Dirtman, I just finished about a 3 day read on your "My thoughts of lifts". A great deal of info and probably way too much for my inexperienced mind. My question is about a lift, but not for you to tell me which one to buy but rather some advice and information to maybe help me make sure I'm on track and some recommendations of other items I may need to get along with the lift. Here it goes: recently I bought my son an '09 Wrangler JKU and the only mod so far is 35" tires on 18" wheels, with a 2" steel spacer leveling kit. I think it looks good; but being the typical teenager, he wants a lift and no matter how much of your material I have tried to explain about not really needing the lift, he is a boy, a teenager and wants to mall creep. The closet to mud will be my hunting club dirt roads with his buddies. Just being upfront with you and I really can't beat him up too much for wanting to do what he wants to do. So this brings me to the dilemma on the lift and any other parts I may not realize I need. My greatest concern is worrying about other parts wearing too early or possibly messing something up by adding a lift and not upgrading other areas and this is where my expertise leaves me. He found 2 different lifts from rough country: 3.25" and the 3.5" and when I looked at the contents, the 3.5 appears to have more parts for what I believe would be to bring a lot of areas in-line so you don't have alignment/geometry issues, such as control arm drop brackets, track bar drop brackets, pitman arm, brake line relocation, rear extended sway bar links and rear coil correction plates. The 3.25" lift does not come with a lot of those drop brackets, so it leads me to believe the extra $200 for the 3.5" makes it a little better on keeping my vehicle somewhat safer from early wear/breaks. Am I on track by assuming this? Do I need to buy a longer drive shaft? I read somewhere that made me believe I needed to buy a new one because of the angle the lift will put my vehicle in and may damage or cause early wear. I know you have stated several times you don't give lift advice, but I only want your opinion and expertise on other items I should be looking at buying so as to not damage the vehicle. I don't want you to pick a lift, just give me some suggestions on additional parts I may need in order to not damage the Jeep. Thanks in advance for your time and energy to comment. If you don't respond then I will understand and respect that. Thank you anyway. v/r

 

I'm not Dirtman but I can give you some advice as well. For 35" tires you only want to run about 2.5", max. Anymore is just for looks. That's probably what your son cares about the most though in all likelihood. If you go to 3.25, or 3.5" you will need to replace your driveshafts. They will fail within a few months or a year. You mentioned control arm drop brackets. These are ok for a Jeep that doesn't see any offroad, and they will make it ride better on the road (if you are at that 3.25" or more). Me personally, I would get the Metalcloak 3.5" kit. The brackets, arms, and joints will be much better quality. You don't have to run their 6 pack shocks. You can run whatever shock you want. With that kit you can add control arm drop brackets if you think the ride is harsh, but I think you'll be ok with it honestly. Metalcloak will help you figure out what you need. I would call them and talk to them. I am in no way affiliated with them. I just think they have quality parts and they will actually talk to folks on the phone and guide you. You buy direct from them and I think it works better that way. Rock Krawler has quality parts as well. I've never tried calling them so I don't know if they'll talk to you on the phone or not. I assume they will. I would go with either of those two brands personally. Good luck sir

 

Thank you for the info. The driveshaft was my biggest concern, since I have been seeing a lot folks mention this. I know when I put my lift on my dodge ram, there was a driveshaft spacer I had to install. Do you know if there is anything like this for the Jeep or will I have to buy a new driveshaft?

 

Follow-up question: I just read another post similar to mine and they mentioned that replacing drive shaft with an Adams Driveshaft. When I went to their site, it shows front and rear. I should only need the front correct? Not sure which one they are referring to going out first. Trying to keep cost down, so any parts I don't really need at this time will have to wait.

 

You’re asking for advice from a specific person, and he should get around to your thread here at some point. He is still around regularly.

In the meantime I’ll clarify the DS issue. The problem with the factory shaft is that as you lift the vehicle the angle the front shaft’s CV joint sits at the TC side gets very sharp. What happens is the boot protecting the joint eventually rips and spews all the grease out (you’ll see a line of grease on the underside of the tub). This will dry the joint out and lead to eventual failure (common clicking noise of a bad CV joint is the telltale sign). Replacing the DS is not necessarily an immediate need when lifting (ie…it will still work just fine), but you need to keep that in mind and budget for one at some point. An aftermarket shaft with a more narrow diameter does help with clearnance issues during articulation, but that doesn’t sound like it’s going to be a big concern for your son’s use. The rear shafts on the 4dr have CV joints at both ends and are pretty forgiving, even with a 3.5" lift. Length on these aren't going to be a big factor in your situation.

