I have a 4dr 08 Sahara and want to go 285 / 33s when the BFG 32s MT wear out. My wife mainly uses the Jeep to take the boys to school, and I take the Jeep off-road on the weekends. Freeway driving is pretty rare. On the trails I am always getting bound up in the middle with my factory 20.3 degrees of breakover, and really want to add some height, but I have to balance that with on road safety being a daily driver.

My philosophy is upgrade when it breaks or when I find something I can't climb over. So for now other than a lift and adding an oil pan skid I don't plan any other mods. A Rubicon f/r axle swap and a winch are not beyond the realm of possibility however.

I want a good handling lift and I am willing to spend more money to get a good result. I drove a JK 4dr on a 2.5 puck lift with 33s and was horrified at the ESP kicking in even if the cornering was not that hard. Annoying to say the least! That is what I want to avoid. I would really like to go OME given all I have read about the ride and handling, except everywhere I read OME is giving way more than 2"; some report more like 3" to 4" actual lift height. 4" would be nice on the trails but it would make tires look awfully small.

Ideally I would only like to add 1.75" to 2.25" to the front and about 1" to 1.5" to the rear. This gives me a marginally improved break over angle, it's not enough for the Warranty police to complain, looks reasonable with my tires, and should still maintains a reasonable daily driver road feel.

So many questions:

Are all the reports of 3"+ on OME HD springs? Has anyone gotten more than 3" on medium springs?

Is there anybody out there that has an OME kit with medium / no load springs on a 4dr? If so what amount of lift did you actually get after it settled?

Is there anyone who has actually tried a 2dr OME medium spring kit on a 4dr and what amount of lift did you get? I have even considered just going with the medium 615 and 617 2dr springs on my 4dr and keeping the stock shocks since the amount of lift may not require them. Or is this just a really bad idea?

Would I be better off with a BDS or Rusty's 2" coil lift?

My backup plan is to stack some pucks on the current springs. 1" on the rear and 2" on the front. With that amount of lift on pucks would I even notice much change to the handling and ride or will I be is ESP hell?

All suggestions welcome!

 

My $.02: The only compelling reason you've given for NOT wanting a big lift is that it would make the tires look small... and that's weak. But you've also stated that you take the Jeep off-road and are looking for a lift in order to gain clearance and improve breakover angle.

Given these two concerns, and the fact that you're really concerned about on-road handling, I think an OME lift would be a fine choice for you. Oh, and you're probably not going to see 4" with an Unlimited... I think I recall reading that 2-doors could expect that much lift (without aftermarket bumpers), but I think you'd probably end up in the 3-3.5" range, tops.

I'm hoping some OME owners will chime in, because they can give you specifics. However, I do recall reading, numerous times, that HD springs are highly recommended from OME... I believe Dave @ Northridge4x4 cautioned more than one member of this site against buying the "medium" springs.

No matter how high you do or don't go, you're going to love your Jeep!

 

Your "Horrifying Puck" experience is not related to the pucks...its typically related to the steering wheel still being a little off centered....and it does the EXACT same thing if you lift it with coils....as the JK has no idea why its higher....a taller coil and a coil spacer have the same effect.



Your Sahara came with 32.1" tires....std.

Going up to a giant 33" tire, nominally, gets you a 32 - 33" tire.

So - to gain typically ~ 0.5"-0.9" of diamter = 0.25" - 0.45" of ground clearance at the diffs...and protrude the same distance into the wheel wells.

IIRC...you have enough room in the wheel wells to fit another inch of tire diameter stock, with no lift at all....so, you do not NEED a lift to fit 33's.



Now, ONLY larger diameter tires truly improve overall ground clearance at the axles and diffs, but you say your break over angle is your worst problem....

(Start approaching obstacles more diagonally...it will help...)

...So getting frame up with a suspension lift will help, but, also increase your center of gravity (COG) more than a larger tire would.

If SAFETY is a primary concern, you want your COG as low as possible. This ALSO minimizes ESP issues, as it makes you less "tippy".

Hence - your quest for a short lift, as a compromise, lifting your break over angle only a little, and raising your COG only a little, etc.



