There are several ways to improve the ride of a lift, it just depends on what you want to spend on it. The least expensive way would be to get some drop brackets as it will flatten out the control arms and give you can some of the lost caster. Adjustable control arms are another thing you can do. Adjustable front track bar so you can recenter your axle. On the rear install a raised axle side track bar bracket as high as you can, Ideally you want this link to be horizontal with at the ground for the best ride, however check your up travel clearances. Run a C rated tire for a better ride. D and E rated are from big trucks like has already been stated. Lastly a caster corrected axle will give you the proper caster you need without putting too much bind in the driveshaft. Typically you have to balance caster with driveline vibrations up front and never can get the full factory caster spec back. I would also try and figure what you actually have in requires of lift height as kits rarely give what is advertised and typically run higher on a light or mostly stock jeep.

 

I just purchased these along with the Metalcloak dual rate springs. Hopefully this will help some.

Thanks for the advice.

 

I'm now sure the reason my Jeep rides so hard is the tires and the springs. I aired down the tires and drove it and it was much better however the springs are so stiff that even coming into a driveway a little hot is a hard hit. I am going to try a few things, adding the front control arm brackets, adding the metalcloak dual rate springs and getting C rated tires. I can sell my brand new BFGoodrich ATs for a good price on craigslist.

We will see how far this gets me. Thanks for the advice

 

It's not the springs. They are not stiff.

The problem is huge amount of unsprung weight, much of which is rotating and a lot of mass at the edges of rotating parts (wheels/tires). This creates a tremendous amount of momentum that has to be overcome for the wheels/axle/etc. to actually change their direction, so basically this requires a big impact before the wheels actually move and track over a bump. No amount of softer springs will fix this. Softer springs will mostly just make it handle horribly by reducing roll stiffness a lot, increasing body roll, increase pitch and dive, etc. things that are vehicle dynamics of the sprung mass of the vehicle (body/chassis). The springs essentially resist changes in movement of the body and chassis while the parts on the other end of the springs (axles, wheels, tires, driveshafts, etc.) are not compliant and have momentum that causes a rough ride. The momentum of all of this stuff resists changing direction, and that means it wants to go in a straight line in both the horizontal and vertical dimension, so bumps have to apply a lot of force for them to change direction. Then once they change direction, they have a lot of momentum in the new direction, and it requires a stiff spring to push the axle back towards the ground. It's a huge weight on the end of a big lever effectively that's controlled in as much as it can be by the springs and shocks. You can't change physics by changing springs. Unfortunately momentum is a property of mass, and therefore the only way to improve this is with less mass.

You will "fix" these issues by reducing this weight as much as possible. You can alleviate it a little bit by making the tires softer so they can conform over some bumps without having to move the heavy parts (axle etc.).

 

I completely understand what you are saying as I stated before. You would have to ride in it to understand what I am referring too.

I went to a local Jeep shop, 2 actually, took a ride in a Jeep that has a 2.5 lift very similar to mine, Bilstein Shocks just like mine and 33 Inch tires. The ride was 100 times better then mine, it wasn't even close. Right off the bat I could feel the softer tires made a difference, zero wandering and when we came into the driveway the jeep absorbed the impact as where mine feels like the shocks are frozen and there is zero compression. No body roll at all which I don't have because my jeep could be considered a canyon racer the springs are so stiff.

That's what made me reduce the air in the tires and as I said it made the ride a little better however coming into the driveway was no better, still stiff as a board. It felt the same way before I changed the shocks which helped a little on the highway.

He had the dual rate springs on his, besides the tires was the one major difference. He also had the control arm drop brackets installed which he told me fixed the wandering issues.

I don't mind spending the extra 350 bucks for the Metalcloak dual rate springs.

Thanks

 

Drop brackets are unnecessary if you've got lower adjustable control arms up front. Of course, a shitty lift is going to yield a shitty ride. Don't mask the issues caused by bad parts by adding additional parts.

Did you ever figure out what the original lift kit brand was?

 

He has never confirmed it but I don't think the OP has adjustable control arms.

 

I don't have adjustable control arms.

Yesterday I added the JKS Control Arm Drop Brackets and it did wonders for the steering, the wandering is gone. I have not had a chance to jump on the freeway and test it, however, had it to 65 and the steering is good to go. I will have the springs next week.

Here is a pic of the bracket.

 

I'm pretty sure its this one. Eventually, I am going to completely replace this lift with the Metalcloak 2.5 or 3.0 unless anyone has a suggestion on something better. I talked to the guys at Metalcloak and they answered all my questions, seem to be good guys and know what they're talking about.


http://www.quadratec.com/products/16400_0X44_PG.htm

 

The drop brackets are actually better for ride and geometry then adjustable control arms, if you are not needing extreme articulation (12"+) and don't drag the brackets you are not going to get a better ride from going to an adjustable arm like the metal cloak or rock crawler.