best TJ lift

[Bellboy]

I friend of mine bought a TJ and is wanting me to lift it. I was wondering what the best lift was for the money budgets kinda tight. Any input is greatly appreciated.

[hbhound]

What size tires are you trying to run?

[Bellboy]

Probably just 33's still gonna run the stock axles.

[Pirate Joe]

Several guys I wheel with run the basic 4" Rough Country lift and are happy with it. Best part is it only cost $500.

-Joe

[Bellboy]

i been looking at that one cause of the price. so they haven't had any problems with it?

[Pirate Joe]

Not that I'm aware of. That lift seems to be a decent budget lift for running your 33s.

-Joe

[03Rubiconmg]

That rough country lift is very limited. you will need to buy brake lines and want adjustable control arms very shortly after getting it. You would be much better off just going with their X lift i believe it is the $1000 one. It is much more complete. My friend bought the $500 one and then needed to buy a whole bunch of more stuff.

The $500 one is good if you want a lifted jeep for road use, the $1000 one is for offroading and still a sick deal, i wish i bought it when i bought my $1500 rubicon express one.

Rubicon express is also very good, great customer service just a bit more expensive.

although i plan to buy Rough Countrys long arm upgrade at some point.

[kkpsyop]

I bought a Rough Country lift about 4 years ago. It worked OK for a while. They come with synthetic/plastic bushings that get worn out and loose pretty quickly. I bought a replacement bushings hardware kit from Rough Country but decided to go to a Terraflex lift instead. The Terraflex is far superior in ride. Beefier everything and real joints instead of plastic/synthetic ones.

The Rough Country did work for a while though, and is 1/4th the cost.

I have my old 4" Rough Country lift parts and the replacement bushings still new in the box. I'd be happy to get them out of the garage for $100 total.

[PlimothColonyJeeper]

You get what you pay for. As the more experienced guys will tell you, if you take the cheap route now it will cost you more in the long run. Rough Country has had trouble sizing their shocks, although I hope they have worked it out by now.

[Scott@MPSC]

Cheap is the key word here. When you go this route what you should do is put what you want in the kit. By the springs from whomever, Rough Country will do this. Pretty cheap also.

Brake line kit around 70 or 80 bucks for all 3.

Pitman arm around 60 or so.

This pretty much leaves the shocks, and on the cheap side a shock is a shock.
All you are paying for is the sticker that has the name on it.

[DRTRAYDEUCE]

Anyone have any info on the RC X-flex 4" kit? I have an 06 LJ RUBICON and have been looking into kits and this one looks like a good deal,
http://www.moparsupercenter.com/roug....html?cat=1273
Im in charleston where is this MOPAR center?

[Scott@MPSC]

We are located at:

Rick Hendrick Jeep Dealership
8333 Rivers Ave.
N. Charleston SC 29406

1-800-456-5337 EXT 7814

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by Scott@MPSC

Cheap is the key word here. When you go this route what you should do is put what you want in the kit. By the springs from whomever, Rough Country will do this. Pretty cheap also.

Brake line kit around 70 or 80 bucks for all 3.

If you're doing cheap, there is zero reason to buy a brake line kit that has an extended rear brake line for up to and including 4" of lift on a TJ.

Pitman arm around 60 or so.

Pitman, for what? Unless the trackbar is dropped with a bracket, there is no reason to change out the stocker.

This pretty much leaves the shocks, and on the cheap side a shock is a shock.
All you are paying for is the sticker that has the name on it.

Yep, on the cheap side, a crappy riding shock is a crappy riding shock.

[y2knole]

this might not be a popular answer, but for 33's and a tight budget, if you are gonna do occasional trails and drive to the mall, save some coin, do a 2" BB and save that money for when you decide you a) want something else to drive or b) want to do it right.

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by y2knole

this might not be a popular answer, but for 33's and a tight budget, if you are gonna do occasional trails and drive to the mall, save some coin, do a 2" BB and save that money for when you decide you a) want something else to drive or b) want to do it right.

I don't disagree with the theory behind your logic and I do the same things. Unfortunately, folks that tend to do things cheaply also tend to do hack jobs on stuff as well.

Even a 2" budget boost will offcenter the axles and if you're like me and that bothers you, you will need a relocation bracket for the rear with an adjustable trackbar and an adjustable for the front.

If you're like most other folks, they just re-drill another hole in the front bracket and then the troubles start.

[YellowTJ06]

Originally Posted by y2knole

this might not be a popular answer, but for 33's and a tight budget, if you are gonna do occasional trails and drive to the mall, save some coin, do a 2" BB and save that money for when you decide you a) want something else to drive or b) want to do it right.

I had an RC X, over all good lift went on well didn't have a ton of issues for about 2 years. Then the squeaking, creaking and so on started. I'm not overly picky I mean I drive a Jeep it's supposed to be loud and make a scene right? Lots of grease, lots more wrenching and still a loud running lift. Still had to buy break lines with the X series at the time. Ride was so so, not cushy soft or teeth jarring hard but certainly not a pleasure to drive more than a couple hours but what Jeep is on 33"s.

I sold that yellow beauty, she looked great and wheeled well. But was a little more than I bargained for. I traded for a stocker and went the 2" RE BB route. Which if your buddy doesn't have a pile of cash I spent $250 on that lift and have 31" tires under her. Rides like stock and is well enough capable to get tooling around in the woods again. Hell did a lot of Moab trails on a 2" lift with 31s.

