I have looked through a few lift threads already and haven't really seen a direct answer for my situation. I have a 1999 TJ and i have a 3" body lift on it. It is currently fitted with BFG 33 X 12.5 M/T's and drives well. However, when making a sharp turn I still experience a little rubbing. I want to perform a budget lift to accompany my BL. I am looking for another 3" at most. Since this is a daily driver with a little fun thrown in and not seeing heavy trail duty I would like to keep the budget of this project reasonable. Any suggestions would be great. Also, if anyone could guide me to complete kits so I know i have all needed hardware and parts.

Thanks
Jhart

get rid of 3 inch pucks thats asking for trouble

welcome to the site.


i'd recomend extending your bump stops or adding a set of coil spacers.

you must be turning sharp as heck for it to be rubbing on the street
i ran a 3" lift with 33's for awhile and would only rub sometimes offfroad.

Where is it rubbing, if it's on the frame at full turn then your going to need new wheels or wheel spacers so the tires wont hit the frame.

I really don't like body lifts over 1.25" and if you want to lift your Jeep higher I really suggest buying a suspension lift.

Welcome to the forum. 1st, your going to get, as you already have, a lot of folks saying ditch the 3" body lift. I agree, they put too much stress on the bolts and really are not safe. A complete suspension lift is the best way to go.

That being said, there are many lifts that will work. Lots of folks run Rubicon express 3.5" lift. Some like Full Traction, others Black Diamond, super lift etc. Look into kits in the 3-4" range and let us know what you can afford and we can give you information on that kit.

Thanks so far for the input. It does only rub in very sharp turn like into parking spaces in some cases. Just to clarify I am looking to add some hight to the suspension and nothing to the body at this point. Does anyone know of a nice kit to gain 2-3 inches?

ditch the 3" BL and go with 2" coil spacers. If you want to keep the 33's than get a 1" BL. I agree with 4jeepn, the 3" puts way too much stress on the bolts. If you pnly want to spend a few hundred dollars than the space lift is for you, but if you have about $1000 (or so) to spend than go with a 3" suspension lift. btw welcome to the forum.

The reason your wheels rub on the suspension or frame is due the the backspacing of your wheels..... (IF..the jeep in your avatar is yours.) , the wheels you have are the stock jeep gambler wheel. That wheel has 5.25inches of backspacing.

With that back spacing its possible to rub with a 10.5 wide tire. I rubbed alot with a 10.50 when I had the wheels.

Ways to correct this....
buy new wheels
buy wheel spacers.

If that is indeed your jeep in your avatar your rubbing issues is your wheels when turning. Look at your front lower control arm.

I think a 2" budget boost "spacer lift" or 2" lift springs with longer shocks with your 3" body lift should work out fine.


it sounds like its rubbing because the backspace on your wheels is wrong. I have the same problem, and my tires rub on my sway bar when I do slow sharp turns.
It looks like you have stock wheels in your avatar picture(?). if they are stock wheels, are you running spacers with them?

what he said^^

I took too long in the reply page

Find some stock springs off a Rubi, a 2''bb, a 1.25 bl. The Rubi springs are about 1'' taller then your stock springs.
Just a thought.

Rubicon springs are NOT taller than regular TJ springs. you might see a slight height increase due to replacing old sagging springs, but that's it.

Look at the Rough Country website. They have a deal right now. 2.5 coilspring lift with shocks $300 to the door.

i would keep the body lift......i run a 3" and have no problems......i wheel more than most people in this world and have absolutely no problems.....if you are looking to stay on a budget then just get some offset wheels and call it a day........i do agree with everybodys opinion on the body lifts not being the best option but bang for the buck they are the best way to stuff some 33s and with some trimming you can stuff 35s.....i did it......i now run 39s on a 3"BL and 5.5" rubi xpress springs and plan on losing the body lift in favor of squatting lower.......if youve got 500 to spare then lose the BL but if not then keep it. Do not buy a cheapo rough country lift......everything they sell is cheap b/c it is junk

we just put that lift on a friend's Jeep.

i'm running it on my Jeep and it's been great. maybe you should try it before you bash it.

three of mybuddys have ran them.......springs settle and they ride like crap to begin with.....the spring rate doesnt seemto be right or something.....dont get me wrong, for the money its great i just would rather save up and buy a better quality kit especially when he is already getting the same clearance and performance out of the facotry suspension and a body lift

mine rides as good as it did stock and hasn't dropped any height... and i've got plenty of weight on the front and rear to test it with.

im only speaking from my experiences.....these kits were put on rigs that were wheeled in the toughest places east of the mississippi which could lead to some of the problems...i would like to see what you thought if you swapped in a set of rubi express springs.....they ride very nice....i guess i shouldnt state it like my opinion is a fact...its just an opinion and we all know what those are like.......my standard rule of thumb is to plan on spending at least 1000 on a lift kit if youw ant quality and longevity

i've ridden in rigs equipped with stuff from all of the major manufacturers. mine is on par with the rest.

SAVE YOUR $$$$ YOU WILL HATE YOURSELF DOWN THE ROAD FOR BUYING ANYTHING THAT.......................
ROUGH RIDE MAKES.....I MEAN ROUGH COUNTRY
sorry to say all that bad I know guys that after about a year of Rough country they threw it in the trash
...............buy it.......... then be honest in a year post back on how great the lift is doing..........NOT !!
and dont go over a 1" body lift

mine rides fine, maybe you guys need to quit running 40psi in your tires.

No you just need to remove all that "plenty of weight" you have on there. If my rig was 6-7k lb it will ride nice too.

mine weighs in under 4k. my v6 Commander flat tows it like it's not even back there, and gets 16mpg doing it.

i weigh in just under 5k and run 2-3 psi....i dont tire pressure is a problem for me

going by your sig, you don't count in the DD capable TJ with a RC lift either.