Upgrading my stock Rubicon
 

Hello,

I am searching for opinions about some lift kits to buy to my stock Rubicon JK.
Can you experts tell me what are the pros and cons of these kits?

Trailmaster 3'' with springs, shocks and swaybar links.
Procomp 4'' with springs, mx6 shocks and swaybar links.
OME 2'' with springs and shocks.

Please feel free to suggest any other kit, knowing that I am in Portugal and it is very expensive to get items from USA since there are high shipping costs to pay.
Please let me know if I can upgrade any of those kits with control arms and track bars in the future, to make them better. Which are the best to make upgrades?

I am going to put 33'' (285/75R16) or 32'' (265/75R16) mud tires and steel wheels, but I am going to still use stock tires (255/75R17) when not offroading.

Thank you all.
Best regards
Miguel Bernardo

First off, welcome to the forum.

You'll see that there are many different opinions, especially with such an open ended question. Honestly, I haven't heard too much good about the ProComp and Trailmaster kits. However, I have heard plenty of good things about the OME kits especially when paired with their OME LT. These springs and shocks have always been known for their ride quality but were usually limited in flex due to shock length. However, that all changed recently when OME released their Long Travel version(OME LT) which made it comparable to any other shock out there.

Since it looks like you are staying with short arm, and have no issue installing parts as you go, most kits will be relatively easy to upgrade further in the future. Obviously ride height will change geometry, but since you are keeping the same control arm mounts, interchanging parts shouldn't be too difficult.

If it were me, I would look strongly at Rubicon Express and Teraflex. TF has a very strong showing on this forum and excellent customer service, and RE has been making top notch jeep lift kits for a while and I have been very happy with mine. Joe from TF is excellent to work with and they have every version of every kit depending on what you want to pay(trackbars, upper arms, lower arms, drop brackets, draglinks, etc...) Another thing to think about is that if you were to go with a relatively popular kit like RE's and TF's kits, youre less likely to run into a problem that hasn't been encountered and already resolved. I have seen almost no trailmaster kits, and even fewer procomps.

Good luck in your search!:thumbsup:

EDIT: I just noticed your tire options. If you aren't going larger than 33's, then I would AT MOST install 2.5" of lift. 4" of lift IMO will look way too tall for those tires, and may require driveshafts depending on if youre an auto or unlimited.

I'm still a big fan of TF's 2.5" budget boost with or without shocks and springs. In my experience, the shock extensions have done well. You'd be surprised how well a 2 door Rubi does on 33's with 2.5" of lift. It seriously will keep up with most rigs...

Thanks a lot for your answer. I've asked about these kits, because they are more popular in Europe.
If course I've read a lot about TF and RE. What shocks are usualy used with RE suspension?

Thanks for your help

RE offers both a twin tube shock and a monotube shock. I believe that the monotube is actually a rebadged Bilstein shock. These are the shocks I have and have been pleased.

I was not aware that the procomp and trailmaster jk kits were popular in Europe...

Having said that, RE offers a 2" budget boost, 3.5" and 4.5" short arm(superflex kit) and 3.5" and 4.5" long arm kit.

If you're only ever going to go as high as 33's, the 2" will work, but I think there are better 2" kits out there. And most people would probably say that the 3.5" is just a little too tall for 33's. However, I run 4.5" on 35's but I do plan on going to 37's soon.

As I said, I think the 2.5" Teraflex Budget Boost is one of the better on the market, plus it can be had with shock extensions for around $300US(shipping not included). This will also offer almost IDENTICAL ride to stock and is super easy to install.

I am look for an increased ride quality, só I think that should buy shocks and springs kit, or not?
I want to flex, but also want to go for long trips to morocco, where ride confort is appreciated. Are teraflex good for this too?

haha now we are getting into some subjective stuff. I guess that depends on what "ride quality" means to you. Some prefer very rigid tight handling, and other prefer a softer ride that absorbs the imperfections in the road. I know that OME has always been known for their ride quality, but if you do go with their 2" kit you will most likely net over 3" of lift. Thats just how it is with the OME kit. That with the LT shock is probably a pretty good option. You tend to get more debate on ride quality with the long arm kits as the geometry is COMPLETELY changed. Most of the short arms are failry similar, and mostly coming down to spring rate and spring design. If you know anyone with lifted JK's, it might be beneficial to you to see what type of ride quality you are after with your Jeep.

Ride quality is such a tough thing to measure because a) people have already spent money on a kit and put it on their jeep so they are biased and b)so many people have different definitions of "ride quality"

BTW, that first reason will come up for almost any facet of the jeeping world.

I understand that it can be very subjective:)
I am looking for a suspension kit and doesn't make me jumping inside the jeep on every bump but I do not want to have a jeep that behaves soft like a boat.

Where did you see LT kit from OME?
Northridge doesn't ship to Portugal, I've searched Quadratec and only found standard OME kit with standard and HD springs.

Oh and also, OME stuff is usually pretty expensive IMO. I know on the northridge site there is an option for the long travel shock if you select that jk package thing where you can add all sorts of other stuff to the kit.

http://www.northridge4x4.com/proddet...K-PACKAGE-LIFT

Also, if you contact David on here(he's the northridge guy that everyone knows) he might be able to work something out with you as far as shipping is concerned. He's known for his top notch customer service.

I didnt see those long travel shocks on quadratec either so maybe they don't sell them, but i do know they exist.

Thank you.
I'll try to speak to David now:)
What is his username?

I like the Skyjacker lift kit I have, was very easy to install. The 2.5 inch TeraFlex Budget boost lift kit is very good if you are going to 33inch tires.

There is no point to go to 32inch tires from the stock Rubicon tires. Rubicon tires are very good already.