It's official - I'm getting Frankenlifted!

white04kj · **Posted:** Tue Jun 13, 2006 11:15 am

I'm finally getting Frankenlifted. Thursday's pay day, and as soon as the money hits my account I'll be making a call to All J's. I do have a couple of questions though. Would you guys say it's worth the extra hundred bucks to get the OME struts? Does the upgrade include OME shocks in rear, or do you keep the Rancho rear shocks? Last but not least - how much should I expect to pay to get an alignment after everything has settled?

Vern · **Posted:** Tue Jun 13, 2006 11:28 am

I recommend spending the extra $100 for the OME struts, instead of the Rancho Struts. I got them with my Frankenlift, and I've been driving it for over a month and it handles great. I spoke with Quinn the other day on the telephone and he told me that they will be getting a new OME rear shock for testing very shortly, that ARB has made a longer one for them. You may want to wait a little while before ordering if you want the OME struts and shocks. Quinn said the good news on the OME shocks is they should be priced the same as the Rancho shocks, so the price for the Frankenlift should be about the same with the OME struts. Quinn said the OME struts are have better valving, and this eliminates some of the bounce that occurs when the backend goes over something, because the shocks are valved better for both directions of travel.

I'm waiting to look into ordering the OME shocks after they are available and replacing my Ranchos.

Se7enLC · **Posted:** Tue Jun 13, 2006 11:52 am

white04kj wrote:

I'm finally getting Frankenlifted. Thursday's pay day, and as soon as the money hits my account I'll be making a call to All J's. I do have a couple of questions though. Would you guys say it's worth the extra hundred bucks to get the OME struts? Does the upgrade include OME shocks in rear, or do you keep the Rancho rear shocks? Last but not least - how much should I expect to pay to get an alignment after everything has settled?

Hard telling since I've only had the OME struts, not the rancho. I like em, ride is smooth, offroad performance is great, no problems.

The upgrade only covers the struts in the front, as far as I know there is no OME shock for the rear from All Js.

Alignment is probably between $50 and $100 depending on where you have it done. Probably less then that if you go to a little alignment shop. I think my dealership does it for $70.

Guyute1210 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 13, 2006 1:32 pm

I got my alignment at a Mom & Pop shop since they were the only ones that would touch a lifted KJ. It was $37 including tax.

Mutt · **Posted:** Tue Jun 13, 2006 6:03 pm

Congratulations, you'll love the Frankenlift! What front springs are you going with? If you don't have a heavy bumper/winch and don't plan on adding them soon, refrain from using the 927s on the front. My experience is they are way to heavy for a gas KJ with rubber bumpers.

4wdParakeet · **Posted:** Tue Jun 13, 2006 7:19 pm

If I'm thinking right the OME struts up front are generally considered for the gas KJ w/ arb and winch set up. I could be wrong so somebody correct me please. I love the way mine rides. Come wheeling with us this weekend and I'll let you drive mine on a trail to see what the rancho's do. Either way I take it the pics you took worked for you? If so glad I could help

Parakeet

white04kj · **Posted:** Wed Jun 14, 2006 3:55 am

4wdParakeet wrote:

If I'm thinking right the OME struts up front are generally considered for the gas KJ w/ arb and winch set up. I could be wrong so somebody correct me please. I love the way mine rides. Come wheeling with us this weekend and I'll let you drive mine on a trail to see what the rancho's do. Either way I take it the pics you took worked for you? If so glad I could help

Parakeet

I'm planning on getting the RL front bumper, but that probably won't be until next year. The pics did help a bit, but I think it was mostly the suggestion that if I didn't buy a lift, I'd be getting a Powertrax for the rear - my dad thinks messing with the rear pumpkin would trash the KJ :roll:

Oh well all that matters is my clearance problem is soon to be solved. Does this mean I don't drive the girly Jeep anymore? :lol:

I'm leaving early Friday for NC, so I can't go wheeling with you guys though, but thanks for the offer. How would you feel about coming out here to help with the install once the lift arrives though?

As for the springs I was thinking I'd just ask Heather or Quinn what they would consider to be the best option. Which did you go with Parakeet?

Thanks for the info guys.

4wdParakeet · **Posted:** Wed Jun 14, 2006 8:11 am

I've got the ranchos struts I belive and I like them well enough. And yea I could help you install it it's not really that hard. Just let me know.

Parakeet

white04kj · **Posted:** Wed Jun 14, 2006 8:58 am

I should have worded it better - I meant did you go with the heavy duty springs or the medium-duty?

