my planned 3" lift, please advise?

iM7md

Member
Hey Guys,
I have 2012 Wrangler Sport, 2dr and planning to run 35x12.50x17 with Rugged Ridge XHD Wheels, I am considering 3" lift kit as per below items list:

- Teraflex JK 3" Suspension System w/ FlexArms, NO SHOCKS, 2 Door - 1456202
- Fox Racing Shox 2.0 Performance Series ATS Stabilizer
- TeraFlex JK Exhaust Spacer Kit for 2012 Driver and Passenger
- Rugged Ridge ORV Drop Pitman Arm
- TeraFlex Speed Bumps
- TeraFlex Monster HD Forged Front Adjustable Trackbar
- TeraFlex Monster HD Forged Rear Adjustable Trackbar
- Goodridge Braided Stainless Front Brake Hose Kit with Relocation Brackets
- Goodridge Braided Stainless Rear Brake Hose Kit with Relocation Brackets
- TeraFlex Front CV Driveshaft with Yokes
- TeraFlex Rear CV Driveshaft with Yokes
- Regearing
- Fox Racing Front 2.0 Factory Performance Series Remote Reservoir Shock

I am planning to buy the above items in pieces, as per your experience did I miss something? What's your feedback for each item?

Thanks in advance :)
 

Christarp

Member
Personally, I wouldn't run the teraflex stuff really. Feel free to take all this with a grain of salt as there are a lot of changes, but I'd make the following changes as I believe it'll save you money and headaches.

  • Is the 3" system a long arm or the short arm? Their long arm brackets break.
  • The front steering stabilizer can be dropped, keep the OEM one, charged gas shocks can cause a pull unlike the OEM hydro stabilizer
  • You most likely won't need the exhaust spacer (reason being you're switching driveshafts anyway)
  • Don't get the drop pitman arm, for a 3" lift you don't really need any steering geometry correction, and a much better solution is a draglink flip kit as it won't put more stress on your steering shaft.
  • Teraflex speed bumps are literally the foam you have right now inside a can (just more of it). If you want an actual "speed bump" look into the king air bumps, those are charged and can be adjusted, and there have been reports of the teraflex speed bumps failing.
  • Teraflex monster track bars have been known to fail, they have updated the design since then but the whole situation really didn't help them
  • I'd get a rear track bar bracket and keep the OEM track bar, should save some money
  • brake lines should be fine
  • for the driveshafts you may want to look into JE Reel, coast, adams, etc as long as you get the spicer or neapco joints and full circle clips. You don't want the chinese driveshafts. That being said I don't know if teraflex driveshafts are made in the US or not.
  • regearing is good
  • shocks will be fine, you can forego the remote reservoir if you don't do high speed stuff, but from the sound of it you plan on driving fast-ish since you wanted speedbumps.

You probably don't want to hear all of the above as there are a ton of changes, but I really think you should consider some of these things mentioned.
 
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iM7md

Member
Ha ha. ^^^This to the OP.

Why all the Tera love? Are you looking at any other options or just want us to approve what you're already set on getting.


- Jason

:)

I thought getting most of the items from one vender will have better chemistry, now I am having douts about teraflex, it seems that both of you have bad experience with!?
 

iM7md

Member
Personally, I wouldn't run the teraflex stuff really. Feel free to take all this with a grain of salt as there are a lot of changes, but I'd make the following changes as I believe it'll save you money and headaches.

  • Is the 3" system a long arm or the short arm? Their long arm brackets break.
  • The front steering stabilizer can be dropped, keep the OEM one, charged gas shocks can cause a pull unlike the OEM hydro stabilizer
  • You most likely won't need the exhaust spacer (reason being you're switching driveshafts anyway)
  • Don't get the drop pitman arm, for a 3" lift you don't really need any steering geometry correction, and a much better solution is a draglink flip kit as it won't put more stress on your steering shaft.
  • Teraflex speed bumps are literally the foam you have right now inside a can (just more of it). If you want an actual "speed bump" look into the king air bumps, those are charged and can be adjusted, and there have been reports of the teraflex speed bumps failing.
  • Teraflex monster track bars have been known to fail, they have updated the design since then but the whole situation really didn't help them
  • I'd get a rear track bar bracket and keep the OEM track bar, should save some money
  • brake lines should be fine
  • for the driveshafts you may want to look into JE Reel or coast, as long as you get the spicer or neapco joints and full circle clips. You don't want the chinese driveshafts. That being said I don't know if teraflex driveshafts are made in the US or not.
  • regearing is good
  • shocks will be fine, you can forego the remote reservoir if you don't do high speed stuff, but from the sound of it you plan on driving fast-ish since you wanted speedbumps.

You probably don't want to hear all of the above as there are a ton of changes, but I really think you should consider some of these things mentioned.

Thanks a lot Christarp,
3'' kit in mind is with short arms
based on my reading lifted wranglers without steering stabilizer are having steering issue
May I know more about king air bumps?
any recommendation for track bar bracket?

