Rebel Heart

I've narrowed my search down to two lifts. I am looking for help in trying to make a final decision. Could you not only list which one you think is better but the reason. I think these are both great lifts, so trying to gather some deciding information. I will be running 35s on a 2-door. Thanks.

wayoflife

Which Full Traction kit were you looking at? The Econo, Premium or Ultimate? I've never run a Black Diamond kit but if you were looking at the FT Econo kit, the BD kit is more complete and you might want to consider it. The only thing I would recommend is that you NOT install the cam bolts that come with the kit and save up for some adjustable control arms as they would do a better job of setting your caster. Now, if you were looking at the Premium or Ultimate FT kit, I would go with them as they are way more complete.

I've never run a BD kit so I can't help you beyond what I can see of it but I have run a Full Traction 3" Ultimate kit for almost a year now and have put on 16,000+ miles on it on and a lot off the road and can tell you that it is an outstanding kit. Extremely well built, great ride, outstanding flex and completely adjustable so that you can dial in your ride. Need I say, I would highly recommend this kit.

Rubimon

And I started with the FT 3" Economy lift and have progressively added on to it until it is basically the Ultimate, so that could be a plan too. Depends what your Ultimate goal is. Not sure if BD gives you that option or not, without mixing components from different brands. The closer you get to the more complete kits the better your ride will be on and off the road, so think down the road a little too.

Dr. Satan

Can anyone explain the benefits of the fixed length lower control arms on the FT premium kit? Are they the same length as the stock arms or are they fixed at a length to benefit the new vehicle height after the lift?

wayoflife

I'm pretty sure they are the same lenght as stock but not 100% sure. If that is the case, the only real benefit of them is that you would get better articulation and they are significantly stronger than stock.

Rebel Heart

Thanks for the replies. I am considering the FT Ultimate kit. Do I need to replace the shocks with monotube shock? Adjustable track bar up front? Longer sway bar lengths? Longer brake lines? Or, are these components located in the kit? Any other items that I need to remember when ordering?

Appreciate the comments.

Rebel Heart

I read in a couple of the threads ago (a week) that some were having problems with the FT lift with regard to clacking sounds because of a poor greasing set-up? Not sure if I got this right, but I know some were questioning their lift because of this issue. Is this correct? Thanks.

wayoflife

Minus shocks, the Full Traction Ultimate kit is 100% complete and comes with everything you need to dial in your ride. Regarding shocks, I would highly recommend getting the M-Force monotube shocks or Old Man Emu shocks as they will provide a great ride.

While there have been a couple of people to have what they claim are clacking sounds from their front track bar, I can tell you that I do not nor do the hundreds of people who have it on their Jeep. So long as you install it properly with white lithium or better grease upon assembly and tighten it to the proper torque setting, you should not have any problems with it. I have over 16,000 miles on my kit and I have never had this sound and I have yet to re-grease it for any reason. This has been true of every FT track bar I have installed on friends JK's.

Here is a link to my installation write-up that should help you out...

http://project-jk.com/jeep-jk-write-...ation-write-up

Rebel Heart

Great information. Thank you.

Will I need to order different drive shafts? My offroading will be at a minimum.

RubiconOrdie

I have the BD Kit and I love it. It may only be a 500 dollar kit but you need to get adjustable links, the CAM bolts are a Band Aid until you install those but I agree with everyone, you don't want CAM bolts. I hear good things about Full Traction Lifts, a lot of JK owners stand by it so, in my opinion, you won't go wrong with either kit.

BD is a with Superlift so you can build as you go since a number of Superlift parts are interchangeable with BD (Rock Runner Arms, Rear Adjustable Track Bar, etc).