Almost every one of us would point you in a different direction than Rough Country. They don’t do jeeps all that well even though they are popular amount pickup guys. Look at Metalcloak. 3.5” is going to be costly to do right, especially for looks as a primary reason. I have an 18yo son so I get it. They don’t use a lot of common sense in those teenage years (we likely didn’t as well looking back). Large tires do stress everything. Ball joints are a big issue in these D30/44 axles, and they are a big cause of wobbles (right behind track bar joints and bolts as leading causes). I love my jeep, but I always kinda shake my head when I see wives and kids driving these things, or really anybody that doesn’t have a big interest working on them or having the desire to learn everything about them. Even a stock jeep can have wobble issues and become a dangerous situation on the road. My advice is to lift it properly with quality components if you’re going to do it, and don’t skimp on steering components. Keep an eye on ball joints and if you have an issue with those don’t skimp on replacements.

“keeping cost down” and lifting a jeep 3.5” properly typically aren’t things that go together.

 

Front will go first. You just have to watch for grease spitting out of the seals. The angle becomes too steep and the rubber seals rip and all of the grease spits out and eventually leaving the joint dry. You could start with the front and just keep an eye on the back one.

 

Thanks for the advice as this is exactly what I was looking for. Not shunning anyone else in the group, but asking a couple of folks specifically, so hopefully no one takes offense to it. I read thru his articles and looked at several hundred posts but not really sure why I asked him and planman specifically. Thank you again for your input as you seem to be well versed in my situation (teenager wise, LOL!) I can say that he will be the one doing all the work, I love tinkering, but I made my mind up with my oldest son that my next go round would be different. He is willing to learn and I am all for using quality parts, just not in the budget just yet. I think we will first assess how the OEM looks and then just keep an eye on it like you suggested. Maybe as he gets a little older, he may like to get into the off-roading a little more, but for now it is all about dirt roads and trying to impress the girls. LOL! Again, I appreciate all the info from everyone. This group has a ton of knowledge and I really like the family feel. Take care

 

Rought county is junk avoid it at all costs. Also avoid rubicon express, zone, bds, stienjager, and I woudl throw teraflex and rock krawler on that list. You will read that RK and Teraflex are top qulity lifts but they are not, just alot of internet hype and a lot of issues over the years with these companies with poor customer service. I hope you are making him pay for it as well wants tend to change when the kids have to pony up for it. Pick a 2.5" lift from Metal Cloak. I would go with the True Dual Rate or the Game Changer. You can always add to the true dual rate to complete the kit in the future if you want. The rock sport shocks ride nice as well. The metal cloak kits run high so unless the jeep is loaded up with a bunch of weight like steel bumpers, winch, sliders, armor, and skids it will sit in the 3.5" of actual lift height. The 3.5" kits will be closer to 4.5"-5. Lift kits do not give you the actual lift that is listed in the description, each jeep is different and will ride at a different height depending on the weight of the jeep. On the lifted jeep your drivehsaft is actually shorter, not longer unless you have long arms that are longer than the driveshaft. You will want a front driveshaft, metal cloak offers them for their kits or I would find a local shop to build one for you. Most local driveline shops will give you next day service and it is nice to work with local businesses.

Good luck.

 

Thank you Dirtman. Yea he is working to pay for it all, so when he sees the price tag he may reconsider his direction. I also wanted to get views from experts to show that maybe a lift is not what he should do at the moment, but if he insist I can show him some what you all have suggested. We were all teenagers once, so I am letting him find his way to a certain degree and info like this is very helpful. I will look into all of the suggestions and thanks for taking the time to respond. Take care.

 

Again, thank you everyone that provided some valuable insight to my situation. I do have one final question: After taking you advice and looking into the metal cloak lifts and new DS, it appears that my son doesn't want to spend that much money. (Can't say I blame him. LOL!) He will eventually save his money for the lift but for now is there anything that can be done to give it a little lift without going all out. Some of my friends have mentioned just going with a bushing lift like the leveling kits offer (Not a body lift.) or something along those lines. Don't know much about that and have not found too much on the internet about it as well. Something is better than stock, so I am open to all suggestions. If not, then he will have to wait until he saves enough money. BTW, he wants to swap tires and rims with me and instead of the 35s, he would get my 33s. Thank you.