LIBERTY 2012 Arctic 265 70 r16 tires on stock suspension

RyansArctic · **Posted:** Sun May 07, 2017 12:49 am

Hey y'all I'm a new member to this forum but by no means new to reading topics on here.

Anyways when I was searching for the biggest tires I could put on the stock KK suspension it was debatable whether or not the 245 75 would fit or not. So I decided on to put some Michelin in that size on my jeep. And they fit without any rub whatsoever even at full lock. Didn't even have to beat the pinch weld down.

About a 1000 miles later a friend at a dealership said we could fit some 265 70 on (I sold the other set). These are tiny bit taller and wider and I thought there was no way for them to fit, but again I was wrong and they fit without any issues.

This week I was talking to someone over Instagram about getting an ome 1.5 inch lift and just seeing how he liked it. He goes by the name of "creedbratton" here on lost. He didn't believe that I had 265 70 on stock suspension.

Anyways this is were you all come into play. Creed directed me here to put up some pictures to see what you all think. I am myself dumbfounded by my situation. Definitely not complaining haha just curious.

Thanks for any replies!

lfhoward · **Posted:** Sun May 07, 2017 9:51 am

Hi Ryan, welcome to LOST and thanks for posting your photos. I think the general wisdom about larger tires is still true, although it looks like your KK fits them for now. With a 2012 your suspension is still young-ish. Many older KK's have sagged. When I replaced my stock suspension at around 60K miles it had sagged almost an inch. I think you are smart to look into lifting (and OME is a good kit) because eventually your tires will start to rub. One other consideration is rubbing when off-road. When on a trail the tires articate up and down much more than they do in regular driving on the street, and they could hit the wheel wells or fender flares in that situation. Again, to make the rig more off road capable, a lift is a really good idea. Also, I recommend looking into skid plates and recovery points if planning to off road it.

RyansArctic · **Posted:** Sun May 07, 2017 10:02 am

lfhoward wrote:

Hi Ryan, welcome to LOST

Thanks for the insight. I had a hunch it had to do with how old the vehicle is. I only have about 28k miles on it currently.

Now as for a lift I noticed you have a JBA lift. Could you help explain the difference between adjust a strut and an OME lift. I know that these two are the only lifts you should look at because of the quality. But the whole "adjust a strut" has me a little confused.

I will definitely be looking into some recovery points and skid plates down the road. At the helm makes some great things.
Thanks

lfhoward · **Posted:** Sun May 07, 2017 11:20 am

RyansArctic wrote:

lfhoward wrote:

Hi Ryan, welcome to LOST

Thanks for the insight. I had a hunch it had to do with how old the vehicle is. I only have about 28k miles on it currently.
That explains why they fit!

Now as for a lift I noticed you have a JBA lift. Could you help explain the difference between adjust a strut and an OME lift. I know that these two are the only lifts you should look at because of the quality. But the whole "adjust a strut" has me a little confused.

Jeepinbyal.com is a good place to get both OME and JBA products.

OME is a replacement spring lift, and will net you about 2.5 inches of lift. It is basically just springs and shocks (Bilstein shocks in the rear). It's high quality, improves the ride over bumps, reduces nose dive in hard stops, and feels more solid around corners than the stock suspension.

The OME lift can be "modded" to net 3.25 inches of lift or so. That's the Tommudd Econo Lift that JBA sells. Once above 3 inches of lift you will need the JBA upper control arms to get an alignment that is in spec.

JBA has their own adjust a strut lift too. It is more expensive but the increase in ride quality and handling is there. The front adjust a struts let you dial in your front height to where you want. If you add an ATH bumper for example, you can crank it back up to compensate for the extra weight. They are also thinner diameter springs than OME and stock so they eliminate occasional spring to upper control arm contact (banging) that can sometimes happen with the Tommudd Econo kit. The adjust a strut kit comes in 2.5 or 4" varieties. I have the 4". It came with A arms, extended rear brake lines, an adjustable rear track bar (needed to re enter the axle at 4" of lift), springs and shocks. For any kit you will also need bump stops in front and rear.

I will definitely be looking into some recovery points and skid plates down the road. At the helm makes some great things.
Thanks

RyansArctic · **Posted:** Sun May 07, 2017 11:32 am

lfhoward wrote:

RyansArctic wrote:

lfhoward wrote:

Hi Ryan, welcome to LOST

Thanks, that definitely clear up some of my questions. Are the rides between that jba and ome roughly the same? Or is jba a clear winner?

