Need Budget Lift Advice

foosed · **Posted:** Fri Jul 20, 2007 10:25 am

I am looking into a budget lift for my 2006 CRD. I do not want to replace springs and shocks/struts until it gets a little older and I am closer to needing to replace those anyway. My question is... What are the advantages and disadvantages of poly spacers vs. billet spacers? Is there a ride quality difference? Does poly break down and wear out much quicker than billet? Also, will my stock shocks and struts be able to handle the extra height? Thanks for any help you can give.

bugnout · **Posted:** Fri Jul 20, 2007 11:05 am

I have been running the RockyRoad Outfitters (RRO) 2.125 combo lift for about a year. Its basicly the daystar 2 inch spacer lift with a metal spacer that fits over the top of the strut to give a little extra lift. I have stock shocks and struts and have been off road with this setup a few times, mostly rock crawling, but a little mudding. CV angles are very level, and I've not found any suspension contact at full drop. The spacer in the back actually prevents full stuff of the rear tire so I don't have to worry about new bump stops. I don't think having the spacers reduces my articulation much over what a full blown suspension lift would add.

I was in the same boat, didn't want to go whole hog yet, but needed to lift for clearance and to run larger tires. At the time I bought, the Frankenlift kit was spacers in the front anyway because the longer CRD springs were not available until recently. In a couple of years I will do it again and go more aggressive. Hopefully there will be more progress on developing the IFS lifts, but this will do for know.

I think you can buy the OTT spacer only from RRO, if you can find the daystar 2.0 kit at a better price.

CaKJFreedom · **Posted:** Fri Jul 20, 2007 12:03 pm

Please save yourself some potential headache and do a search on the OTT kit and on RRO as a company. Also, check out their feedback on Ebay. Not everyone was burnt, but far too many for it to be random.

the1jferg · **Posted:** Fri Jul 20, 2007 12:19 pm

This is about as budget as it gets:

http://rustysoffroad.com/mm5/merchant.m ... sus_kj_kit

or this coupled with the daystar rears: http://rustysoffroad.com/mm5/merchant.m ... sus_kj_kit

Which will give you 1.5" front and less than 2" rear

The poly ain't wearing out,breaking, or tearing in our lifetime.

The front 1.5 spacers stiffen up your ride and can jar your teeth out on some potholes depending on your shocks.

You can use stock rear shocks if you want, but its nice to have the extra flex.

The spacer install...Just have a shop install better struts for you and get it aligned and they will put them in for you replacing the stock rubber one.

This will allow you to run 245-75's giving you 3/4" ground clearance over stock 235's

Even the guys spending the big bucks ain't gettin much more bang than that.

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Jul 20, 2007 12:32 pm

I am confused

....you say you are almost ready to replace the shocks etc anyways so why do the work, spend the money etc on something you will replace after a short time anyways, just do it right the first time either with Rustys, OME springs etc or a Frankenlift, then no worries about anything going bad, end of story. Some run products from RRO but with their customer service and the way most of their products perform I would never use them!
I have the OME springs Rancho shocks etc, and have ALSO installed 2 complete Rustys spring kits now and both are great lifts, along with the Frankenlift.
Bure aghali Swahili for CHEAP IS EXPENSIVE :wink:

the1jferg · **Posted:** Fri Jul 20, 2007 12:46 pm

I agree with Mudd, get the OME's at least. they ain't that much more than the spacers.

Why mess up a nice CRD with poly.

bugnout · **Posted:** Fri Jul 20, 2007 1:16 pm

CaKJFreedom wrote:

Please save yourself some potential headache and do a search on the OTT kit and on RRO as a company. Also, check out their feedback on Ebay. Not everyone was burnt, but far too many for it to be random.

Just a clarification, the OTT plate that is part of the combo kit is just a steel plate spacer, not the OTT spacer that everyone had a problem with. The suspect product was constructed of two of these steel plates with a piece of round stock between to locate the Strut even lower on the suspension. Caused Strut failure for a lot of people and resulted in upper A arm contact at full drop.

The rest of the combo kit is the Daystar 2 inch spacer kit, that is probably the most common lift choice for those that don't go full suspension lift, and can be bought from All J's, Rusty's and just about every other vendor that caters to the KJ. If fact if your worried about the OTT part just skip that and do the Daystars only. I put it in because it makes the front sit about level, I don't like the raked look.

IMHO you either go whole hog, Rustys or Franken lift, then add, Al's Upper A Arms and replace the lower ball joints with MOOGs,
Or
You put on a spacer lift and save your money for other MODS.

foosed · **Posted:** Fri Jul 20, 2007 1:55 pm

tommudd wrote:

I am confused

....you say you are almost ready to replace the shocks etc anyways so why do the work, spend the money etc on something you will replace after a short time anyways, just do it right the first time either with Rustys, OME springs etc or a Frankenlift, then no worries about anything going bad, end of story. Some run products from RRO but with their customer service and the way most of their products perform I would never use them!
I have the OME springs Rancho shocks etc, and have ALSO installed 2 complete Rustys spring kits now and both are great lifts, along with the Frankenlift.
Bure aghali Swahili for CHEAP IS EXPENSIVE :wink:

I think that you may have read that a little bit wrong. In my original post, I mentioned that this is a 2006 Liberty that I am asking about (I would have to have been pretty rough on it to need to replace suspension components already). In my second line, I mentioned that I did not want to go with a full suspension lift "until it gets a little older and I am closer to needing to replace those anyway." That is why I am asking about spacer lifts. Sorry for the confusion.

