Hello all. I'm about to jump into the community, and have the opportunity to buy a used JKU 2013 Sahara at a great price. After doing extensive research, I'm well aware the lift kit on this rig is pretty bad, so I'm willing to upgrade immediately upon purchasing. I'm hoping that aside from that, you could give me any additional insights or concerns from these pictures I took prior to purchasing. Thank you so much in advance!

 

Welcome to the Forum. Congratulations ..From the pictures you are correct on the need to replace some lift components. The rust appears as surface rust and IMO not an issue. Do not see any grease leaking out of the diffs. Does it come with any maintenance records or receipts. What is your planned use / plans. Ask your questions, good knowledgeable group here.

 

You are correct in that Rough Country is not really quality stuff for the jeep, but there's really not much there. Shocks and springs are all I see really. control arms are factory, not even a raised rear TB bracket. you might look at where the drag link connects to the pitman arm and confirm that is not a drop pitman.

google "jeep jk factory lift height" and you'll see imagines where to measure in front and rear to determine how much lift that really has. Springs are, for the most part, springs. They're holding the jeep up. You could work around them just by upgrading steering components, shocks, and few brackets......or you could just buy a whole lift kit if money was not much of an issue.

 

Thanks so much for the replies. I live in rural northern California and currently daily a 2005 Pathfinder. Looking for something more capable as I find myself in situations where I can't go any further with the current rig. So I'd like to make this my new daily. The lift honestly is a little much, so when I buy a new one I'd love to get rid of those pucks that are currently installed. I'm thinking 2.5 is the sweet spot as I don't want to have anything larger then 33's. I'm not interested in re-gearing to accommodate 35's.

I guess the biggest question is, once I remove the pucks it's going change the geometry again. What else will I have to change to keep things driving correctly?

 

there is currently not any corrections installed, so anything you do to lower it is going to move you in the correct direction back towards factory. You are on the right path with all your thoughts. if you want to be around 2.5", which is a nice height, i'd add a nice raised TB bracket on the rear axle, I'd get a nice adjustable front TB, and i'd consider some control arm brackets which will help get your caster back up. it's probably pretty low at the moment.