What lift should i buy?

bshirey02 · **Joined:** Sun Mar 25, 2007 12:16 pm **Posts:** 13

I have a 2002 liberty sport 4x4. what kind of lift should i buy? i love the rustys suspension lift....but the spacer lift is so much cheaper. i do not care about how much flex i have....i just want to be able to fit my 30.5 inch mtr's....i dont do much offroading...i never go over big rocks like i see in the pictures on here...also i dont want the ride of my vehicle to be really rough either....what do you guys think?

humptyjumped · **Posted:** Mon Apr 30, 2007 6:57 pm

if i had a dollar for every time.....

go rusty's..... period.

if you can afford the extra, get a frankenlift.

your kj will love you for it

Killerkane · **Posted:** Mon Apr 30, 2007 7:06 pm

I just had this same question two weeks ago. I went with the Rusty's spacer system. Works great and I love the way it makes the libby look. I will tell you it is not as easy as the instructions look. I can tell you tricks to make it faster. I just put mine on last wednesday and thursday night. The ride is fine just make sure you torx to specs or you will have popping sound from the front.

jason thompson · **Posted:** Mon Apr 30, 2007 11:05 pm

I will say what I know about lifts

You get what you pay for
That being said we have the OME springs and rear shocks with rancho struts
I will be trying out the 245/75 mtr's next week and will post up if they fit or not

Maximum Carnage · **Posted:** Mon Apr 30, 2007 11:21 pm

Rusty's is what I have heard is the best for your buck

tommudd · **Posted:** Mon Apr 30, 2007 11:23 pm

Agree completely Jason thompson about you get what you pay for. I went with the OMEs due to their long history, better spring rates etc. Anything I do I look at what is going to last for a long time, not just look good today.

Little story, I got a FANTASTIC deal on a ARB bumper due to some one putting on a OTT Rocky Road lift, toasted their UBJs, one broke, tore up a fender He thought he could go the cheap route, but in the end cost him several hundred dollars. After he took everything off, I got the OTT lift, worn out Upper Arms, two front fenders and that great bumper. OTT lift still laying on the garage floor, use one of them as a door stop!!

spencevans · **Posted:** Tue May 01, 2007 1:15 am

My first lift was a OTT spacer lift from Rocky Road. Yes it did allow me to run the 245 MTR's but it road really stiff. The springs bottomed out all the time and it would have to be tightened occationally because it would get noisy and clunk whenever I hit a man hole cover. So I upgraded to the Frankenlift II and it is like a completely different vehicle. Space lift also have a tendency to where out other components faster like the struts. My struts were gone after 25k miles. It may cost alittle more but you get what you pay for.

Killerkane · **Posted:** Tue May 01, 2007 6:58 pm

I guess you guys know better than I all I know is for day to day driving My rustys lift works and rides well. As for wearing out parts to early to tell. I do maintenance for a living and any time you change from the factory specs you shorten the life of your vehicle. I spoke with rustys and asked about the coil lift verus spacer and he said spacer would be fine. it uses the same springs so how does the ride become stiffer? The front spacer goes on top of the strut without compressing the spring any. The rear does go under the spring but I have not noticed any difference. Also when I was shopping for lifts I spoke to my uncle who has many lifted vehicles and Down East Off Road in Wilson nc and they both felt the spacer would work fine. I am glad to hear all opinions and ideas . At the End of the day it is what you feel comfortable with and can afford.

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue May 01, 2007 7:40 pm

Since you do maintenance Killerkane you should also know that you get what you pay for. I am sure that you have many good tools that you did not buy at K Mart/ Walmart etc. You buy tools that will do a good job and last a long time. Anytime you buy something be it tools to do maintenance/ working on your vehicles or buying a lift you are doing it to IMPROVE the vehicle. That said spacer lifts have came up time and time again where they wear out the struts faster than a spring lift. As I have stated I have someone elses OTT lift laying in my garage because he wanted to be lifted and look the part cruising through town. It destroyed the whole front suspension. Not picking on you just trying to pass along some information. Do it right the first time so you will not have to redo it again. BUT if you only are keeping the KJ for the next 6 months who cares right :wink:

Killerkane · **Posted:** Tue May 01, 2007 7:48 pm

You win I guess you know best. But why is it that Rusty's sell so many of these? I like mine and hey I guess you like yours.. Hey I pull for the Panthers Duke and The Pirates IS THAT ALSO WRONG ? or maybe just my opinion. :shock:

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue May 01, 2007 7:54 pm

There is no win to it. It comes down to what you like best BUT also what is going to do the best job. I have been on here since September of 04 and this lift question about spacers comes up every week almost so i was just trying to steer people in a better direction. money is too hard to come by to throw it away. But if you have some to throw away I do have that OTT lift holding my garage door open ! :wink:

Companies do sell a lot of them, but another company also sold a lot of Yugos, so whats that tell you :lol:

Dje Ryu · **Posted:** Tue May 01, 2007 8:35 pm

RRO sells a lot of those OTT kits by using a lot of false info about them on their website. You WILL need to do some extra work to make them work right. You WILL need an alignment after installing it. You WILL be getting some contact between the upper ball joints and the coils. If you have the RRO OTT spacer kit, please, go take a look at your struts. If they don't have some sort of poly/rubber wrapped around them to prevent the ball joint from hitting them, then jack your front end off the ground (with chocks behind and in front of the back tires, then take a look at your struts. Are the ball joints sitting on the coils? Without some sort of stop, I'll bet money they are. All it takes is hitting a bump or a dip just a little too fast, and this will result in a broken ball joint or upper control arm, at best. Worst case... well, best not to think about it, really. Do it right, get a suspension lift, and enjoy your Jeep. Sorry this is so long but, that OTT kit just scares the hell out of me, now. I highly recommend that EVERYONE stay away from Rocky Road's "Budget" lift. Just search for more posts by me to see the kind of damage it can do and what it will cost to fix. For a little more than an extra hundred, you can get Rusty's suspension lift... would have saved me thousands, had I gone that route the first time.

