Hi everyone I’m looking at getting a 2” lift kit and 33” tires and wondering if a driveshaft upgrade is necessary? I’ve read it’s more of a issue with 2.5” lifts or greater but just wondered if your pushing your luck by not doing it at 2”. The kit I’m looking at is this OME ARB long travel kit from northridge4x4.

I’ve had my Jeep now for 8 years and am looking to get off-road more than I have. Pretty much just done minor trails and rough roads to get where I’m camping and fishing. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

https://www.northridge4x4.ca/part/ome-jk4lift-old-man-emu-long-travel-lift-kit

 

No kit is actually the advertised height unless you buy a puck lift. Almost all spring kits will give you more than advertised unless you have a very heavy jeep. OME is no exception and their HD coils give you over 3" lift if you are a relitivly stock jeep. You just have to make the needed adjsutments as you go. Driveshafts are not required when you do a lift but they will likley fail at some point from the extra angle wearing on the rubber boot around the transfer case joint. Caster correction is something you will also need to think about. I would skip the 33's and move to 35's. A mistake many people make as the 33's are not much of an upgrade over stock. Good luck

 

I think the best advice here is to at least budget for a front DS in the longer run, just in case. It's really hit and miss and anytime you go swapping coils the actual net lift height is kind of a moving target depending on actual weight of the jeep. I can't tell you how much actual lift you'll get from those 2" coils......it could be more than 2". I've seen a front DS die within 20k miles on a buddy's 2.5" budget boost that never left the pavement, and I've seen a DS last 40kmiles on a 3.5" lift that played in the rocks, so things can be hit and miss. "Failure" is always that TC side CV joint and only due to the boot ripping and spewing all the grease out allowing the joint to dry. You'll see the signs well before you hear the joint if you occasionally take a look under there. You'd see a line of grease on the underside of the tub right above the joint. Anytime you modify a vehicle you move a bit further into a grey area, and this is just one of those things. You will likely be fine and could get long life from the DS, though just keep in mind there is that chance you could have to drop a few hundred on a DS at some point. There's definitely no reason to feel like it has to be replaced as a preventative thing at this moment. Functionality-wise the factory is fine.

 

the kit comes with front adjustable lower control arms. Should I also pick up some upper control arms then?

 

Yes, that kit comes with caster correction via longer lower arms. You do not need to add upper arms. If you were asking for kits and best methods of correcting caster it could be a whole debate, but not going to get into all that in this thread.

 

Thanks for responses. It’s greatly appreciated!

 

Any recommendations or advice on wheel sizes to go with 35’s on this lift?

 

I ran these coils with the shorter version of OME shocks that Northridge sold as a kit back in 2008.

As noted above, 2618 and 2619 are their 'Heavy Duty' coils. 2" after a bunch of weight is added. Had my 4door sitting at about 3.25" while running a full width steel bumper with 9500lb winch w/steel cable, but otherwise fairly light compared to fully-armored jeeps. To me, it was a very stiff and jarring ride.

The joint at the t-case on my front driveshaft failed within 4-5 months of having those coils. Doesn't mean you will or won't have an issue, just relating my experience.

Those OME LT shocks are designed for 4-6" lifts. Guessing that the folks at Northridge have done some testing, but wouldn't be a bad idea to flex it and check that the coils don't fall out.

(For reference, I am currently running those LT shocks with MetalCloak 3.5" coils. Much happier with the ride now than with the OME HD coils.)

 

oh really. that is good to know. I drive grid roads everyday and definitely don't want an overly stiff ride.

 

Most popular wheel for a 35 is going to be a 17x9 with 4.5" backspacing.