phanline6.6

I had a budget boost on for about a month, couldn't take the ride. Went with coils like I should have in the first place, much better ride!

nthinuf

How much lift are you actually looking for?

I ordered the pre-long travel OME HD front/MD rear setup from northridge.
With a full rugged ridge xhd and a warn 9.5i winch, I got over 3 1/4" up front. (some folks are reporting over 4")

With no extra weight in the back, the MD's made it nice and level. However, after a year the rears are sagging enough show a noticable backward rake. (added a 3/4" spacer up front and a 1" spacer in back, and still have a slight backward rake...)

So, you might consider the same rate springs front and rear.

Also, if you don't get a full kit, at some point you'll want to consider:
-Adjustable trackbars
-Extended rear sway bar links and move the rears to the front.
-A set of adjustable front CA's
-Extended brakelines
-Bumpstops extensions
(I got the adj trackbars with the lift, and if I had it to do over again, I'd go with a set of adj front ca's first...)

mailman1119

interesting. it seems like a lot of people are doing the HD up front and MD in the back. does anyone else have this problem? and to answer your question, i'm not looking for a huge amount of lift. just enough to get some extra ground clearance and clear 33's sometime down the road.

mailman1119

so it's a couple weeks later and i have installed the 2" OME JK lift (coils and shocks). I love the ground clearance, but i gotta say, the on-road handling is absolutely horrible (exactly what i was worried about). My question is how much worse should you expect the jeep to ride with a higher center of gravity regardless of the lift you pick?

the jeep bounces, the steering is slow and sluggish, if i hit a bump while cornering, the jeep gets thrown into the direction of the turn, very hard to control at speed....even to the point where the esp went off once (that was a scary one).

please help!

wrnglrguy

I am not sure what components you put on with your kit. If all you changed was the springs and shocks, then fixing your "driving conditions" will require more parts being added. When you lift your JK, you HAVE to get an alignment. Also, with 2-3" of overall lift, your axle are no longer centered, so, either trackbar drop brackets or adj trackbars need to be added to correct that. Last, most likely, your caster is off in the front axle of your JK. This can be corrected with front lower control arms, preferrably adj ones.

Those items mentioned will give you the ride you are looking for. On my last JK, I got a basic lift...BDS 3", and it gave me only 3" of lift. Your lift probably gave you close to that as well. With my lift, I installed a rear trackbar drop bracket (came with the lift) and put on a front adj trackbar (instead of using the drop bracket). My lift also came with cam bolts to set the caster in the front. These are not as preferred as adj control arms, but they did the job for my type of driving. After all was said and done, I had no issues at all. It drove and rode better than stock. The only difference I noticed was a week later it got a little more bouncy when I added the 35" tires. Larger tires do make a difference in the ride. I have pics of my old JK in my profile.

mailman1119

Thanks. all i put on was the shocks and springs. haven;t even added new tires yet. i had a suspicion that the response would be "add more stuff" but was hoping that wasn't the case.

wrnglrguy

Well, unfortantely, that is the nature of the beast. The "add more stuff" is because you changed the dynamics of your suspension, which throws everything off, and you just need to "correct it" by putting on a few certain things that will adjust it to where it needs to be. The JK is very easy to lift, and for all intents and purposes, it is cheaper over all. It cost me less money to get 35's under my last JK than to get 33's under the TJ I used to have. The parts I metioned however, are not very expensive. You can get trackbar drop brackets for around $60-$100 but you can get adj trackbars for around $130 a piece. The control arms really depend on what mfg you go with, but they would range from roughly $200-$350 for a set of 2 (need 4 total at a minimum...2 for the front and 2 for the rear) to get your setup close to where it should be. But, personally, if it where me, I would work on the front end first.....I would put on a front adj trackbar and front lower adj control arms and get the front end working right. Parts for that would run you around, say, $400ish. You can work on the back end of the JK later. Get the front fixed first and you'll be much happier with your ride.

Captainmorgan

stock


OME HD front 619 and OME MD rears 618... gained about 3 3/4 in front and 2 3/4 in the rear

ride is a little firmer but like it... still a little front rake...

Go with OME you will not regret it..

mailman1119

i did go with the OME and unfortunately i am kind of regretting it. i will most likely sink some more $$$$ into it at the suggestion of some of the folks on here, but for right now, great off road, looks cool, not so hot on road. fingers crossed that the extra cash helps!