Does anyone know how much Rock Lizard's front bumper weighs? Would they be heavy enough to justify HD springs or would the mediums be alright without sagging? I want to get as much front flex as possible, because the front usually doesn't flex very well at all, but I don't want any sagging either.

Guyute1210 · **Posted:** Wed Jun 14, 2006 2:05 pm

Dunno, but I have the HD springs w/o any (ARB or RL) bumper or winch and still love the ride. I don't see any problems with getting the HD springs w/ or w/o the bumper/winches.

CaKJFreedom · **Posted:** Wed Jun 14, 2006 5:24 pm

Seems like it'd be easiest and cheapest to get them now so they're already there if you end up with another bumper or winch later.

white04kj · **Posted:** Thu Jun 15, 2006 4:54 pm

It's on order now - the fella I spoke to (not Heather or Quinn, they were busy and I didn't think to ask his name) said it should be shipping sometime between tomorrow and the middle of next week.

I ended up going with the Rancho struts as Uncle Sam pinched a little more from my paycheck than I expected, and I didn't really want to wait another month (I'll be out of town for 2 weeks) to get the lift. I can honestly say I'm looking forward to coming back from vacation so I can get it put on - the only time I'll ever be happy to come back to KS :lol:

0311_DoC · **Posted:** Fri Jun 16, 2006 1:57 pm

Vern wrote:

I recommend spending the extra $100 for the OME struts, instead of the Rancho Struts. I got them with my Frankenlift, and I've been driving it for over a month and it handles great. I spoke with Quinn the other day on the telephone and he told me that they will be getting a new OME rear shock for testing very shortly, that ARB has made a longer one for them. You may want to wait a little while before ordering if you want the OME struts and shocks. Quinn said the good news on the OME shocks is they should be priced the same as the Rancho shocks, so the price for the Frankenlift should be about the same with the OME struts. Quinn said the OME struts are have better valving, and this eliminates some of the bounce that occurs when the backend goes over something, because the shocks are valved better for both directions of travel.

I'm waiting to look into ordering the OME shocks after they are available and replacing my Ranchos.

Heather just sent me this:

Just this week (Wednesday) I found out that the spring project that we (OME and All J Products) were working on has been canceled due to DCX (Chrysler) discontinuing the CRD KJ. Because there will only be two years of the CRD KJ, OME has decided there will not be enough interest for their investment to make the springs.

Sorry for the bad news….but this is what I just learned and unfortunately, there isn’t anything more we can do to change OME’s mind on this.

HMMMMMM........

Wilmo · **Posted:** Sat Jun 17, 2006 9:06 am

See my sig for my setup, if you have a CRD this is the perfect setup that works great and will leave the CRD sitting slightly lower in the front than the rear
when empty, and flat when loaded with camping gear/fridge etc.

It gives great flex off-road still too and is not so extreme to damage ball joints or have the a-arm banging on the spring.

It should be less expensive than the Frankenlift because you don't need the Daystar strut top relocation brackets to replace the factory ones. The Rocky Road 3/8 spacer plates are way cheaper.

Definitely get the OME front Struts with Rancho RSX17004's on the rear. The OME front struts are way better than the Ranchos for the CRD - I've tried both on mine. They control bounce much better.

TDI4BY · **Joined:** Sun Apr 02, 2006 11:56 pm **Posts:** 644

Wilmo wrote:

See my sig for my setup, if you have a CRD this is the perfect setup that works great and will leave the CRD sitting slightly lower in the front than the rear
when empty, and flat when loaded with camping gear/fridge etc.

It gives great flex off-road still too and is not so extreme to damage ball joints or have the a-arm banging on the spring.

It should be less expensive than the Frankenlift because you don't need the Daystar strut top relocation brackets to replace the factory ones. The Rocky Road 3/8 spacer plates are way cheaper.

Definitely get the OME front Struts with Rancho RSX17004's on the rear. The OME front struts are way better than the Ranchos for the CRD - I've tried both on mine. They control bounce much better.

Isn't that combo lift the one that everyone talks bad about or is it only a problem with stock struts? I am interested in a small lift that increases the flex a bit but is not too high.

Wilmo · **Posted:** Sat Jun 17, 2006 9:53 pm

Rocky Road make a couple of different lifts - their 'Budget' lift with the strut top spacers that are a couple of inches thick are the ones to steer clear of.

The ones I have are part of their 'Combo' lift package - 3/8inch thick and work great to give a little extra lift.

It's official - I'm getting Frankenlifted!

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