JKinMA

Hey guys, I have a 2012 JKU Sahara currently with a 2.5 in BB spacer lift with 35" Nitto Trail Grapplers. Loving the tires so far, not too impressed with the lift, and I suspect it's because I cheaped out and went with a budget boost (no offense Teraflex! Great product for the price). I had a strange thought the other night: can I run spacers on top of lift coils and just run a longer shock for a cheaper way to gain more height? I'm thinking of throwing some 3" lift coils under there, figuring that with future mods it'll end up being 2", so I'd have 2" of coil lift and 2.5" of spacer lift and run shocks made for 3-5 inches of lift. Anyone have any comments/discussion?

bob-o

The 3" teraflex coils with probably lift it jku 3.5 to 4". I have a 12' jkur with tf 2.5" coil lift and I got 3" of lift. So maybe u should get the 3" lift from tf and sell the BB on this forum and use the money for some other mod like front drive shaft or whatever. Im gonna try to put bilstein shocks for a 4" lift on my 2.5. And extend the front bumpstops, spring retainers and longer brake lines

wayoflife

what part of the lift aren't you impressed with? for the most part, your ride shouldn't be any different than stock.

regarding your lift question, when you start to push past 2.5" of lift, you do realize that you'll need to start thinking about replacing your front drive shaft and need to get things like longer shocks, longer sway bar links, possible exhaust modifications, longer brake lines, caster adjustment and, if you really get up over 3" of lift, steering correction and axle recentering. really, if you want to go that tall, you really should do it right and get a complete kit with heavy duty adjustable components.

golfer97

To answer your question if it can be done...I have a friend who had a 2" budget boost and a 1" body lift on his Sahara. When I upgraded my lift from a 2.5" coil lift to a 3.5" lift, he took my old stuff and put it on top of his BB. So he ended up getting about 5.5" of overall lift out of it. He actually wheeled it once running my old shocks but they didn't give him enough travel so he upgraded to longer shocks.


OK...so yes, it can be done. But as others have stated, it opens up a whole other can of worms. Same friend of mine found his drive was awful so he had to buy lower front adjustable arms to fix his caster. He wrecked his driveshafts so he upgraded (think he went with Coast). He's had other issues as well but they are probably not related to the lift. I know he is looking for a full set of adjustable arms though.

So, if you plan on stacking lifts, expect to spend a lot more on other parts you WILL need. If you like your height but you are looking for better off-road capabilities, there are plenty of 2.5" coil lifts out there to choose from that will perform great. And most won't lead to any of the other problems you get once you hit 3" or more. And to others posts, what is it that you don;t like about the BB? The handling should be as close to stock as you can get. Once you start swapping out coils and shocks, things can drastically cahnge on drive feel so be warned.

JKinMA

As to why I'm disappointed with the lift, its because I feel that it rides very rough. I believe this is because I cheaped out again and opted for the shock extender brackets instead of just upgrading my shocks. Bob-o that sounds like an excellent idea you have actually. I really do want to have another chance with Teraflex's systems, so that sounds like the most likely route.

WOL, golfer, thank you for bringing those things up again, the completely slipped my mind in this whole process. As it stands I have woods shafts, just because I knew its an issue with ANY lift, and I'm thinking of relocating the box by the rear shaft boot, can't recall the name, to have some improved clearance in the rear.

Anyone have some recommendations on some good shocks? I mainly run overland trails at higher speeds, but it is 25/75 ratio of wheeling and DD, gotta keep that in mind.

Thank you guys for the considerations

wayoflife

when you installed your lift, did you make sure to loosen your control arm bolts and then re-tignten them to torque specs with the weight of your jeep on the ground? if not, you might want to give that a try and see if it helps. also, how much air are you running in your nitto's? with a set of 35's, you really shouldn't be running more than 30 psi. anything more and your ride will be rough. just trying to put some perspective on things and maybe save you some money. of course, if you're just feeling like spending some cash, don't let me stand in your way

i think you could easily find a set of rubicon take offs for free and they would be an improvement over what you are running now. other than that, a good monotube shock like a set of bilstein 5100's is what i would recommend. i understand that rancho now has a set and it pretty good too.

JKinMA

Sure did tighten the bolts that way. However, I'll try it again, can't hurt. I'm currently running 32psi in the nittos on the street, I dabbled in some chalk testing and it looked really good wear-wise so I never second guessed it. I'll definitely check out the shocks mentioned. Would rubi take offs give me a good amount of travel even though I'm lifted?

Bonedoc

X2 on the Bilstein 5100s. I recently installed a set on my JK and replaced the SSV shocks that came with my 4.5" lift. Night and Day difference. I wish I had done it 30K miles ago.