jeeperjkj

Still debating a way to spread out the money over a longer term -vs- throwing on a 4" lift right away for 37's and needing gears and driveshafts, too, all at the same time.

It was mentioned in another thread to use a 3" lift w/ a 1" body lift to negate the need for driveshafts.

I really don't want to use a body lift if I can get away from it.

Is it possible to use a coil spacer lift on top of a 3" lift to provide another 1"-2" of lift? Would I still need new driveshafts with the spacer lift instead of the body lift? I think so, but I'm not sure. If so, that wouldn't really help.

What negative impact would I see in going with coil spacers on top of a 3" lift instead of just swapping to a 4" or 4.5" lift? Even if I needed to do drive shafts with it, it'd still help spread the $ out a bit. The 3" would let me run 35's and when I got the $ for 37's and drive shafts, I could go that route.

I'm glad I've got a couple of months still before I get this thing now. I'm sooo indecisive!

User 12721

Don't really know what your immediate budget is right now, so can't really advise you on if you should slowly upgrade or do everything at once. Personally, I like to do things one step at a time so I can appreciate the upgrade, instead of tossing everything on at once and not really know which upgrade improved which of those aspects of drivability that fall into a gray category.

It should be possible to use spacers on top of the 3" coils, but that would essentially be the same thing as adding new coils the length of the sum of the 3" coil plus the spacer, so yeah you would need new driveshafts.

Depending on what lift you get, it may not give you adjustable arms with the 3" kit, but if you want to get new driveshafts you'll have to get the arms also. Another thing with adding spacers are that they're just that - a spacer. An inch of spacer probably won't make a huge difference, but to me a spacer is just a mechanically inferior way of increasing suspension performance...I prefer to do it right with full length springs.

robin

what collin w said is probably very similar to what I think, but KJrubiconwannabe didn't you say two days ago you already new you wanted 35s? and you also said you were not getting a jeep anymore. with over 800 posts shouldn't you know this? seriously my 12 year old nephew has the exact same questions and dreams that you have for when he buys his jeep. the only difference is that he'll probably actually end up buying one. not just dreaming.

TEEJ

LOL

Yeah - the lift raises the frame, so that the engine's output is further from the diffs, which stay where they were...so the shafts need to reach further, and, also, down at a sharper angle.

The 4 dr's JK's are long, so their angle is not as acute as it is for the 2 dr JKs...so getting a 4 dr (Esp if you have kids anyway, etc...may make some sense, save some mod $, etc.



Adding a spacer, a longer coil, etc...all does the same thing, raises the frame...so it just doesn't matter how you do it....the end result is the same.

Don't be so prejudiced against BLs....remember, a SL only raises your ride height.

If a larger tire is mounted, the rising tire would hit the same thing it would hit WITHOUT an SL as WITH an SL...its just starting pre-drooped, etc.

That's why people who actually offroad, so as to actually need their tires to stuff as far up into the wells as possible...get a BL.

Otherwise...instead of the tire having more articulation/uptravel...and the tire alone rising with the terrain...the truck is picked up on that corner because the tire cannot rrise any further, etc.

So, as a BL doesn't change the center of gravity enough to notice, but an SL DOES....the BL is the best way to make more room for tire travel upwards (Short of removing the fenders, etc...)

The BL doesn't change the suspension or steering geometry, etc, like an SL does either....so its far less involved...and, for every inch of BL, you can fit a 2" large diameter tire than without it.

As 33's fit a stock JK, a 1" BL makes room for 35's, and a 2" BL makes room for 37's, etc.



People have come up with clever solutions to hide the BL related frame/body gaps...theres quuite a few posts about it....and modern BLs are way stronger than in the old days...Hell, the 4 dr JK uses 12 body mount points for example, it ain't gonna go anywhere.

So - Even with an SL tall enough to fit 37's (At ride height), unless you are a mall crawler doing this for looks, you'll want to preserve as much articulation as possible.

Another point to keep in mind, ONLY taller tires make more TOTAL ground clearance...the SL ONLY raises the frame....the axles and diffs remain where they started....and, the BEST way to fit taller tires is with a BL (Or removal of fenders, etc...).

When on the side of a hill, off camber...you want to be as low as possible....a tall lifted rig doesn't like to be off camber....the roll overs can make you dizzy, bang your head, spill the kids sippy cup, etc. Same ON road...you trade a lot of accident avoidance maneuverability when you get too tall a lift, etc.



I'd go for armor first on a DD...as you will NEVER be lifted enough to never hit, and the armor helps ensure that you you can still get to work monday morning after a weekend's fun, etc.


Good Luck!

jeeperjkj

Well, it wasn't exactly 2 days ago, but yeah, I did say I was decided on 35's. Then shortly after, the wifey asked me why not just go ahead and put 37's on if I'm going to eventually anyway... I took that as a direct request from her for 37's.

As far as if/when I'll get it, my JK is on order now. I'm just awaiting a firm timeline for when I'll be back in the States. Right now, I'm stuck in Guam on medical hold with the AF. Trust me, if it were up to me, I'd be back by now and my JK would be under my arse on a trail somewhere.

If worse comes to worst and I end up medically separated or retired, then I probably won't get the '09 I have on order, but I'll start looking for a used '07 or '08 to adopt and make my own.

Does that make it all better?

jeeperjkj

BTW, for those of you who had helpful answers to my questions, thank you. That confirms what I thought was true.