jk lift opinions

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elitasrev

New member
I have a new to me 2008 rubicon 2 door, I also recently bought a house in southern colorado. My goal/use for my jeep is going to be about 50/50 street and some of the trails around colorado, some sand, rocks and mud are all encountered where I go. I will also likely be carrying at least 150 to 200lbs of camping gear/food/water in addition to recovery gear some what frequently. A small boat behind the jeep is also within the realm of possible uses.

I have a line on a Rancho RS66104B Suspension System brand new for under 600 dollars, that is the short arm crawler setup. I originally had shopped aev/evo/krawler and have ridden in several lifted jeeps, including a terraflex and aev, but nobody I know locally has a rancho setup. I liked the onroad manners of the AEV I guess, for someone who never went down a washboarded road, but for me, it was too stiff, and I just didn't love the terraflex, cant put a specific reason on it. I do like my stock ride, so, my question is, how does the rs66104b compare to stock ride, do 9000xl's allow me to really adjust the character of the ride to something similar to stock, or are the springs too much of a influence for the adjustable shocks to overcome?

secondly, aside from shocks, which I planned on getting 9000xl's, is there any other additional upgrades I should consider with this lift? such as a highsteer etc? I realize its alot of lift for my planned 35x12.50 nitto trail grapplers, but for the price I am having a hard time considering alternatives
 
H8ROADS

H8ROADS

Caught the Bug
elitasrev said:
I have a new to me 2008 rubicon 2 door, I also recently bought a house in southern colorado. My goal/use for my jeep is going to be about 50/50 street and some of the trails around colorado, some sand, rocks and mud are all encountered where I go. I will also likely be carrying at least 150 to 200lbs of camping gear/food/water in addition to recovery gear some what frequently. A small boat behind the jeep is also within the realm of possible uses.

I have a line on a Rancho RS66104B Suspension System brand new for under 600 dollars, that is the short arm crawler setup. I originally had shopped aev/evo/krawler and have ridden in several lifted jeeps, including a terraflex and aev, but nobody I know locally has a rancho setup. I liked the onroad manners of the AEV I guess, for someone who never went down a washboarded road, but for me, it was too stiff, and I just didn't love the terraflex, cant put a specific reason on it. I do like my stock ride, so, my question is, how does the rs66104b compare to stock ride, do 9000xl's allow me to really adjust the character of the ride to something similar to stock, or are the springs too much of a influence for the adjustable shocks to overcome?

secondly, aside from shocks, which I planned on getting 9000xl's, is there any other additional upgrades I should consider with this lift? such as a highsteer etc? I realize its alot of lift for my planned 35x12.50 nitto trail grapplers, but for the price I am having a hard time considering alternatives
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I know a lot of people here in CO run Rancho lifts. Our Rancho rep on here lives in Boulder too, so they're around plenty. I can't speak to their ride because I've never riden in them, but I've heard plenty of good things about those shocks.

Anytime you get up into the 4" lift territory on a 2 door, there's several things you're going to want to consider doing. Steering geometry will be a bit funny, so drag link flip and the like will help. Not uncommon to need to replace your drive shafts as well if they rub or have issues. I had to. And it's not a lot of lift, but it is higher than you need for 35s no doubt. I ran this way for awhile and had no major issues. My lift sat closer to 5" (even though it was a 4" Teraflex), but 35x12.5 were great on it and I kept up with everyone in Moab pretty well with that setup. Only needing a hand a few times over the years.
 
wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
This is a decent kit and for the price, I would take it. As mentioned, with 4" of lift, you will need to think about things like your drive shafts especially your rear being that you have a 2-door and it'll be way short and up front if you have an automatic. Don't waste your money on orange knuckles as they will only get your tie-rod up about an inch and you will still hit it. Instead, look into a good HD tie-rod. I personally prefer a Currie but, they are pretty expensive.

Having said all that, 4" of lift is a LOT of lift for just a set of 35" tires. If it were me, I might consider a 2.5"-3" lift instead. Rancho makes good kits for this as well.
 
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elitasrev

New member
yes, I neglected to mention I planed at least a 1350 double cardan from tom woods in the rear, probably leave front alone if i can get away with it

so, something like http://www.quadratec.com/products/16315_6003.htm and http://www.quadratec.com/products/16315_6000_07.htm and I should be good to go for steering happiness

I also planned rockslide engineering c gusssets, axle sleeve and possibly short and long side trusses on the front axle, especially since after all this 37's would only be a regear away
 
2Cross

2Cross

Caught the Bug
If money is tight do what I did to my sons 2dr. Trim the fenders and rock rails. It's almost free and only takes a couple of hours.
Retains stock ride (I swapped out shocks for Rancho 9000s).
Now he has 35" KM2s I picked up on Craigslist. ImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1420506411.443487.jpg
 
wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
elitasrev said:
yes, I neglected to mention I planed at least a 1350 double cardan from tom woods in the rear, probably leave front alone if i can get away with it
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If you're really set on getting a woods shaft, make sure you pay to have the cheap Chinese gold seal u-joints upgraded to a set of Spicer or Neapco. The gold seal joints he offers standard are known to fail without too much effort.

so, something like http://www.quadratec.com/products/16315_6003.htm and http://www.quadratec.com/products/16315_6000_07.htm and I should be good to go for steering happiness
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The tie-rod you want but the drag link flip will be a waste being that the Rancho kit you're looking at already comes with a track bar relocation bracket and dropped pitman arm. Also, you might want to do a little more research as you will find there are guys who haven't been to happy with the Synergy joints.

I also planned rockslide engineering c gusssets, axle sleeve and possibly short and long side trusses on the front axle, especially since after all this 37's would only be a regear away
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong but it sounds to me like you've been doing a lot of research on my old forum. Do yourself a favor and NOT waste your money building up your factory axle. Add some c-gussets and play with it for as long as you can or until you can afford a real upgrade like a ProRock 44. Sleeves or worse, trusses are a waste of money as you will still bend your axle housing and really, even a bent housing is the least of your concerns. A broken shaft or worse, a ring and pinion will leave you high and dry.
 
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