CTjeeper16 wrote:
I guess what it comes down to is that every time I say, "ok, I'll save for the good stuff", something comes up and I end up back at the start ( for example, college textbooks....a real kick in the teeth at $650 a semester).
So I'm just at a point where I'm going to at least do something now. If I have to tear it apart again to replace struts, fine. By doing things this way, I'll have the look and height I want now, at a slightly better quality than spacers, and the ability to add later on.
This also is less of a shock to my savings than would be a ~$500 full suspension overhaul, which when on a college budget, is nice.
I know what you mean. I really wanted the Rusty's Coil Lift, but I was strapped for cash at the time, so I made due. My expenses were as follows:
Daystar spacer lift + shipping from All J: $190
Dinner with my brother's family after he did most of the lift install (5 hours): $85 w/tip
Fuel for roundtrip travel to my brother's house: $40
Alignment and retorquing of suspension bolts after 500 miles: $100
TOTAL = $415
The one lift-friendly Jeep dealership wanted about $500 to install the $170 Daystar. I said NO WAY because I was still paying off my tires and a few other Jeep items. They wanted to charge $900 to install the $700 Skyjacker kit.
Even if my brother and I had put on the Rusty's kit, it would have cost me about $725 when all is said and done. Way more than I could budget at the time. I know in the larger world of 4x4 offroading, the best KJ kits are cheap compared to high-end kits from Full Traction, Pro Comp, and others. But I had to weigh the cost of the lift against the amount and difficutly of wheeling I do. 12,000 miles later, I feel I made the best decision I could. Yes, I'm compromising a bit on ride quality, but the improved ground clearance has helped me on the trail, I can fit my tires better, and my KJ looks better.
Is it ideal? No, but it's a compromise I can live with. I know my struts could fail at any time. I assumed that risk knowing the possible outcomes. With only 40,000 miles on the KJ, it didn't make sense to discard oem parts that were still working. When my struts are blown, I will yank the front spacers and upgrade to OME struts and OME medium springs. I know in the long run that I will pay more for not installing a coil lift from the start. But you know what? With all my other expenses, I'd
still be saving for that lift right now and taking a lot more bypasses on the trails.
You do the best you can with what you got. One way you can save money on a good lift is buy it on a credit card promotion; they sometimes will send you convenience checks with 0% interest for 6 mos or a year. You can pay for your coil lift that way, and pay for it over time without interest.
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the more stuff you try the more Droop and flex you will need
) and those guys never told me I needed a bigger bumpstops 
, in fact the assure there is no needed to have them (it was my first lift kit) 
) it would have been pretty level. Buy the way be prepared to ream out the holes in the rusty's strut plates, they didn't line up AT ALL. You would think that they would have the holes right?! Sandracer if you alsoo want more lift with the OME coils you can do a clevis and rear isolator lift also. (I'm installing the clevis lift soon)