TeraFlex 2.5 BB or 2.5 Lift??

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
So should I look elsewhere than TF if I was thinking coils vice spacers? I have no experience with either but spacers just make my mechanical mind cautious over combining pieces with pieces vice a single piece. Ya know?

Nothing wrong with coil spacers. They are totally safe and a good option if you're working on a budget. You have a 2012 and need to be aware of the fact that if you go taller than 2.5" or install shocks that allow for too much droop, you WILL have to address your front drive shaft. A 2.5" TF kit WILL yield you 3"+ of lift. If you go that tall, you will want you addressing things like caster and steering geometry and if you're ready to kick down some money, I would recommend that you just start looking at good 3" lift kits that come more complete.
 

JethroJK

New member
Nothing wrong with coil spacers. They are totally safe and a good option if you're working on a budget. You have a 2012 and need to be aware of the fact that if you go taller than 2.5" or install shocks that allow for too much droop, you WILL have to address your front drive shaft. A 2.5" TF kit WILL yield you 3"+ of lift. If you go that tall, you will want you addressing things like caster and steering geometry and if you're ready to kick down some money, I would recommend that you just start looking at good 3" lift kits that come more complete.

Much appreciated. Makes sense.
 

jkrossi

New member
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Here is a pic of my 07 with the 2.5"BB the back was not lifted yet in this pic bit the front was. I'm very pleased with it and added the extra ground clearance that I was looking for. And clears 35" tires just fine.

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marshrat

New member
How much height do you think is lost when adding front/rear bumper, winch and tire carrier installed?

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Tackerdown

Banned
How much height do you think is lost when adding front/rear bumper, winch and tire carrier installed?

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With the spacers lift or with the springs lift .

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JethroJK

New member
You have a 2012 and need to be aware of the fact that if you go taller than 2.5" or install shocks that allow for too much droop, you WILL have to address your front drive shaft.

So is the 2012 models different because of the new engines torque or what?
 

aldaman

Member

So is the 2012 models different because of the new engines torque or what?

No, it's the design of the exhaust system. When you have more than 2" lift on the newer JKs, the driveshaft will rub against the crossover pipe when flexing...

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JethroJK

New member
No, it's the design of the exhaust system. When you have more than 2" lift on the newer JKs, the driveshaft will rub against the crossover pipe when flexing...

Oh yes, now I remember reading this. So you say 2". So when you do 2.5" there is a spacer involved? Didn't see that in the kit when I was looking at that.
 

Tackerdown

Banned
Height loss with spacers.

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I'm not sure if a JKU has different springs than a jkur . I might just add some weight to the front and back bumper of mine and measure it .

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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
How much height do you think is lost when adding front/rear bumper, winch and tire carrier installed?

Height loss with spacers.

The same amount you would see without any lift - about 1/2" of sag. Not enough to really matter and not enough to warrant going up to a 3.5" lift over. Up front, you can stack a 1/2" spacer to make up the difference. In the rear, you're kinda stuck with what you got but, if that's an issue, you can look into running something like Old Man Emu medium duty 2" coils and add 1/2" spacers if really needed. I don't think it would be though.

So is the 2012 models different because of the new engines torque or what?

As mentioned, it's the placement of the exhaust cross over BUT ALSO, what isn't mentioned, the angle of the output shaft that needs to be addressed. Installing exhaust spacers will help your drive shaft to clear the cross over BUT, it will not help address the CV boot from failing prematurely.
 

JethroJK

New member
Gotcha. All good info. It is nice to know what you are walking into so I appreciate all the info. I now think I will go back to a 2.5 BB. So many choices.
 

marshrat

New member
Thanks Eddie. So just so I'm 100% clear no matter what with a 2.5 lift or more at full flex the front driveshaft will rub exhaust and will fail.

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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Thanks Eddie. So just so I'm 100% clear no matter what with a 2.5 lift or more at full flex the front driveshaft will rub exhaust and will fail.

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No. If you have a 2012 or newer and have a 3" lift or more or even a 2.5" lift with shocks that are too long, the front drive shaft will make contact with the exhaust cross over and be damaged by it. If you have a 2.5" coil spacer lift with shock extensions or shocks made specifically for a 2012 or newer, you will be fine.
 

JethroJK

New member
So anyone running this kit?

Metal cloak JK Wrangler Unlimited Dual-Rate Lift Kit, 2.5"

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Also would it affect the drive shaft and exhaust crossover issue on 2012 and newer models? Plan on calling them tomorrow.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
So anyone running this kit?

Metal cloak JK Wrangler Unlimited Dual-Rate Lift Kit, 2.5"

Also would it affect the drive shaft and exhaust crossover issue on 2012 and newer models? Plan on calling them tomorrow.

It's a brand new kit so I seriously doubt there will be too many if anyone who's run it as of yet. Having said that, I am no fan of dual rate coils and I'd have to guess that it'll still end up yielding more than 2.5" of lift. When dealing with coils, it's very hard to get exact lift measurements out of them. Regardless of what lift you get, you will still have the same problems associated with 2012 and newer models - NOTHING CHANGES. If you run 2.5" of lift or more and have shocks that allow too much droop, YOU WILL HAVE drive shaft issues. If you run 3" of lift or more, you will have drive shaft issues. Again, this is regardless of brand.
 

JethroJK

New member
Understand. Thanks. They say this build uses factory shocks so it interested me for that reason. The dual coil shocks seemed different. Was curious if anyone had those.
 
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