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Jul 20, 2007 2:12 pm

But same holds true, of course I admit I am lazy so I tend to do things once and do it right the first time. :wink:

Suspension, ie shocks/struts are pretty much gone in my opinion in about 35000 miles which for me and my mileage per year is only one year so if I had a 2006 I would be replacing those items soon, of course maybe you are like some of the lucky ones who has a 4 year old Liberty with 25000 on it ! :lol:

the1jferg · **Posted:** Fri Jul 20, 2007 2:46 pm

The tires, shocks, and struts were bad when it left the factory. :lol:

KJ04 · **Posted:** Fri Jul 20, 2007 3:32 pm

the1jferg wrote:

The tires, shocks, and struts were bad when it left the factory. :lol:

Good one, John. :lol:

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Jul 20, 2007 5:36 pm

the1jferg, I was going to say that but thought I would at least give them a few thousand miles anyways. Back in the 70s when I worked at a Ford dealership, we complained about some of the tires that came on trucks at the time, regional rep said "They only put them on to get them onto the car carrier and back off , what do you expect?" So nothing has changed, cheap tires, cheap shocks, change them all as soon as you can! :wink:

Guest · **Posted:** Sat Jul 21, 2007 2:54 am

it's what, $250 for a daystar spacer lift, compared to under $500 for a Rusty's coil lift and $750 or 800 for the frankenlift?

cmon man, it's only another $500, and it's a new Jeep...not a 1984 XJ like what sits in my back yard that's beat to crap. put the quality stuff in there and you don't have to do it a 2nd time!

tommudd · **Posted:** Sat Jul 21, 2007 9:05 am

ThunderbirdJunkie, keep saying that 1000 times and someone will still come on and say "but I want to do it cheap now and then later I will do it right"

I dont understand the logic at all.

It took me a little while to get all the parts together but did it right the first time, end of story. Oh well we try when someone asks, if they want to take the advice from those who have been down the road before them OK if not then they can spend the bucks now and later also :wink:

tom

Dje Ryu · **Posted:** Sat Jul 21, 2007 9:21 am

I wish I would have come here and asked before I put on a budget lift. I found out how much it costs all on my own. A full coil lift the first time would have saved me hundreds of $$$.

tommudd · **Posted:** Sat Jul 21, 2007 10:41 am

Just keep trying to tell everyone Dje Ryu someone may take the advice, sorry you had to learn the hardway though, sucks to throw money away like that!

Tom

foosed · **Posted:** Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:42 am

After all of the replies I have seen, I guess I will just not lift my Liberty. At least not now. $500 extra may not seem like much to some of you, but when you have a family and are the only one providing income for a household of four, $500 can make a pretty good dent in the budget. I had originally thought about springing for the full OME suspension lift, but had read posts from several people running budget lifts who talked like they had pretty good luck with them over an extended period of time. From what I have read, I guess I should just wait.

the1jferg · **Posted:** Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:52 am

Look what yall've done !!!

Foost, even the ride on the poly ain't bad.

Just remember, when folks spend all that money on the lift, it does very little for the capability of the vehicle, and can hinder the capability if they stuff too much tire in there.

and that why....They have a thread for SFA

May the Lord provide you with enough money.

Video Guy · **Posted:** Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:59 am

Dje Ryu wrote:

A full coil lift the first time would have saved me hundreds of $$$.

Can you elaborate on this statement? What exactly was that hundreds of dollars spent on other than the lift kit? You can't count the alignment because you'd have done that anyway. Don't figure in the labor cost either because that also would have been done.

I've been riding on my Daystar 1.5/2.0 spacer lift for nearly a year, and it hasn't caused me any problems.

I have 53,600 miles on my KJ and am still using the original shocks and struts. If I keep my KJ into the winter, I will upgrade to an OME suspension if I can scrape up an extra $700 and commit to keeping the KJ. (I'm still on the fence because of gas mileage. Don't really need an SUV anymore, esp. when I only get 16 mpg in my daily driving.) But until then, I'm very satisfied with the ride. It's no worse than stock, which was never great, but not horrible either. I got lifted for ground clearance and fitting 245/70R16 without rubbing. Mission accomplished for only $200. I did make sure to avoid an OTT-style lift. My Daystar spacers go beneath the springs inside the strut.

Science_Guy · **Posted:** Mon Jul 23, 2007 10:17 am

Video Guy wrote:

Dje Ryu wrote:

A full coil lift the first time would have saved me hundreds of $$$.

Can you elaborate on this statement? What exactly was that hundreds of dollars spent on other than the lift kit? You can't count the alignment because you'd have done that anyway. Don't figure in the labor cost either because that also would have been done.

I've been riding on my Daystar 1.5/2.0 spacer lift for nearly a year, and it hasn't caused me any problems.

I have 53,600 miles on my KJ and am still using the original shocks and struts. If I keep my KJ into the winter, I will upgrade to an OME suspension if I can scrape up an extra $700 and commit to keeping the KJ. (I'm still on the fence because of gas mileage. Don't really need an SUV anymore, esp. when I only get 16 mpg in my daily driving.) But until then, I'm very satisfied with the ride. It's no worse than stock, which was never great, but not horrible either. I got lifted for ground clearance and fitting 245/70R16 without rubbing. Mission accomplished for only $200. I did make sure to avoid an OTT-style lift. My Daystar spacers go beneath the springs inside the strut.

My guess is he is talking about the "RRO OTT 2½" Budget Lift - REMOVED!" That lift has caused several problems and I bet he had the same. Those who use the Daystar have not reported the same problems and are a good choice for prelowered KJs.

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