KrazyKK · **Joined:** Sun Mar 13, 2016 5:19 pm **Posts:** 87

That's crazy you got those to fit ... I have 245/70/16's on stock suspension and when the rear is fully stuffed I am scared I am going to rip something out :shock:

I know I could've fit 245/75/16's but I wouldn't have been able to drive anywhere except the road and bumps would've seriously worried me :lol:

I'm sitting at almost 70k these days though.

lfhoward · **Posted:** Sun May 07, 2017 3:53 pm

RyansArctic wrote:

Thanks, that definitely clear up some of my questions. Are the rides between that jba and ome roughly the same? Or is jba a clear winner?

I went straight for the JBA myself, but from what I've seen, OME is night and day better than stock, but JBA is a noticeable step above OME. Some others on here might have more experience with both. Bmxer524 has run both and has said he wishes he could have gone straight to JBA. JBA is now selling shocks with manual adjustments as well, so you could go a step further in fine tuning your ride. Tommudd has those on his KJ. But of course one's funding dictates whether or not a JBA lift is possible. I got my JBA kit used when another LOST member sold his KK. I consider myself lucky!

RyansArctic · **Posted:** Sun May 07, 2017 4:12 pm

KrazyKK wrote:

That's crazy you got those to fit ...

I'm sitting at almost 70k these days though.

Yeah I'm still amazed myself they fit under there. And with no rub is even more incredible. If I'm correct I'm one of the only that have had that size fit without any rub or anything with stock suspension. I guess 28k miles helps alot since it hasn't had too much time to sag

lfhoward wrote:

I went straight for the JBA myself, but from what I've seen, OME is night and day better than stock, but JBA is a noticeable step above OME. Some others on here might have more experience with both. Bmxer524 has run both and has said he wishes he could have gone straight to JBA. JBA is now selling shocks with manual adjustments as well, so you could go a step further in fine tuning your ride. Tommudd has those on his KJ. But of course one's funding dictates whether or not a JBA lift is possible. I got my JBA kit used when another LOST member sold his KK. I consider myself lucky!

Well I think I have my answer. I would rather pay once and cry once rather than second guessing if I should have gone ome or whatnot. :mrgreen:

They both sound like solid choices but i think ill try and save up for the jba.

Should I do the silver package? I think that is what most people suggest around here.

lfhoward · **Posted:** Sun May 07, 2017 4:52 pm

I'm not really familiar with the differences between the bronze/silver/gold packages because my lift predates those. Mine has normal bilstein shocks without reservoirs or fancy adjusters, and I have always thought it rides very well.

RyansArctic · **Posted:** Sun May 07, 2017 4:58 pm

lfhoward wrote:

I'm not really familiar with the differences between the bronze/silver/gold packages because my lift predates those. Mine has normal bilstein shocks without reservoirs or fancy adjusters, and I have always thought it rides very well.

Alright thanks for all the help man I'll search around here for some other answers.

tommudd · **Posted:** Sun May 07, 2017 5:05 pm

They fit but no room at all in there
Like has been mentioned, JBA for lift
OME actually gives 2.5 inches of lift not 1.5
If you go over many speed bumps, curbs you'll start to hear it
Build it right and you'll love it for a long time
Go cheap and build wrong you'll hate it right away

RyansArctic · **Posted:** Sun May 07, 2017 6:03 pm

tommudd wrote:

They fit but no room at all in there
Like has been mentioned, JBA for lift
OME actually gives 2.5 inches of lift not 1.5
If you go over many speed bumps, curbs you'll start to hear it
Build it right and you'll love it for a long time
Go cheap and build wrong you'll hate it right away

As ifhoward mentioned in the Tommudd Econo kit there is a banging with the upper control arms. Would the jba A arms remedy this? And how much lift do you get out of the tommudd econo lift? Would that be a good lift choice?

lfhoward · **Posted:** Sun May 07, 2017 8:39 pm

RyansArctic wrote:

tommudd wrote:

They fit but no room at all in there
Like has been mentioned, JBA for lift
OME actually gives 2.5 inches of lift not 1.5
If you go over many speed bumps, curbs you'll start to hear it
Build it right and you'll love it for a long time
Go cheap and build wrong you'll hate it right away

As ifhoward mentioned in the Tommudd Econo kit there is a banging with the upper control arms. Would the jba A arms remedy this? And how much lift do you get out of the tommudd econo lift? Would that be a good lift choice?

