[aldo90731]

Great stuff, Pressurized!

Sorry for the silly question; I’m new to JLs: what’s the Mopar lift fiasco?

 

[aldo90731]

What is your goal? Larger tires? Significantly more off-road capability? Beefier look? 2" is doable, but you might be best off with a spacer lift...

A spacer lift will not lift more than the spacer size where spring lifts can sometimes be a fair amount more... So a 2.5" Teraflex spacer lift goes up exactly 2.5 in front and 2.0 in rear. It allows 35" tires on a Sport and works exactly as intended.

https://www.quadratec.com/p/teraflex/2-5-inch-performance-spacer-lift-kit-jeep-wrangler-unlimited-jl

Assuming a similar 2.5” increase: is there an inherent difference in the quality of the ride between a spacer lift and a complete lift? How about in the articulation?

 

[aldo90731]

@Pressurized follow up question:

I decided to get a Daystar Comfort Ride lift kit, a set of 33” KO2s and be done. The Comfort Ride Kit provides a 3/4-inch lift to the front, 1/5-inch to the rear, and maintains the original geometry. https://www.quadratec.com/p/daystar/34-spacer-lift-kit-jeep-wrangler-jl?gclid=Cj0KCQiAq97uBRCwARIsADTziyb2WJaHJPmgm76WOJmOUVZAbcIDbfp4ztmRpa_hNZOlmtPDBx_MxqIaAvCHEALw_wcB

The 33” KO2s fit without any lift; I just want to give my Sahara a little more clearance without messing too much with the factory height.

My 89-year old dad and 88-year old aunt need to be able to get in and out of my Jeep.

With that in mind, is there a good set of shocks you would recommend to improve the ride of my JL Sahara?

 

[aldo90731]

So I had the Daystar Comfort Ride spacer lift (3/4” in front, 1/5” in rear) installed —see below.

You can barely notice the difference from afar. However, with the 33” KO2s and this mild lift, the Jeep has gained a little over 1” in height. My butt now slides off the seat when I get out.

Overall I am happy with this lift: you can tell you are sitting higher from the driver seat; the Jeep now stands above other vehicles on the parking lot, my 89-year old dad can still get in-and-out of the Jeep, and the ride feels more isolated and refined.

It cost me $49.99 for the spacer lift (free shipping and no tax at Quadratec) + $230 installation at my local repair shop, for a total of $280. I can’t really complain.

When the Jeep is out of warranty I may go for a proper 2” lift, like the one @Pressurized recommends on here. In the meantime, this is good enough to keep everyone happy.

Upon delivery on 11/08

Two days ago

Today

 

[aldo90731]

Ha, and I thought the “passenger lean” was attributed to the Heavy Spouse Syndrome...

 

[aldo90731]

Has the bowing issue been fixed on the Mopar lift?

 

[aldo90731]

Awesome. Thanks!

 

[aldo90731]

I went with a low center of gravity 2” spacer lift (very cheap) and 35s. (STT Pros). Added front and rear Rugged Ridge HD steel flat fender flares with inner fender liners, Bilstein shocks, front Currie Antirock sway bar system, longer rear RK sway bar links, Rock Hard 4x4 complete under belly skid plate system including control arms, FAD, and muffler skids, and spare tire relocation bracket. Did molly the rear axle and RCV’d up front. Rides great and is all I need for the weekend moderate wheeling I do. Point is the only thing that raises your axles is your tires, and you may save money just doing a small spacer / leveling lift and supporting mods for the moderate wheeling you are describing. Other people may disagree, but I believe that you should only lift a vehicle to the minimum height needed to fit the size tires you want.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

How do you like the Currie Antirock sway bar?

Do you find it increases articulation?

Does it maintain on-road handling, or does it loosen it up?

 

[aldo90731]

My understanding is Rubicons will accept 37s with the Mopar lift.

 

[aldo90731]

Aldo, you are running the Mopar lift now, right?

Correct. My Sahara got 3.5 inches of lift with the so-called "2-inch" Mopar lift.

35s fit without issue; I could probably sneak 36s in there if I wanted to.

 

[aldo90731]

I love the Mopar lift on my Sahara. It’s a beast on the trails. But, notwithstanding the longer arms included with the lift, I have to admit I’m not too enamored with how the Jeep steers on-road.

