Suspension upgrade/ Rancho to MC
 

The time has come that I must say goodbye to my tried and true Rancho frankenlift and upgrade to something more capable. For the last three years I've been running Rancho 2" front springs, JKS 2" rear springs, RS9000XL shocks, teraflex control arms and disconnects. It has been a great set up and has served me well on many off road adventures. But I've decided I want a more capable set up, so I'm swapping out a few things and adding others.

I will be pulling the current shocks and springs and replacing them with Metalcloak 2.5 duel rate springs and RS5000X (4") shocks. Adding a Metalcloak front track bar and teraflex rear track bar bracket. I have an exhaust spacer waiting install in my garage. Probably add a teraflex front brake line anchor kit and extend my breather tubes front and rear. I'll post up how everything goes together and the end result.

The previously mentioned item have been installed and I'm very happy with them so far. Despite installation in this humid south Carolina heat, things went well. Not a huge difference in height from the 2" Rancho springs to the Metalcloak. Maybe a half inch which will likely settle. The rs5000x shocks are amazing and ride great. I guestimated on the front track bar adjustment and will measure it tomorrow or the next day sometime. It's close. The only thing I didn't care for too much is the limited clearance between the rear spring and rear track bar mounting bolt. It's extremely close and I feel under the right conditions it could make contact with the spring. I may revisit this before my next wheeling trip.

The previous kit only had front bump stops. I'm going to add 2" bump stops to the rear as well to keep the shocks from bottoming out. I also noticed the brake lines in the rear meeting their limits. I'll probably end up with longer rear brake lines. The front had plenty of room once the ABS and brake line was removed from the bracket.

All in all, pretty good decision. Only regret is I wish I would have gone with a metalcloak rear track bar and bracket.

Move your rear frame side track bar mount back for more clearance. Easiest way is to simply add a tab behind the existing bracket and use the new tab and the back side of the factory bracket to mount the track bar.

What makes the lift you have now "more capable" then what you had before? The answer would be nothing as you did nothing to increase the capability of the suspension. Do you have any before and after photos of the set up with close ups of the shocks and bump stops? Did you increase the overall suspension travel? Shocks designed for a 4" lift installed on a 2.5 lift may allow the coils to drop out at full droop. Running too long a shock may cause the suspension to bottom out more often even on mild trails and may require extra bump stop to protect the shocks from damage.

Thanks for your input dirtman. In regards to the shocks, I had the standard rs9000 shocks that came with the original sport lift. According to Matt at Rancho, the front shocks are pretty much stock length and the rear is the same one that came with their 3 inch kit. I had very very little shock travel up front and droop was nonexistent. The rs5000x shocks I installed now are a tad longer in the rear, and a tad longer in the front. They are not clownishly long, but enough to make a difference. I'm already bump stopped up front where I need to be. The shock doesn't appear to be fully compressing with my 35s just off the fender at stuff. The rear is a different story. The original kit only came with front bump stops, and I need to add about 2 inches or so to compensate the the longer shock body. The jeep has gained a considerable amount of droop and I've not sacrificed much if any upward movement. The metalcloak springs also stay put which I am very happy about. The ride is very similar, still drives about the same. Steering seems to be smoother with the axles properly centered and that front track bar is extremely beefy. I'll snap some pictures maybe tomorrow. I have church tonight after work, so that's my day. I have some before pics though. One that was taken in Gulches a few weeks ago. I hope I've answered your questions. 😊

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Xxx

Consider I've got flat fenders. Not much going on up front.

Whats holding the driver front wheel up? Is this before or after the new shocks? Do you know the actual travel of the new shocks? Sized for 3" lift tells no real info.

Not sure I'm tracking, but I'm sure you are headed somewhere with that question. Holding it up, mosquitos and air. Preventing downward travel, that shock was maxed out.

Just saw the additional comments. This is with the old set up buddy. I did research the difference in shock lengths and travel with Matt before pulling the trigger. :)

Was the passenger side fully collapsed? Travel in that photo looked worse then a stock jeep would have.

Yes sir it was. You can see my drivers side rear was fully stuffed. Now you see my predicament lol!! It was pretty horrible. The reason Rancho puts stock length shocks in their 2" sport lift is because it doesn't come with an exhaust spacer and they didn't want to risk driveshaft contact. That came strait from Rancho. They don't want to add the spacer because of adding cost. I argued the cheapness of the spacer and the limited improvement up front with such a short shock (which isn't advertised with the lift), but to no avail. I decided when I upgraded I would get the metalcloak coils because of their ability to stay put at droop, which they actually do. Imagine that, a vendor that has a product that actually does what they say it will. I wanted a drastic improvement over what I had, which you now can see, didn't take much because of how limited it was.