I tell ya guys.....it's hard enough trying to figure out which lift you want to get in the first place. But now, it seems everywhere I go on this "Mod" section, people are having SO many damn problems with SO many of these different lifts. Be it from offsetting the axles, to causing erratic driving, to all kinds of squeeks, and things that go bump in the night....!!!!
I have been wanting to put just a little 2.5" BL lift on mine since the day I bought it last year. I mean heck, seems simple enough and wouldn't think there's really that much that can go wrong....right??? But just when I think I darn near have it figured out as to what I want to get, I read something else about a problem "they" had with theirs. I just have to wonder what is the precentage of people having problems after they install a lift, as to people that install one and never have to think about it again...???
So....what's the problem here? Are a bunch of people that are not that mech. inclined just not installing them properly, or are the lifts themselfs actually causing all these problems?
As it is, I have this 7 year, 70k mile warranty to think about, and the last thing I want to do is install something that is gonna mess with that. I'm sure you know what I mean.
Anyway....I'd really like to know what you all think is going one here as this is really starting to drive me nuts....!!!
Thanks....

 

I think people are too anal.

You cant expect to lift a jeep and not have some sort of side effects.

You cant expect a Lift to be maintenance free. And don't blame the manufacture if the lift is installed improperly, and it now drives and sounds like shit...

my


Hell some offroad shops dont even install the lifts right.......

 

AK4Dave since you created this thread I think you can add a poll to it. If not Im sure some one with some clout arround here can add one for you. I would really like to know the % as well.

 

we cant once the thread has started, I'm not sure what we would poll?

 

so far, i am not having any real issues with me full traction 3" economy lift. as far as a side effect though, my abs seems to want to correct me on sharp turns a little more often which kind of bugs me...

but as anything else, i have nothing bad to say at all about this lift. i didn't need my adjustable front uppers, i don't need any adjustable control arms for the rear either. i did purchase an adjustable front track bar. i didn't get one for the back. with the 3" economy lift it has a drop bracket that mounts to the frame rather than an extension bracket for the rear axle. i track straight, my axles are centered, and once centering my steering wheel everything seems just dandy.

it rides nice on and off-road. i really have no complaints.

just a side note, the dealership told me that installing a lift voided my powertrain warranty because the suspension is connected to the axles meaning that i moded my drivetrain. they told me that it is stated in the warranty that way. but then again, i only have about 5,000 more miles left on it anyway...

 

Totally agree with ya piginajeep people want that rugged vehicle that will take them just about anywhere, But they want it to ride like the camry they traded in to get the jeep. It's one or the other IMO.

 

Amen to that! I'd never expect my ride to be "original" after a lift. H e l l , with this old body, I'd rather go original comfort, but the only way is up... But we all struggle to get it as-close-to afterwards. So, with the joint forces of all Jeepers out there, we're getting there, slowly and safe!

 

I really haven't had any unsolvable issues after installing my 2.5" RC BB. There was the ESP light after recentering the steering wheel. But that was on one, particular hard interstate off-ramp--100% reproducible. It went away after lowering tire pressures from 40-45 to 30 (tire installer put them at 40-45), and a Hypertech reprogram (not suggesting that was related, but that's how it happened). Then I had a very small squeak as I was rolling along. Turned out to be one of the bushings for the left rear shock (thank God I have a mechanic's stethoscope--it really sounded like it was in front when tooling down the road). A little bit of oil took care of that. Finally, the steering is not as snap on as it was before. That is, on-center is not quite as sharp. Consensus is that's the nature of the beast--adjustable control arms will take care of things.

My suggestion: When folks post about problems, pay close attention to what lift, tires and wheels are being run. Very close attention. Unfortunately, many folks fail to mention their tire sizes ("33s" is next to useless without width) or their exact wheels ("16 inch" is not very helpful, but "16x8 with 4.5 inch BS" is very telling). If folks don't provide the details and you're worried because their combo is along the lines of what you're considering, ask them.

And for everyone else: Update your signatures with complete info about your mod's. Otherwise, you risk your comments (that should be most useful) just adding to the noise.

 

Realizing that my frame of reference is with roadracing cars and motorcycles AND I have a degree in engineering...
A lifted Jeep with 35"+ tires will not handle as well as stock on the highway...period. Anyone who says otherwise is misleading the uninitiated. With all things being equal, raising the CG of a vehicle is detrimental to handling which cannot be completely fixed through mods. That is why race cars are not 2 ft off the ground. It is Physics at work. I am waiting for the day I have to do an emergency maneuver at highway speeds. I am sure I will be bugged-eyed sitting in a pile of my own crap.
That being said, I had to tweak my suspension setup (complete 3" Teraflex) and tire pressures to get my Jeep to feel confident enough for me to use it as a daily driver. I am sure tire brand/type has a lot to do with it. I am not particularly happy with my Procomps on the highway but I am not sure another brand will be any better. I plan on playing with castor and maybe install a drop pitman arm to see if I can get the handling to improve. I need to do more research on the latter.
I never liked the ride of the the TJ. I always wanted a Jeep but I couldn't take it as a daily drive. Thank you Jeep for the JK.

 

There is a saying the the excellent drives out the good. A lot of us, me included - or especially me, tend to be optimizers; we want everything to be "just so". I guess that just another way of saying what Piginajeep said; we can be a bit anal.

Another thing to consider are the countless people who get lifts installed and have no problems. You're reading threads from people who either had a mistake made during install or really want to dial it in to the gnats ass.

I puzzled over which lift to put on for quite some time. I almost did a mix and match lift (Clayton arms, OME springs, etc) but decided since I hadn't lifted anything for 25 years and had no JK experience that I'd buy a kid from a reputable mfg. I bought a RE 3.5" Superflex lift and I'm very very happy with it. It is well dialed in and caused no problems at all.

I get the impression that it is so easy to lift a JK (and have things work reasonably well), compared to a TJ, that some people get a bit cheap and don't do things that ought to be done just because you can get by. For instance I think upper adjustable control arms should be used more commonly, even on lifts in the 2-3" range

Decide were you are going with the mods, how much you want to spend and deal with a reputable mfg that will answer their phone and stand behind the product.