The steering on my JL was fine in stock form, but with the lift it became more vague and sensitive to the crown on the road. I have to maintain a slight but continuous correction to the left. The alignment shop says they did all they could to compensate.

I also get the steering pulling side-to-side when I stomp on the brakes on uneven surfaces, but I’m pretty sure that’s more a side-effect of the big 35s.

The Jeep’s got a YETI adjustable track bar, and I have a Fox 2.0 steering damper in its box I still have to install. Hope that does the trick.

@Pressurized Any suggestions how I might be able to improve the steering?

 

[aldo90731]

Any possibility we can see the alignment sheet from the alignment shop? It would really help in the diagnosis. Does anything change if you do an X pattern tire rotation?

Awesome! Yes, lemme find it and scan it. I’ll upload it later today.

Haven’t tried an X-pattern rotation. What would be the reasoning for doing this?

 

[aldo90731]

To identify if there is a pull in one of the tires... Often it's radial tire pull. If your pull changes with the rotation it's likely tire and not alignment. By doing the X you are moving the offending tire to the opposite corner of the Jeep giving the best chance of changing the pull. Make sense?

Yes. Makes total sense. Thanks!

 

[aldo90731]

Any possibility we can see the alignment sheet from the alignment shop? It would really help in the diagnosis. Does anything change if you do an X pattern tire rotation?

Here is the alignment sheet. Thanks in advance!

 

[aldo90731]

I'm curious aldo... did they do something with your ball joints to change your camber from initial to final? You got around .5° movement on both and that's not a spec that you can simply adjust. Overall it looks pretty good, I mainly wanted to see if you had higher caster on the drivers or the passengers side. Slightly higher drivers is where it should be. I will say that if you have a slight left pull now, don't put on the Fox SS as it will likely make it a little worse. For 35's, I would shoot for a little higher caster if it was me, but that's not likely causing your pull. It might however be contributing to the vague feeling... A little extra caster would probably give you more of the in the valley feel, more caster forces the wheel to want to stay straight and reduce wander. I'd say maybe a set of adjustable uppers. But they would need to be able to adjust a little shorter than stock. Metalcloaks do, but the @Rancho might also. Maybe Matt can help us here...

Good question. Keeping in mind that this alignment took place 9 months ago, I recall the shop owner verbally saying something along the lines of "I adjusted the caster to compensate for the crown on the road..."

My Jeep pulls slightly to the right; away from the crown and towards the curb. I have to maintain a very slight but ongoing correction to the left. Given that, would you still advise against installing the Fox damper?

 

[aldo90731]

No, I would say put it on... The Fox and Bilstein gas charged SS both create an ever so slight left pull. It will counter a slight right pull... I run the Bilstein for exactly that reason and it may fix your issue, mine did.

Now, let's go back, because I completely misspoke and misread your post above... Maybe my coffee hadn't fully kicked in yet.

You want your passenger caster slightly higher than driver to counteract road crown. Higher caster right pushes left and higher caster left pushes right. Your axle is like mine, we are a little backwards. That higher LEFT drivers is probably what is causing your right pull. A proper caster is the right at .2 or .3 higher than the left.

Haha! Awesome!

So I have a couple things to try:

1. Install the Fox damper
2. Do an X-pattern tire rotation

I'll let you know how they work out.

 

[aldo90731]

No, I would say put it on... The Fox and Bilstein gas charged SS both create an ever so slight left pull. It will counter a slight right pull... I run the Bilstein for exactly that reason and it may fix your issue, mine did.

Now, let's go back, because I completely misspoke and misread your post above... Maybe my coffee hadn't fully kicked in yet.

You want your passenger caster slightly higher than driver to counteract road crown. Higher caster right pushes left and higher caster left pushes right. Your axle is like mine, we are a little backwards. That higher LEFT caster is probably what is causing your right pull. A proper caster is the right at .2 or .3 higher than the left.

The Fox stabilizer won't go in. It is about 2 mm wider than the eye on the Jeep. Is there a secret to mounting these things?

I got the Fox Shox PS Stabilizer IFP 9852417. According to Amazon it should fit.

 

[aldo90731]

Yeah, that is the number on the box. But it won't go in. I tried widening the mount located underneath the engine but it won't budge.

I had minor surgery on my back 6 weeks ago; I don't want to push it.

Pity.

 

[aldo90731]

I tried hammering the stabilizer into position but it just won't go in.

Time for Plan B...whatever that is.