kit.

The size of tire I plan to run is either a 285/70r17 or 295/70r17. I don't want to trim anything body wise as of right now.

The plan is to buy a rough country long arm kit, the one without the RC springs and shocks, and go with a quality set of springs and shocks. Springs that net me an actual 6" if lift and some reservoir shocks. Heard that Rusty's coils are quality and net the right amount of lift but I am all ears to recommendations.

I know I will need an adjustable track bar. Looking for recommendations that are economical.

Will I need a dropped pitman arm?
Will I be forced to go SYE and CV driveshaft?
Any companies out their offering extended brake lines?
Are exhaust modifications required?
How how well do Overland GCs respond with stock gears and 33" tires.
Anybody know of a way to calibrate the speedometer to larger tires?

Pic of the Jeep posted just for kicks
Click to expand...
Speedo calibration can be done using the interface from 12OclockLabs http://shop.12oclocklabs.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=31&product_id=59. I have done this on mine and it works great. Here is a video explaining it.Good luck!

Click to expand...
I saw the video on YouTube. I am not gonna jump on that one tho. I would rather go with the handheld programmer. Reason being it comes with more features like monitoring trans temp and such.

I do like the simplicity tho
 
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LGrocks
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