LiLredLibby · **Posted:** Tue May 01, 2007 10:21 pm

Killerkane wrote:

You win I guess you know best. But why is it that Rusty's sell so many of these? I like mine and hey I guess you like yours.. Hey I pull for the Panthers Duke and The Pirates IS THAT ALSO WRONG ? or maybe just my opinion. :shock:

Hey Killerkane,I too run the Rusty's OTT Lift.When I first joined L.O.S.T. they all gave me down the road too,but I don't let it get to me.The Rusty's Coil lift has been the choice of most,but I'm not sure why.Most with the coil lift have added a slew of conduit nuts to get the front level with the rear,in turn putting the same angels on the suspension.In my opinion the coil kit has less lift in the front and exactly the same parts in the rear,and with less lift in the front you will avoid balljoint contact and such,but adding a clevis lift will essentialy put you back at square one.I've heard some say they have balljoint contact after the clevis addition even with the coil lift,and my question was,why would you spend over double the money to end up with basicly the same thing?...However if you do go OTT and you have balljoints hitting the coil springs,It would be wise to rig you some bumpstops so you don't create further problems.Don't mean to offend anyone with my opinions or start a peein' contest,but as long as we all like what we have we should'nt want to flame each other. :wink:

Ron

Dje Ryu · **Posted:** Tue May 01, 2007 10:46 pm

I never said that an OTT kit couldn't work, just extra work. No, I'm not pissed or anything. I just want people to be aware of what they're getting into. RRO implies, heavily, that no additional work will be needed with their budget lift, when they know that's just not true. And, for what it's worth, I have to disagree with the opinion that the Rusty's with a clevis is the same as an OTT. I'll get some pics of my setup, now with the clevis to compare to the OTT kit but for now, here's the problem I had with the OTT kit:

Make sure to put some poly or rubber between those to prevent that.

LiLredLibby · **Posted:** Tue May 01, 2007 11:44 pm

Dje Ryu wrote:

I never said that an OTT kit couldn't work, just extra work. No, I'm not pissed or anything. I just want people to be aware of what they're getting into. RRO implies, heavily, that no additional work will be needed with their budget lift, when they know that's just not true. And, for what it's worth, I have to disagree with the opinion that the Rusty's with a clevis is the same as an OTT. I'll get some pics of my setup, now with the clevis to compare to the OTT kit but for now, here's the problem I had with the OTT kit:

Make sure to put some poly or rubber between those to prevent that.

If you look back at my last post you will see that I said some were still getting some contact depending how far they raised the strut out of the clevis. So,I would bet for you to gain 3 1/4" of lift like I did,you would need more coduit nuts.And eventually if you raise it enough,you will have contact.I have'nt installed the RRO OTT lift,but mine is Rusty's OTT lift and at full droop I had about 1/4" between upper balljoint and coil spring.And to stay on topic,the original poster said they don't do any heavy offroading,just an occasional trail,but mostly road driving,so as long as they understand that the OTT is not for hardcore wheelin',then maybe this is all they need.Mine has been on since july of 2006,been off on easy trails 3 or 4 times,and I can promise you I have no paint missing on my coil springs,no leaking or blown struts,tight upper balljoints without torn boots,and even quiet cv joints.One thing I think we can all agree on is that the more you expect from IFS suspension,the more it's going to cost you.

Ron

Dje Ryu · **Posted:** Wed May 02, 2007 12:39 am

LiLredLibby wrote:

One thing I think we can all agree on is that the more you expect from IFS suspension,the more it's going to cost you.

Ron

This IFS, anyway. Without a doubt.

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed May 02, 2007 3:24 pm

I am also going off of what I have read on here from several who have had the OTT kits and then had problems. Also the guy I bought the ARB from. Less than 6 months and he had to buy new struts, Upper control arms, fenders (since he cut his for the bumper) etc. So with the initial cost of the lift and then replacing everything and selling the ARB for less than a third of what he paid for it he maybe L.O.S.T what maybe 1200/1500 with labor etc? Just trying to get everyone to understand that there have been problems with some of the lifts, make them ask a lot of questions, and get as much info as they can. With LiLredLibby you know what to look out for if there are problems, a lot of the people on here have no idea until its too late and costly.

LiLredLibby · **Posted:** Wed May 02, 2007 5:28 pm

tommudd wrote:

I am also going off of what I have read on here from several who have had the OTT kits and then had problems. Also the guy I bought the ARB from. Less than 6 months and he had to buy new struts, Upper control arms, fenders (since he cut his for the bumper) etc. So with the initial cost of the lift and then replacing everything and selling the ARB for less than a third of what he paid for it he maybe L.O.S.T what maybe 1200/1500 with labor etc? Just trying to get everyone to understand that there have been problems with some of the lifts, make them ask a lot of questions, and get as much info as they can. With LiLredLibby you know what to look out for if there are problems, a lot of the people on here have no idea until its too late and costly.

Some of these kits should be labeled "For Professional Use Only". :lol:

What lift should i buy?

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