Feel free to rearrange that list , I feel like dumping Teraflex since she's high maintenance, any thoughts on replacement?
 

Christarp

Member
Personally, not entirely. I used to have their tire carrier, and there have been NUMEROUS breaks of them, and mine never did, but I was always checking it and worried about it, it was just annoying to constantly be worrying about it in the back of my mind, I contacted them and they sent me a new updated piece, but it didn't really reinforce it where all of the breaks were occurring so I eventually replaced it with an evo tire carrier with skins. There's a huge like 70 page thread on the tire carriers breaking, and there have been a suspiciously large amount of them. That being said, there are similar threads about their long arm brackets, and their monster track bars (at least the old design), and I know of but can't recall the specific person but their speedbumps ended up breaking as well. The long arm brackets they tried to blame on installation errors but it was simply poorly designed, same for their tire carrier. The evo air bumps aren't even that much more expensive than the speed bumps, but there's a huge quality difference, and it's the real deal. All of these factors aren't necessarily deal breakers, but they make me hesitant to use their products.

Edit:
The short arms will most likely be fine, I'm not sure about what joints they use but they are serviceable I believe so.
I have no issues with my stock steering stabilizer, you shouldn't get rid of it, but a properly set up and adjusted suspension shouldn't need one at all. As long as you get your measurements right you should be good to go. The problem with stabilizers like fox and bilstein are that they are charged shocks, and will want to push out and make you pull to one side. The OEM one is just a regular hydro shock and will not cause that to happen.
Here's northridge's page on the air bumps, it's pretty much the same concept as the speed bumps, but executed much better http://northridge4x4.com/shop/evo-manufacturing-jk-2007-14-king-bump-stops-evo600081 They don't have an easy to bolt in set for the rear though.
I'm probably not the person to ask about experiences with rear track bar brackets as I've only ever run the one I have right now (which is rubicon express, and they're not exactly known for their great components), but I suppose it hasn't failed or shown signs of failing at all so who knows.
 
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OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
Skip the teraflex lift as it is a rough ride on a two door. Skip the exhaust spacers if you are getting driveshafts. Skip the teraflex driveshafts and get a quality project like JE Reel or Adams. Skip the adjustable track bars and get the relocation bracket. Skip the drop pitman arm and get a drag link flip kit. Skip the fox steering stabilizer and keep your OEM.

That should save you a lot of money and make your ride that much better. Check out the EVO enforcer lift or the rancho 3" trail system.
 
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iM7md

Member
Personally, not entirely. I used to have their tire carrier, and there have been NUMEROUS breaks of them, and mine never did, but I was always checking it and worried about it, it was just annoying to constantly be worrying about it in the back of my mind, I contacted them and they sent me a new updated piece, but it didn't really reinforce it where all of the breaks were occurring so I eventually replaced it with an evo tire carrier with skins. There's a huge like 70 page thread on the tire carriers breaking, and there have been a suspiciously large amount of them. That being said, there are similar threads about their long arm brackets, and their monster track bars (at least the old design), and I know of but can't recall the specific person but their speedbumps ended up breaking as well. The long arm brackets they tried to blame on installation errors but it was simply poorly designed, same for their tire carrier. The evo air bumps aren't even that much more expensive than the speed bumps, but there's a huge quality difference, and it's the real deal. All of these factors aren't necessarily deal breakers, but they make me hesitant to use their products.

Edit:
The short arms will most likely be fine, I'm not sure about what joints they use but they are serviceable I believe so.
I have no issues with my stock steering stabilizer, you shouldn't get rid of it, but a properly set up and adjusted suspension shouldn't need one at all. As long as you get your measurements right you should be good to go. The problem with stabilizers like fox and bilstein are that they are charged shocks, and will want to push out and make you pull to one side. The OEM one is just a regular hydro shock and will not cause that to happen.
Here's northridge's page on the air bumps, it's pretty much the same concept as the speed bumps, but executed much better http://northridge4x4.com/shop/evo-manufacturing-jk-2007-14-king-bump-stops-evo600081 They don't have an easy to bolt in set for the rear though.
I'm probably not the person to ask about experiences with rear track bar brackets as I've only ever run the one I have right now (which is rubicon express, and they're not exactly known for their great components), but I suppose it hasn't failed or shown signs of failing at all so who knows.

Thanks again mate :)
 

iM7md

Member
Skip the teraflex lift as it is a rough ride on a two door. Skip the exhaust spacers if you are getting driveshafts. Skip the teraflex driveshafts and get a quality project like JE Reel or Adams. Skip the adjustable track bars and get the relocation bracket. Skip the drop pitman arm and get a drag link flip kit. Skip the fox steering stabilizer and keep your OEM.

That should save you a lot of money and make your ride that much better. Check out the EVO enforcer lift or the rancho 3" trail system.

