I am thinking about purchasing this lift kit. It was highly touted in Peterson's 4x4 review earlier this fall. Does anyone have any experience with this lift? Is there another lift in this category that is better? Of those lifts rated, it seemed for the price that it was the best. Thanks for your help.

 

Hey Rebel Heart:

Just put my 3" BD lift on last week. I went ahead and put on upper and lower short arms on the front for castor adjustment. I do not believe in cam bolts for offroad applications. Went with extended SS brake lines front and rear rather than bend what I had. Also used a Superlift adjustable rear track bar and HD steering dampener.

Also in the alignment process, I found out my camber was way off. I popped out the stock upper ball joints and went back with eccentric ball joints and was able to roll about 5.5 degrees of castor into the axle while correcting camber at the same time. Had to roll the axle very little. This kept my pinion angle tolerable.

Also found out the camber on the rear was really weird also, nothing I can do about it short of cutting the axle tube and re-welding at a corrected angle. Maybe a project for later.

Trued the MT MTZ's and speed balanced them on the spindles to 117 Ft./Sec. (80 mph).

Final result... great flex ability and super road characteristics. Ride is better than new. Good luck in whatever you choose....

 

I have the SL 4" and I like the lift. I installed it myself and it seems like a good lift other than the rear track bar relocation bracket. In order to maintain a shallow angle on the track bar and make up for the increased distance from point to point, a bracket is supplied to raise the lower pivot point. The relocation bracket is in effect, a lever arm on the bracket. Any bracket of this type will put additional stress on the original bracket that is welded onto the axle which is light gage and under engineered IMO. A number of people on this site have had failed track bar brackets ripping off both the front and rear axle. I welded mine to beef up both the front and rear brackets and I recommend this for everyone.

If you are not interested in welding, I would at a minimum, change to an adjustable rear track to compansate for the increased distance from bracket point to bracket point, though the track bar angle will be steeper which will cause the axle to shift farther from left to right as it sweeps though its travel. This is still better than adding a lever arm to the lower bracket (the track bar relocation bracket). A number of adjustable rear track bars are offered but will raise the cost of your lift.

The stock track bar brackets are likely sufficient under stock rigs but as weight, tire size and ride height increase, addtional stress will be put on all chassis components and seem to exceed the stock track bar brackets.

I upgraded to the SSR shocks and rock runner arms. The ride is firm but well damped. Not overly harsh. I cannot speak for the standard shocks.

Overall I am pleased and would recommend the lift.

 

I installed the BD 3" lift myself and it's great. I do have the SS Shocks, which are just Bilstein Schocks. I also have the Rockrunner arms and I really suggest going with adjustable arms. It is honestly a 4" lift since my lift added just over 4" of lift to my ride.

 

Thanks for the responses. I see that in addition to the kit I need to pony up for the following:

different shocks
adjustable arms
adjustable rear track

Anything that I missed? Again, thank you for the input.

 

I am in the process of buying BD 3 inch lift with the SS shocks for a 2 Door JK Any sponsor dealer that can ship To San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

Looks like you got it all. There is one thing nice about the lift is that you can buy the lift with different shocks then upgrade the rest as you go along. (Rock Runner Arms) It took a while to receive my adjustable arms so be prepared to wait for them. Or you could always go with a different manufacturer. I don't like mixing manufactures, I either wanted all 8 arms Super Lift or all a different brand. (Just my Pref)

 

Just finished my Black Diamond 3" lift. Used the Xtreme Terrain adjustable lower control arms and the adjustable rear track arm. The interesting thing is I got a bit over 4.5 inches in the front and almost exactly 2 inches in the back - and exactly 3 inches at the door sill. Looks good all leveled out, rides nice. Just a bit surprised by the 2" net lift in the rear. Once I get the front Shrockworks bumper w/PowerPlant and rear PureJeep w/Tire Carrier, I hoping things will stay level.

Any other experiences with the Black Diamond lift?

 

I have the Warn Rock Bumber (Heavy) and a 9.5ti Winch, and mine is within milimeters of being perfectly level. I know the Powerplant is heavy, though. I'm curious if yours stays level. I would think it would.

 

AZJEEPER,

Have the same lift kit as yours..have'nt installed it though..Is the kit complete? did it pit back your fornt steering geometry back to OE? any steering problems encountered?