What lift would you get for a 2018 JKU.

FUGEDABOUTIT

New member
Hello JKU Peeps,
I am moving up from my TJ into a 2018 JKU Sport. We have enjoyed our TJ on 33's and she has performed well on the rocks. We use her 1 or 2 times a month with our Jeep Club in So Cal. I want to get a 3.5" lift with 35's. I will re gear to 5.13's and add E lockers to it. I am looking at 2 different lift kits. My budget is $2000 for the lift with shocks.
JKS SPEC J Konnect 3.5" or the Metal Cloak 3.5 Game Changer. I will be installing it myself. Any insight will we be appreciated.

Thanks
Chris
 

Saharaunlmtd

Caught the Bug
If your goal is 35s, I’d go with the JKS 2.5” lift. It’s plenty for 35s and you can avoid having to do a drag link flip and the mandatory 3” front bump stop size that comes with it.


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MericaMade

Active Member
Hello JKU Peeps,
I am moving up from my TJ into a 2018 JKU Sport. We have enjoyed our TJ on 33's and she has performed well on the rocks. We use her 1 or 2 times a month with our Jeep Club in So Cal. I want to get a 3.5" lift with 35's. I will re gear to 5.13's and add E lockers to it. I am looking at 2 different lift kits. My budget is $2000 for the lift with shocks.
JKS SPEC J Konnect 3.5" or the Metal Cloak 3.5 Game Changer. I will be installing it myself. Any insight will we be appreciated.

Thanks
Chris

Evo is what I always prefer. I would not put Metal Cloak on my jeep if you bought it and gave it to me. Everything they make looks like a gimmick. I have had zero complaints or issues on my EVo Enforcer 3 inch kit . What is nice is you can start with the basic like coils and shocks and work your way up in stages. I think most will say Rancho 5000 or 9000 are a good shock to go with.
 

Texas Nick

Caught the Bug
If your budget is only 2k. I would advise you go the leveling kit route. 3”+ lift racks up the bill quickly. You have to budget in a new front driveshaft, cause that stock one will go pretty quick at that angle. If you want it to drive nice, you will also want to do the draglink flip, and make sure the kit you have comes with front lower control arms, (maybe even rear uppers if you replace your rear stock driveshaft).With a leveling kit, you wouldn’t have to mess with any of that, nor spend anywhere near that much money. If you want to keep your stock fenders (non cut) smallest lift would be a 2.5” kit. But would still be in great range of not having to replace any of the other things that you’d have to with a 3”.
 
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TheGrendel

Active Member
Hello JKU Peeps,
I am moving up from my TJ into a 2018 JKU Sport. We have enjoyed our TJ on 33's and she has performed well on the rocks. We use her 1 or 2 times a month with our Jeep Club in So Cal. I want to get a 3.5" lift with 35's. I will re gear to 5.13's and add E lockers to it. I am looking at 2 different lift kits. My budget is $2000 for the lift with shocks.
JKS SPEC J Konnect 3.5" or the Metal Cloak 3.5 Game Changer. I will be installing it myself. Any insight will we be appreciated.

Thanks
Chris

i had a MC lift on my 2 door. the springs are stiff. i'm running a frankenlift on my JKU with Synergy springs and its quite a bit smoother. the problem with the MC springs is that the true dual rate means that the soft springs completely collapse on the road. so, you're only running on the stiff portion. offroad they are super long which is nice.

you don't need all 8 control arms either. from most important to least - lower front to set caster, upper rear, lower rear, upper front.

the Evo enforcer comes with lower fronts. best part about Evo control arms is that you can adjust the length without removing the arm. i really wish i had these.
https://www.offroadevolution.com/product/evo-mfg-3-enforcer-kit-with-plush-springs-jk-jku/
 

wjtstudios

Hooked
Another option might be the Mopar 2.5” lift. My brother-in-law runs it and loves it. It comes with Fox shocks and a front DS. It’s 1500, so that still leaves you room to have it installed, but he and I did it in a long afternoon (and evening) in my garage. Not that bad for how much of a change it gave him. He runs 35s with it, with a small amount of rubbing on OEM fenders.


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jorgelrod

Hooked
+1 on JKS, I'm moving from a Procomp to the JKS and I rode on a Jeep with one to see how it felt and it's a very good setup...
 

mallavoider

New member
Have you looked at Rubicon Express? I believe their lift kit starts at $800. Decent product with life time warranty. Probably a good direction if you are not doing anything crazy.


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MericaMade

Active Member
Have you looked at Rubicon Express? I believe their lift kit starts at $800. Decent product with life time warranty. Probably a good direction if you are not doing anything crazy.


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Agree,,,, Garbage and so is Pro Comp who I think are the same company now.
 

notnalc68

That dude from Mississippi
Have you looked at Rubicon Express? I believe their lift kit starts at $800. Decent product with life time warranty. Probably a good direction if you are not doing anything crazy.


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The best warranty is one you never have to use. Buy quality products, instead of the least expensive products.


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Ddays

Hooked
Have you looked at Rubicon Express? I believe their lift kit starts at $800. Decent product with life time warranty. Probably a good direction if you are not doing anything crazy.


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If you want your Jeep to ride like an empty dump truck then this is the kit for you. And yes, I speak from experience.

OP - do yourself a huge favor and get a quality kit that handles and rides well on the road. EVO, Currie, JKS, Clayton, have been a few laid out that are quality kits.
 

tteal235

New member
I have an ‘18 with a 3.5 RC kit with drop brackets on 35’s. I had to get the flip drag to help the bump steer. I would recommend upgrading the trac bar and ball joints to something more heavy duty as well. Driving home from my first (light trail) trail run with the new kit I got death wobble. ***save up and pay the extra money for all the parts needed to avoid having to buy the extra parts later on to fix death wobble.
IMG_0126.jpg
 
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FUGEDABOUTIT

New member
Thanks

I ended up getting 2016 red jku sport s with 22,000 miles.
It was all ready lifted with method wheels and 35 bfg mud km2. It was never offroad. As my kids call them "a concrete jeep". When i went under it the dealership there was not one scratch underneath. The bad part was it had a rubicon express 3.5 lift springs only. It is the roughest ride i have ever felt. First i thought is was the tires, because they had them pumped up to 38#. I dropped them down to 28 it helped a little but man you feel everything. So i ordered the jks jspec 3.5 j konnect with fox shocks. My tj with the 3.5 rc lift rode better than this thing.

Thanks everyone for the help

chris
 

sm31

Active Member
I've been in the market for a lift on our new JKUR as well. Like many have said, 3" is getting into some additional funds, fixes, etc. That said, I wish EVO made 2.5" springs. Clayton (also well spoken of around here) has a couple of nice and relatively inexpensive 2.5" options. I may end up going with the Clayton because I have no plans to go beyond 35's but I am trimming fenders, etc.
 

BaddestCross

Active Member
I've been in the market for a lift on our new JKUR as well. Like many have said, 3" is getting into some additional funds, fixes, etc. That said, I wish EVO made 2.5" springs. Clayton (also well spoken of around here) has a couple of nice and relatively inexpensive 2.5" options. I may end up going with the Clayton because I have no plans to go beyond 35's but I am trimming fenders, etc.
EVOs 2" will probably get you 2.5-3 in the front and their 3" will probably get you 2.5 in the rear depending on your Jeep's weight. You can always add spacers to make up the difference.

That being said, you can go with the Rancho 2" setup and add small spacers as well. Rancho makes EVO's springs.

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Build Thread - Adventures of Fiona - https://wayalife.com/showthread.php?t=47407
 
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