You COULD hedge your bet, and:

1. Get a BL, as 1" of BL allows room for 2" of additional tire DIAMETER...so, you could get tires a more meaningfully larger than stock, and still keep the COG low...as the BL doesn't raise the COG enough to even notice, as most of the JK's weight is Frame mounted.

2. Get a 34-35" tires...giving you about the same total lift as the short spacers you were considering, but also raising the diffs/axles, AND adding significantly more traction on and off road. (Bigger foot print = more rubber on road/bigger contact patch = more grip.)

--------------------------------------

If you do a 2-3" lift and run the 33's, it will also work, but, the on road handling will be more negatively impacted.

I have no problem sacrificing on road for more offroad performance...but, YOU seemed concerned in that area...so, I am suggesting the above as a Plan B so to speak.

---------------------------------------

As coils are a crap shoot heightwise....add/subtract passengers, cargo, skid plates, etc...and you may end up with almost any height.

Coil spacers ALWAYS lift you by the thickness of the spacer, and are completly predictable...hence their popularity for fine tuning rake, etc.

If you get TALLER though, spacers do not STIFFEN the shocks to help control roll, or the coils for the same reason, etc....so the ADVANTAGE to new coils is that you can get them a bit stiffer to compensate for the higher COG.

For a 2-3" lift, that extra stiffness is not typically critical....over 3"....its starts to add up.



------------------------------------

Food for thought.

 

There is nothing wrong with going Light,Meduim or HD Springs.

You need to pick the springs that best suit your needs. if you want 35" tires go with the HD springs if you are just looking for a 2" lift stick with the Light /medium springs.

Please if anybody has any questions on what springs you should choose feel free to give me a call and I will be more than happy to help you out.

David

 

Oh yes I do love my jeep.

Your point about going bigger on the tires is a good one. I would love to go 35s as they give the JK Unlimited a balanced look and would help on the trail. But that means new wheels, a regear as I only have 3.73 from the factory, and a reasonable lift. Then I would want lockers and a winch and new bumpers as new trails open up at that point and since I live in Utah and Moab is my backyard why not. Heck, if I am going to Moab a lot I might as well go with a 4" long arm lift and yes at that point my Jeep disease would be to the point that my wife, who does not like to go offroad sadly, would probably divorce me for spending our entire savings and for spending every weekend on the trail. She already calls it the other woman to her friends. My name is Steve and I am a Jeepaholic.

It all starts with wanting bigger tires.

 

Leave it to TEEJ to give you the best explinations on this forum.

Boiled down, a lift is a lift. This issues always seem to boil down to correcting or at least minimizing the adverse effects of changing the stock geometry.

I say get the thing in the air, dial it in and start having fun.

 

I just got done putting an OME kit on my 4dr today.
Went with the 616 springs up front, 617s in the rear, as recommended by Dave at Northride when I called him.
I got about 2 1/2" of lift and the ride is FAR superior over stock. Ive got 33"s on also.
I'll put up a pic tomorrow when its light.

 

Only 2-1/2"? Exactly what I wanted to hear. I would love to see pics. Also, please let me know how it settles in over the next little bit and if you have any adverse effects. At only 2-1/2" I would doubt you would need adjustable track bars or have ESP issues. Also, big thanks to everyone for the advice; especially TEEJ and MJS_Jeep_888 for their expert and comprehensive perspectives.

I am leaning hard to OME right now as I would love an improved ride in addition to adding a little height.

 

I was in the same boat as you. I didnt want 3-4 inchs of lift so I went with the Light Load(so many people call these the 'Medium' when there is no such.)

I did get more than 2 inchs but only like 2.5 inches or so and it sets level (or damn close) and I have the basic dx bumper and smittybilt winch.

I would recommend going with the OME light load and adj track bar set up.... it does ride way better than stock imo, and I am very glad I went with OME

 

As far as needing the track bars... .they will center your axles mine did shift, causing the pass side front spring to bow a tiny bit toward the shift.... the track bar fixed it........ just thought I would throw that out there, if you can live with it , it drove great centered or not, but i wouldnt gonna let that spring stay bowed lol