[y2knole]

Originally Posted by YellowTJ06

I sold that yellow beauty, she looked great and wheeled well. But was a little more than I bargained for. I traded for a stocker and went the 2" RE BB route. Which if your buddy doesn't have a pile of cash I spent $250 on that lift and have 31" tires under her. Rides like stock and is well enough capable to get tooling around in the woods again. Hell did a lot of Moab trails on a 2" lift with 31s.

Ive only been into the jeep thing for 4 or 5 years. the first 2 or 3 were on a 2" bb and 31s. It gave me a chance to

a) get into things and see if I liked it before I made a serious investment
b) get alot of seat time on milder trails and LEARN TO PICK A LINE
c) still drive my TJ all day every day without any real issues... it rode just like stock (till my tires wore out then it wobbled like shit!)

I didnt bother with track bar adjustments as Mr blaine mentioned... just ran it with both axles equally off center. it was < 1" anyways and i didnt know any different at the time anywho... I think its a great entry level set for 31-33" tires...

[Bellboy]

I think i might go with the rubicon express super flex lift. I been looking at alot of them it seems to a descent one. A little pricey though.

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by YellowTJ06

I'm not overly picky I mean I drive a Jeep it's supposed to be loud and make a scene right?

Nope, not at all. I build rigs for folks all the time and it's typically for folks that are the exact opposite of you. The want a firm but not too firm controlled ride that handles perfectly as in 1 hand lightly resting on the steering wheel at 75mph on the freeway. They want no rattles, no squeaks, no groans and they get it. I do it for any tire size up to and including 37's in good tires.

Lots of grease, lots more wrenching and still a loud running lift. Still had to buy break lines with the X series at the time. Ride was so so, not cushy soft or teeth jarring hard but certainly not a pleasure to drive more than a couple hours but what Jeep is on 33"s.

My wife's rig is a TJ on 35's, it's been on 35's since I built it for her in 01 and it rides just as nice and quiet today as it did when I built it. She's on her 3rd set of 35's. She's driven it to the North Rim of the GC from SoCal and did not mind the length of the ride at all.

I sold that yellow beauty, she looked great and wheeled well. But was a little more than I bargained for. I traded for a stocker and went the 2" RE BB route. Which if your buddy doesn't have a pile of cash I spent $250 on that lift and have 31" tires under her. Rides like stock and is well enough capable to get tooling around in the woods again. Hell did a lot of Moab trails on a 2" lift with 31s.

That makes me giggle.

[Blue Scapegoat]

You could do like I did... cheap and practical.

3.25" RC lift, that's 2.5" springs and .75" spacers, new sway links, rear trackbar bracket, four of their beefy new 2.2 performance shocks. Bushings are all rubber now, by the way, and the progessive coils are powdercoated silver.
$370 (If you're a member of JeepForum.com you can call in your order and get a 10% discount, so $335)

1" Aluminum Currie BL
$110

1" aluminum JKS Budget MML
$70

Total price: $500-650 (prices may have changed since I did mine in January, + shipping)

Allows you to keep the skid plate all the way up (more breakover clearance than a 4" lift with 1.5" tcase drop)
No vibes, and over 1000 RTI at full flex with absolutely no rubbing whatsoever with 33x12.5 and 15x8 with 4" back spacing.

Keeping the lift smaller means a better ride too, shallower angles on the control arms. And the shocks feel better than stock, I haven't noticed much of a difference in ride quality. In addition to the added tire clearance and ability to run a MML, the body lift gives you the bumper clearance to run the 33" spare on the rear (a lot of people warn against this) and keeps the center of gravity a bit lower without being obvious. (I hate body lifts, but when building cheap they have a lot of advantages)

No brake line or shift linkage modifications needed.

75 mph down the highway with one hand? Not a problem.

[global nomad]

Originally Posted by Blue Scapegoat

You could do like I did... cheap and practical.

3.25" RC lift, that's 2.5" springs and .75" spacers, new sway links, rear trackbar bracket, four of their beefy new 2.2 performance shocks. Bushings are all rubber now, by the way, and the progessive coils are powdercoated silver.
$370 (If you're a member of JeepForum.com you can call in your order and get a 10% discount, so $335)

1" Aluminum Currie BL
$110

1" aluminum JKS Budget MML
$70

Total price: $500-650 (prices may have changed since I did mine in January, + shipping)

Allows you to keep the skid plate all the way up (more breakover clearance than a 4" lift with 1.5" tcase drop)
No vibes, and over 1000 RTI at full flex with absolutely no rubbing whatsoever with 33x12.5 and 15x8 with 4" back spacing.

Keeping the lift smaller means a better ride too, shallower angles on the control arms. And the shocks feel better than stock, I haven't noticed much of a difference in ride quality. In addition to the added tire clearance and ability to run a MML, the body lift gives you the bumper clearance to run the 33" spare on the rear (a lot of people warn against this) and keeps the center of gravity a bit lower without being obvious. (I hate body lifts, but when building cheap they have a lot of advantages)

No brake line or shift linkage modifications needed.

75 mph down the highway with one hand? Not a problem.

I by no means call myself an expert. In fact, I am a lack of a better term, a kook when it comes to Jeeps. But God did grant me the gift of a good eye, and as of yet it has not let me down. If my eyes do not decieve me (even though I probably have a had too much to drink) it seems like your stock control arms have thrown off your wheelbase in your "inexpensive" lift. Which in a round about way (or how I would say it) is pretty cheap. Maybe throw some adjustable arms (*cough* currie jj's *cough*) and it might preform a bit better? Maybe not. Like I said before, I don't really know that much. I just have a computer screen and a soapbox.