Appreciated your your valued feedback you saved me a lot of money :) , here is my new items list:

- Rancho 3" Trail System (included front and rear coil springs, front and rear upper adjustable control arms, front adjustable track bar and rear track bar bracket, Front sway bar links are included along with front and rear bump stop spacers, front stainless steel brake lines and rear brake line brackets)

- EVO JK Draglink Flip Kit

- King Hydraulic Bump Stops

- Adams JK Front and Rear 1310 Rock Crawler CV Driveshaft Package [solid spicer u-joints]

- Regearing to 4.56 (manual transmission)

I didn't decided on shocks yet, any recommendation?
 

olram30

Not That Kind of Engineer
Appreciated your your valued feedback you saved me a lot of money :) , here is my new items list:

- Rancho 3" Trail System (included front and rear coil springs, front and rear upper adjustable control arms, front adjustable track bar and rear track bar bracket, Front sway bar links are included along with front and rear bump stop spacers, front stainless steel brake lines and rear brake line brackets)

- EVO JK Draglink Flip Kit

- King Hydraulic Bump Stops

- Adams JK Front and Rear 1310 Rock Crawler CV Driveshaft Package [solid spicer u-joints]

- Regearing to 4.56 (manual transmission)

I didn't decided on shocks yet, any recommendation?

Pair those springs up with Rancho 9000
 

iM7md

Member
Pair those springs up with Rancho 9000

I really like King Shocks reviews

- King Shocks Front 2.5" OEM Performance Series Shocks
- King Shocks Rear 2.5" OEM Performance Series Shocks

I wanna go faster and harder on & off road , Will King Shocks suits me? What do u think??
 
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rodgerdathug

New member
What I've asked and read that Eddie says the stock control arms are mid already might as well go adjustable long instead of short. Or something along the line of that.
 

jkjurny

Member
There's nothing wrong with the a Fox Shox you originally spec'd. You can keep those if the Kings are out of your price range. Fox also has air bumps.
 

OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
Appreciated your your valued feedback you saved me a lot of money :) , here is my new items list:

- Rancho 3" Trail System (included front and rear coil springs, front and rear upper adjustable control arms, front adjustable track bar and rear track bar bracket, Front sway bar links are included along with front and rear bump stop spacers, front stainless steel brake lines and rear brake line brackets)

- EVO JK Draglink Flip Kit

- King Hydraulic Bump Stops

- Adams JK Front and Rear 1310 Rock Crawler CV Driveshaft Package [solid spicer u-joints]

- Regearing to 4.56 (manual transmission)

I didn't decided on shocks yet, any recommendation?

You will need adjustable lower front control arms to set your axle up properly as well. The rest of the list looks fine. I would probably go to 4.88 gears though.
 

Christarp

Member
Since you plan on going fast I'd also suggest throwing in a set of C-gussets for your front axle as well, EVO, artec, etc make them. Most here use EVO, they're like $60 or something and will give you a bit more strength on your front axle C's (which are a weak point) when off road.
 

Skirmish

New member
A Wrangler isn't really a good vehicle to run fast off road. You can do it but you will either be breaking parts a lot or spending a lot and breaking parts less often. The lift you are looking at is designed for driving trails at lower speeds and the joints will wear out quickly at high speeds. The d30 and d44 axles aren't made to take that abuse either and you will need more than gusetts to stop the bending. Minimum would be c gussets and chromoly shafts. Ideally you would have 60's front and rear trussed. Minimum for shocks would be an external resi but coilovers are better. With regular shocks they will over heat and the rears have a bar pin that cannot take abuse well. If you really want to go fast off road in a Jeep I would strongly suggest getting an Evo coilover system because that is what they are designed for and have been tested hard. Other than that, get a trail welder cause you will need it.
 

TheDuff

New member
regarding King Hydraulic Bump Stops , Should I install in front and rear or front only?

I found bolt on Brackets for both front and rear:

http://www.outlawoffroad.com/190780...upper-mounting-brackets-both-sides.html#popUp[products]/1/

http://www.outlawoffroad.com/190780...and-lower-axle-pads-for-both-sides.html#popUp[products]/2/

Pricy! :eek:

You can't use those brackets with coil springs. The cost of those brackets would be better spent paying a shops labor rate to weld in the evo brackets for the king bumps... at least you wouldn't have to worry about breaking a bracket.

Sent from my LG-D800 using WAYALIFE mobile app
 

iM7md

Member
You will need adjustable lower front control arms to set your axle up properly as well. The rest of the list looks fine. I would probably go to 4.88 gears though.

I found 4 manufactures for JK adjustable lower front control arms:

Synergy Jeep JK Adjustable Front Lower Control Arms (Pair)

Rusty's Adjustable Front Lower Control Arms w/ Forged Flex End (JK)

Rough Country Jeep Adjustable Control Arms (Front-Lower)

EVO Front Lower Adjustable JK Control Arms

Please advise?
 
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