Tom can respond too because he probably knows better, but my understanding is that the JBA upper control arms minimize the spring-UCA contact that you have with the stock arms when lifting 3 inches. There are some off road situations where contact is still possible due to the fact that Stock and OME springs have a wider diameter than the JBA adjust-a-strut springs. That said, both the OME and the Tommudd Econo kit are still good lifts.

RyansArctic · **Posted:** Mon May 08, 2017 12:27 am

lfhoward wrote:

Tom can respond too because he probably knows better, but my understanding is that the JBA upper control arms minimize the spring-UCA contact that you have with the stock arms when lifting 3 inches. There are some off road situations where contact is still possible due to the fact that Stock and OME springs have a wider diameter than the JBA adjust-a-strut springs. That said, both the OME and the Tommudd Econo kit are still good lifts.

Now say I went with the jba 2.50 inch lift? Is it possible to adjust it to 3 to 3.25 inches or how does that work? Basically is it adjustable higher than 2.50? On jba site it ask you for the engine type...(gas-standard springs) or the (CRD HD "heavy duty" springs). Which one would I choose?

Thanks

Bmxer524 · **Posted:** Mon May 08, 2017 6:08 am

Yes you can adjust the 2.5" JBA kit to 4". The front adjust a strut systems are the same no matter what kit you originally buy.

If you go OME, run the 927/731 spring set. I skimmed through the topic so forgive me. Both Tom and Lauren know their stuff. If you're looking at the 3.5" Tommudd kit just be warned it has a pretty big rake. You can build the standard OME kit to 3.5" to sit level.

As far as ride, OME is firm, but not jarring. Little on the stiff side, but rides quite well when broken in. The adjust a strut system rides much better. It's softer and you feel the suspension doing more of the work. I'm glad I upgraded from OME to JBA. Part of the reason why I upgraded was because I had contact between my upper control arms and springs, but I also sat at 3.5".

Also, the tread pattern on those tires probably help fitment. They seem to have a less aggressive almost street pattern.

RyansArctic · **Posted:** Mon May 08, 2017 10:58 am

Bmxer524 wrote:

Yes you can adjust the 2.5" JBA kit to 4". The front adjust a strut systems are the same no matter what kit you originally buy.

If you go OME, run the 927/731 spring set. I skimmed through the topic so forgive me. Both Tom and Lauren know their stuff. If you're looking at the 3.5" Tommudd kit just be warned it has a pretty big rake. You can build the standard OME kit to 3.5" to sit level.

As far as ride, OME is firm, but not jarring. Little on the stiff side, but rides quite well when broken in. The adjust a strut system rides much better. It's softer and you feel the suspension doing more of the work. I'm glad I upgraded from OME to JBA. Part of the reason why I upgraded was because I had contact between my upper control arms and springs, but I also sat at 3.5".

Also, the tread pattern on those tires probably help fitment. They seem to have a less aggressive almost street pattern.

yes they are much less aggressive tires but are amazing on the road and even off road they continue to surprise me.

Okay help me out here but if you can adjust the 2.5 inch jba to 4 inch lift why would you spend another grand or so for the 4 inch? and what rear springs/shocks would I need to be able to adjust higher than 2.5 inch? I want to probably settle in around 3.25 of lift. I really like the quality of Jba lift and it is most likely the route i will be going so any help with explaining is greatly appreciated.

Bottom line is what would i need to obtain a 3.25" lift (give or take 0.25") from the Jba 2.5?

lfhoward · **Posted:** Mon May 08, 2017 11:54 am

Front:
JBA coilovers
JBA upper control arms
Teraflex extended bumpstops

Rear: (less sure about this- get a second opinion)
731? OME springs (BMX can tell you which ones)
Bilstein shocks (longer than stock -- again, BMX!)
2 extra spring isolators per side (added to the top)
2 hockey pucks per side bolted down for bumpstops

The extra cost of the 4" lift is that an adjustable rear trackbar and extended brake lines and sway bar links are needed in the rear for that height. Also you'd be using 4" JBA springs.

