Ok so my jeep build is coming together nice and slowly, as I am in college and paying for school and my jeep every month. However, I want to slowly start building a nice suspension together with the future in mind.

My jk is my daily driver and frequent commuter, however, I do like to take it to the trails when I get the chance. Id say most of my time is spent on the road, with the occasional weekend wheeling trip here or there. Basically, I want my jeep to be smooth on the road, yet perform well offroad.

I would like to be able to keep the lowest center of gravity possible and still run 35's in the future. For now I am running stock Rubi 32" BFG M/Ts, and they will do the job until Im ready to muster up the cash for the big boys.

So i was wondering, will a nicely put together 2.5" lift kit do the job? if needed I could always chop my flares.

Secondly, I am currently running RUBI shocks/springs and a teraflex leveling kit (spacers) and the ride quality just isnt there. I think Id like to start by replacing the shocks, then springs, then control arms (Short Arms), etc..

I was looking into the Bilstein 5100s, people seeme to like them .. What are your thoughts? Ive seen people reccomend the Old Man EMU shocks as well as Fox .. Need more info in this category. Clearly I don't have thousands of dollars sitting around, but Id like to do this the right way the first time. By that I mean slowly piece it together with quality parts, so that when I'm done, I will have the quality lift that I want.

Heres how my jeep stands today, with 1.5" spidertrax wheel spacers all the way around:

 

Bilstein 5100 are longer than what you should put on your Jeep right now. They will limit your up travel a lot. My advice is to figure out what lift will work best for you and save up until you can afford it. A good 2.5 lift will run you 1k plus. It really depends on the off roading you do what works best. I bought an AEV 2.5 with brackets because I wont harldy ever rock crawl. I don't need arms because of the brackets. From my experience rear upper and front lower arms will probably be needed with other 2.5 lifts. A front track bar to recenter the axle. What type of off roaring do you plan on doing?

 

Well I live in the Midwest so most of it's mud and hills. I'm not trying to really turn my jeep into a rock crawler by any means. Just want a low center of gravity, something that will perform very well in road as well as get me through the trails.

However in the next year or two I may be moving out west to Colorado area, so the terrain might change a little. Still will be driving on the road over 90% of the time id say.

 

AEV is a good choice if you don't see rocks. If you do Teraflex with front lower, rear upper arms and a adjustable front track bar with bilstein or OME shocks would be a great choice. It will allow you to dial it all in and perform well on and off road with 35's.

 

I am in the same boat. I some funds and want to start to piece items together a lift so after 3-4 months I have a complete lift that I enjoy. Saving is one route but the way my jeep is today I hate driving it.

Background:

I have a death wobble problem (which I am going to be fixing the weekend after next) and I seem to feel every bump in my jeep. As I am resolving my ball joint issue and have my jeep lifted I wanted to spend let's say $200 more dollars to make a part of my ride smoother so it's better to drive. I have read a bit about buying kits but haven't seen too many about piecing one together.

I hope someone can shed some light on a decent path to get a solid lift. I can save toward a lift but that could be 3-4 months of disliking my daily drive (but if there isn't another way then I will have to save).

Thanks in advance.

 

Check out the jks jspec lifts.

 

I've installed quite a few lifts lately at my meet and greets and I'd do the 2.5 AEV lift with the AEV adjustable bracket. It's $100.00 more but once installed you can adjust three positions, 2.5,3,5 and 5.5 lift. The springs are progressivly wound and buy the kit with the standard Bilisteins they ride nicer on the highway. Here's a two door with the kit and 35's

 

Check you trackbar tension and also you passenger side draglink end that attached to your outer knuckle
Have someone turn the jeeps steering wheel left to right moving it 2 inches left 2 inches right while you crawl under and place your hand on the draglink and see if you feel clunking

 

I'd say your best option is to put the money into your jeep to fix what you seem to think is DW. Once you've done that then save your money to be able to order everything you want to make your rig to what exactly it is you want to do with it. I jumped the gun and bought a full Skyjacker kit, which a lot of ppl hate on. I gotta say iv driven my jeep hard and have hit some good trail down in PA and nothing has broke. (Knock on wood) when I decided to start piecing together my next lift I will be a lot more aware of what I'm doing and joining this forum really helped me out. Good luck!

 

If you are on a budget like I am and want to start your lift and do it in increments,Take a look @ the Rock Krawler 2.5 Stock Mod lift to start. $549.00 @ Northridge 4x4.