I own an 09 jk and want to lift it this summer. I have lifted trucks and jeeps before but nothing this new and i am tying to see what brand is good for these newer jeeps. I've looked into a little bit and have been leaning towards a Zone Off-road 3 inch lift. I know it's not the best but it's seems good for the price. Can I get some opinions?

 

Have you ever heard the quote "you get what you pay for"? Same thing applies to lift kits.

This question is asked everyday in a new thread on this forum. Use the search feature and see what people are saying. Research research research. In the end, you'll realize you never even needed to open a new thread!

Welcome to the forum btw!!!

 

Back in 2009 when I bought my JK, I almost bought the 2.5" Zone kit. I was turned off quite a bit from all the complaints about how bad the coils sagged over time. Not sure if that is still the case these days. The description says they don't sag so maybe they fixed it.

Also, 3" lift is quite a bit and the kit offers no way of correcting caster or pinion angles. At that height, you will notice flighty steering uinless you find a way to adjust caster (adjustable arms, drop brackets, cam bolts). Also, I'd want a front adjustable track bar as well which this kit does not have.

Zone is made by BDS if I am not mistaken. Their stuff does not come with a warranty like the BDS stuff does so that should tell you something. However, BDS is pretty good stuff so I would hope that the stuff they make for Zone is still decent qaulity.

I rode in a Jeep that had the 2.5" and it rode every nice off-road. Soft suspension compred to my old TF lift and definitely my current RK one. But they guy saw tons of sag on his coils once he added heavy bumpers and stuff. Again, this wa sa few years ago so maybe the coils have changed.

it's tough to turn away when you see such a low price but you have to understand what is missing from the package and factor is all the added costs that you may need.

 

Thanks for the replies. I have very little knowledge on the newer jeeps and I'm trying to get as much research in before I commit to anything. I really appreciate the advice. Now with a 2.5 lift, would that require adjustable track bar or anything else like that

 

Google. Hundreds of thread discussing this.

My vote for a "budget" lift would be Teraflex. Great quality, Great price.

 

A good place to start would be the two threads stuck right to the top of this Modified area - FAQ's and Thhoughts On Lifts.

Which components 'you' will want for any given lift height will be a personal opinion. Some people are fine with spacers or coils and nothing else. Some can't stand the flightyness from lower caster after a lift. Some hate the axle(s) being offcenter. That is where the research comes in. Get a better idea of what the components actually do, so you can start making some semi-informed decisions on what 'you' will want/need.

 

Thoughts on lift is the better of the two stickies. the orginal FAQ's which go back to when the Jk was first on the scene are very generic and can be misleading to many if you don't ask questions. For instance, you don't NEED 4" of lift to run 37's or 2.5 to 3" for 35's. There are ways to make any setup work but those FAQ's don't explain all of it. Someone should consider updating more frequently by adding the other ways of doing things which are equally as easy. For instance, a leveling kit plus flat flares and you can run 35's pretty easily these days.

The Thoughts of Lifts....I can't find any issues with that. The guy who wrote it knows his stuff.

 

I agree. And I agree that they should be updated. But since the forum has changed over to the 'corporate entity', we know that no time or effort will be put in to, well, anything. So, pointing new people at both the Faq's and Thoughts threads is still a much better start than a constant stream of 'click the search button...' replies.

 

What gear ratio should I run.....followed by the infamous gear chart picture.... Those are my favorite threads I see daily!