RyansArctic · **Posted:** Mon May 08, 2017 1:53 pm

lfhoward wrote:

Front:
JBA coilovers
JBA upper control arms
Teraflex extended bumpstops

Rear: (less sure about this- get a second opinion)
731? OME springs (BMX can tell you which ones)
Bilstein shocks (longer than stock -- again, BMX!)
2 extra spring isolators per side (added to the top)
2 hockey pucks per side bolted down for bumpstops

The extra cost of the 4" lift is that an adjustable rear trackbar and extended brake lines and sway bar links are needed in the rear for that height. Also you'd be using 4" JBA springs.

Oh I understand now! The front is the adjustable coilover to whatever height you desire. In the rear it is more of a manual change. Where you use OME springs and bilstein shocks or the jba adjustable shocks. And the isolators are basically there to get the desire height that is set in the front.

Correct me if I am wrong about that^^^^

Anyone have any comments on the jba adjustable shocks.

This is what the jba site says about the silver 2.5 inch.
JBA Silver comes with HD JBA Adjust-A-Struts, JBA Upper A-Arms, 2.5" 5100 Rear Bilstein Shocks / upgrade to JBA Total Control Rear Shocks, 2.5" Rear Coil Springs and Front Bump Stops.

2.5 inch JBA Adjust-A-Strut coilover spring lift kit for Jeep Liberty, KK, 2008-2012

2.5" JBA Adjust-A-Strut front coilover system, sum assembly required
Al's Gen 5.5 A-arms
2.5" rear springs
2.5" 5100 Bilstein rear shocks / upgrade to JBA Total Control Rear Shocks
Front bump stops

Are the included rear shocks already OME or are they jba? And I wouldn't need new brake lines until I get closer to 4 inch correct?

Thanks for the help everyone. Finally starting to grasp everything a little more.

Scar0 · **Posted:** Mon May 08, 2017 6:02 pm

My rig was used for the original JBA 2.5 prototype. Because of this it went through several changes.
I started with a lift similar to the OME but the first front springs (skyjacker) were a little short(2-1/8" lift) and weak. They sagged in no time.
So were the rears. JBA sent me new rears(the ones you would get with the Adjust-A-Strut). They were actually a little long. But that allowed them to settle in nicely.
I really did not mind the slight front rake. So I ran that setup for about a year.
Then I upgraded to the Adjust-A-Strut. Let me tell you, it was night and day the handling difference.
What I currently have would be comparable to the Silver package + A-arms. No reservoir on the shocks.
I'm still running the Skyjacker rear shocks(H7088) however. They are OK for now. When they wear out I am definitely going to upgrade to the Bilstein Shocks.

One of the reasons I went for the 2.5 and not 4 is the front CV shaft angle. With 2.5 My front CV axles are sitting almost level. (Stock they are at an upward angle to the wheel.) This axle angle gives me the most articulation up and down. With 4" you have almost no downward travel and very limited upward travel do to the springs being compressed.

2nd, Ground clearance to the bottom was not a real big issue for me. No rock crawling here, just mud and sand.
3rd, I did not have to mess with the rear kickout the 4" would have caused. No need for a new track bar.
4th, I could use the stock brake lines on the rear. Just bend the hanger bracket down a little.

I am very happy with my setup and would recommend it to anyone who wants to know.
There are a couple How-to write ups I did, in the KB section. If you want to DIY it.
Be sure to read the "things I would have done different" in the threads.

If you go OME I would highly recommend you have a shop compress an assemble the front springs! They can be :grim:

if not handled right.

RyansArctic · **Posted:** Mon May 08, 2017 9:57 pm

Scar0 wrote:

My rig was used for the original JBA 2.5 prototype. Because of this it went through several changes.
Then I upgraded to the Adjust-A-Strut. Let me tell you, it was night and day the handling difference.
What I currently have would be comparable to the Silver package + A-arms. No reservoir on the shocks.

Thanks for the input Scar0! I think 2.5 JBA lift sounds like best route for me and if I really really wanted to add another .50" or .75" I could always do that with rear isolators.

I promise I only have 2 more questions!

Have you had any experience with the JBA total control rear shocks or would the bilsteins be better choice?

What is the benefit of having a reservoir on the shocks?

LIBERTY 2012 Arctic 265 70 r16 tires on stock suspension

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