Hi guys

Im putting a 3-3.5 inch lift on my jeep, and narrowed it down to 2 kits. The Terraflex 3" coil lift with front lower and rear upper adj control arms, 9550 shocks and trackbar (#TF-1251222). And Rubicon Express 3.5" coil lift with mono tube shocks and track bar, and id buy adj control arms separate (#RE-7122M)

The kits balance out to be about the same price so I'm wondering if one has more stuff I need (is one missing some vital thing I'm missing that I'll have to buy later?) and is one considerably better?

If anyone has any experience with any of these that would be very helpful as I'm new to lifts. I don't want to touch the driveshaft at all so I want the control arms to create the proper angles and everything. Il be running 35's with 4.5 backspacing and stock fenders for now. Iv got a Smittybilt SRC with winch up front + the 35" spare in back, will that make me lose any lift?

Thanks any help would be great!

 

I run a Rubicon Express 3.5 on my JKU with the front control arm drop brackets. It works pretty good on the trail but I went through 2 sets of trackbar bushings in 3 years. I've since replaced the trackbar with a Teraflex bar and added Teraflex front lower control arms to get rid of the frequent death wobble that I had. If I could do it over again I'd go with the Metalcloak lift and call it a day.

 

Laughed when I saw that. I've seen quite a few people saying it the last few months.


Anyway, the components in those kits look fairly comparable. Tera had some negative comments about coils sagging a while back, don't think I've seen any recently. Rubicon express gets a lot of bad comments, but that is mostly just because of who owns them I think. Haven't really heard much about the quality of their stuff. One thing I'll mention is that that kit comes with front and rear cam bolts. If you choose this kit, make sure those are not installed!

The control arms can help with the driveshaft angles, but simply from the height, you should expect to be crawling underneath and checking the joints - especially the front shaft at the t-case!!!

 

why is that? again being new to lifts I'm trying to learn everything I can.

 

Cam bolts do not actually permanently fix anything.

They alter the geometry of stock arms via modification to attach and don't have a formidable way of holding up over time. Once tightened they can work loose and start ovaling out or shifting about.

In short, there are other more reliable and safe manners of caster correction available.

 

Because you said you are adding adjustable control arms...

Why would you install adjustable cam bolts when the adjustable control arms do the same job, only better? And since the brackets have to be notched out to allow the cam bolts to be installed, you have to do something with those expanded holes if/when you remove them.

 

ah ok got it. I knew the "sport" version came with control arm extension bracket but these are different in that its simply a way to adapt the stock arms to a different angle to help the geometry, but doesnt drop for a more ideal angle like the bracket/new arms correct?


btw Is there any real advantage to the high steer kit the "sport" kit also comes with?

thanks

 

Cam bolts / drop brackets / adj arms : all have their own ways of rotating the axle to set the caster. But yes, the drop brackets have the added benefit of bringing the arms from steeper angles to being more parallel to the ground, which is said to help with driveability.

High steers / draglink flips / drop pitmans : do the same 'parallel to the ground' thing for the steering. After the lift, the front trackbar and draglink are angled up. So these options will raise the axle ends of both bars, or lower the frame ends of both bars. Not must-haves (my opinion), more of a drive it with the lift and see what you think of the handling, then research the options and consider if you want to spend more money.

 

With those two companies just flip a coin and buy. Personally I would not recommend either company as there are better choices out there. Its your jeep though and your budget. I am sure you have a reason for choosing those two companies. Before its all said and done expect to spend quite a bit more then your initial investment on an incomplete lift at those heights.

You say you don't want to touch driveshafts but at that height you are likely going to have a driveshaft related issues at some point if you take your jeep off road. I would not be concerned if you are just driving around on the pavement.

At a lift height of 3.5"+ you may or may not want a high steer kit. If you want it to drive good they you will want it. If you don't mind it driving like shit and hard to control with drifting when driving down the highway then don't worry about the high steer.

Heavy bumpers and winches will reduce actual lift height, that is what coils do and if you put more weight on them they will compress more. That being said it takes quit a bit of weight to compress most of the coils out there. With coil rates in the 220-250lb range you would have to add around 450 pounds to make the child compress roughly 1" Most companies out there have oversized their coils to compensate for heavier bumpers and armor so when you are looking at 3.5" lifts you can reality expect to 4"+ plus out of them unless you have a lot of extra weight on the jeep.

Good luck with your choice and the jeep.

 

Ya narrowed down to those two due to availability and budget, also they are the most complete kits I could find at that hight without having 8 short arms or being a LA kit.

What are you saying is missing?/ I would have to add? And would that same problem persist at the 2.5 range for the RE Kit? (I'm leaning towards the 3" teraflex anyway)

but iv heard of people getting a 2.5" 4 door kit in the RE so it acts like 3" of lift on the 2 door..?