JKjack0301

Great info here! Thanks for taking time to post!

sitting duk

First off, thanks for sharing your knowledge on lifts. There's so much good info here. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. I do have a question, but I'm typing this on my phone, so it is hard to do a search in the thread.

I just bought tires, but still a little confused. On your recommendations, are the tire sizes (33,35,37) the actual size when mounted or advertised size?

I bought nitto ridge grapplers 285/75 17, which are considered 34s. Will replacing my 14/56 to 18/60 coils (netting about 1.5 in lift) and installing MCE flat fenders be enough to clear the tires?

Thanks in advance.
And has anyone tried that combo?

TheDirtman

The tire size is general not specific as exactly 35" tall x 12.5"wide. All tires are different from advertised thats why I say start there. Those amounts of lift should give you enough clearance for those advertised tire heights and then you are likely to fine tune with bump stops which is really the key. Personally I would go with one of the 1.5" aftermarket coils vs higher number take offs.

sitting duk

My concern with aftermarket coil is that there is no 1.5 inch for 2 doors, unless it's spacers. The ones I've seen are 2.5 advertised, and usually netting over that. And I was hoping to stay 2 or under

karls10jk

I've got the RK 2.5" coils and while I won't recommend them, they are netting right at 2" for me. I'm also on the 33" equivalent with flats. You can't ask for a better combo that's extremely DD'able with superior weekend warrior skills. The JK is a far more capable platform than it's given credit for when we're talking about functionality with simple bolt-on's.

sitting duk

Interesting. Is your rig heavy? I always hear lifts being much higher than advertised, not the other way.
What don't you like about it? The lift height? How's the ride quality?

karls10jk

I wouldn't say heavy- stubby front bumper with winch (syn cable), stock rubi sliders, aluminum rear bumper and 33" spare tire (slick all terrain), soft top as well.

The ride quality is fine, could be better but it's not bad. I'm disappointed at the height but RK says it's normal in my instance. I've got everything for their flex kit aside from the LCA's but recently added the drop control arm brackets to see what would happen. There's more to a lift than just coils .....but I think that's where my dissatisfaction begins.

WineCountryWheeler

Fantastic. Maybe my buddy who just bought a JKU will finally believe me that he doesn't need a 4.5" lift to run his 35s.

DesertClimber

We've been wheeling the same 2007 JK (avatar pic) on 35's & 3" lift I did with as few parts as possible, put together in late 2006 when there weren't too many options for the new JK anyway... It's been fantastic and I've tested it to it's limits and made small changes as needed over the years. That minivan engine, tho!

Now, we just bought a 2016 with only 1K miles on it, and I suppose they sold it because it drives like absolute rubbish. It was purchased and shipped to me from across the country. So yeah, no test drive...

They installed a RC 4 inch lift & 37x13.5 Toyo tires- I'm not sure what came with the lift and what they added on afterwards, but wow. I'm having to fix or maybe reverse everything they've done and do it right.

For starters they tried to fix the rear, apres lift, by adding only an adjustable track bar.

Of course when I put the Jeep on the shop lift, the wiring for the sensors pulled free from the frame mounts because they didn't bother to move/extend them, and the front brake lines were tight as guitar strings. Ugh. On to the rest of the train wreck...

They put on a (front) axle-side trackbar relocation bracket, and a drop-pitman arm. AND a DOUBLE RC steering stabilizer to try and fix the whole mess. No geometry correction brackets or adjustable arms.

I had to relocate the rear track bar mount about 4" higher (Whatever the Synergy bracket provides) This helped enormously, as the whole jeep tried to roll and pitch all over the place without it. Now it doesn't rock like a boat, but it still pulls oddly. At least I don't feel seasick and scared sh*tle$$ driving it. I'll weld a permanent solution on the rear when everything is right.

Now, here's my main issue: I'm not sure what to try up front first... Maybe geometry correction with some drop brackets? I'm also not sure how a drop pitman and raised axle-side trackbar bracket interact with each other on a JK, as I never needed either on the prior lift I did. I haven't put the new bumper and winch on, which should drop the front a little, but something still feels very odd while driving.

I also need to bring everything inwards a little with correct offset wheels (These are Fuel with unknown backspacing) and ditch the 13.5" wide tires. I plan to keep the 4" lift height, and 37" tire size, however.

Any words of wisdom?

TheDirtman

I would find a factory pitman arm and replace it then do a drag link flip with raised axle side track bar bracket. If you wheel it I would do adjustable control arms, if not then do the drop brackets.