I am looking to purchase individual parts to lift my jeep jk unlimited vs. buying a lift kit. What parts do I need to buy to complete a 3 inch lift?

 

You don't 'need' to buy anything other than 3" coils or 3" spacers.

But if you open the two threads stuck to the top of this modified area, you might get an idea of some components you may 'want' to buy. Which specific ones you will want is open to debate, as there is a lot of personal opinion involved.

 

True on the 3 x 3 comments.. but if done this way, you're sort of limited yourself.. just with a lift.. and not really being able to use it.. combinations of hard and soft lift parts would be the key to actually using a lift.. Yet small optional parts, pitman arm etc.. maybe needed there after..

 

It depends on what you want to do with your jeep. If you have read my thoughts on lifts you should have a pretty good idea on what you need to do things properly. Since you seem to want to ask the same question over and over then here you go.

To properly run a 3" lift you should be looking at a 3" coil spacer or a 2.5" long coil as most quality manufacturers will put a little extra height into their coils to handle the weight of armor and gear. You will also want to get sway bar links or disconnects that are 3" longer to keep your front sway bar from flipping. At 3" of lift you will only have about 1"-2" of down travel available in your shocks. You can run shock extensions and keep the factory amount of suspension travel or you can buy longer travel shocks. If you buy longer travel shocks you will need to add longer bump stops to keep the shocks from over compressing and potentially damaging them. You will want to use adjustable control arms to recenter the axles in the wheel wells and to correct the rear pinion and get some of your caster back. If you are not going to wheel this jeep then drop brackets are also a good way to correct some geometry and flatten out your lower arms. You should be looking at driveshafts to gain more clearance if you get longer shocks due to the fact the large diameter of the tubing on the factory driveshaft will come into contact with the exhaust if you droop much more then the factory shocks travel. With running longer shocks or extension you may need longer brake lines and extend the abs cable. I think the newer models come with longer factory brake lines but am not positive. Adjustable track bars will be needed to recenter the axles. On the rear you can also use an axle side track bar mount that is 3" taller then stock which will put you close to center with the factory track bar and give you better handling. You may only need relocation brackets which are pretty easy to make. Limiting straps are optional and would be recommended on jeeps that are wheeled hard.

Like what was said before all you have to get to lift 3" is coils or spacers but don't expect it to ride good or perform like one that has been properly set up.

Good luck with your build.

 

I know I'm going to sound like a jerk when I ask this but......................

You don't know what you need but you're going to piece together a lift kit based on internet opinions?

Why not just purchase a complete kit?

There is a wealth of knowledge on this forum and many people willing to help (myself included in willingness to help) but what do you expect to gain by going this route?

 

I pieced mine together and paid about $800 for a $2500 kit. there is nothing wrong with a frankenlift, a lot of people actually prefer it and you can save money if you do it right.

 

I'd have to agree with you here. When you buy a kit you get what you need(depending on how much you spend) and you don't have to go through the hassle of finding the correct size shocks or bump stops.

 

Even thou I consider the Daystar budget boost kit to be the "frankenlift" cool word by the way.. I believe if you're piece/parting a lift yourself.. there could be to many variances.. The kit lift made by the manufacturer was designed and created for this reason.. so that one would have everything needed to do what the manufacturers wanted the lift to do to begin with.. I mean one could do teraflex spacers with fox shocks, then add rancho steering stabilizer, then add rubicon express coils.. sort of mix and match products.. I'm sure we all want to show our respects and gratitude to all of these companies and not rely on just one.. sort of makes me wonder if all of the major companies got together to design the ultimate lift or products just as show of solidarity towards each other.. but I agree showing all companies some loven.. just make sense.

 

I am not sure of spreading the love? Some companies build decent kits and some build kits to satisfy a certain price point and leave out most of the. So far the most complete kit that I have seen so far is a Mopar rebrand of a teraflex kit. You will also find that some companies make only some of the components of a lift such as Old Man Emu who make very nice coils and good shocks but thats about it. JKS makes a nice sway bar disconnect that many people run. Its nice that companies put together a kit but it is not that much of a hassle to buy the components you want and fit together a lift once you learn what the components do and how they interact with each other. Just realize geometry is adversely affected by any bolt on kit and the higher you go the worse it gets.

 

You hit the nail on the head Lidless. Jerk is a good word. This is a discussion thread and I'm a newbie like probably over 75% of the people on this thread. Just trying to get some ideas from the experienced persons so I can have my own customized build how I want it. And thanks allot for all the info everyone else!