Hi All,

Ok, so I've posted before I had the OME spring lift (with Ranchos) fitted to my CRD. Wasn't entirely happy with the front end, and upon the recommendations on the forum from Clint et al, I imported a Rocky Road Combo lift to Australia (Daystar 1.5inch and their own strut top plate) and had it fitted with the factory CRD springs.

I didn't want as high a lift as the 2.5inch Daystar kit - that's why I went with the Rocky Road. What I can say is that this set up feels much stiffer than the OME and the KJ corners better and feels a lot more surefooted on the road now. Also picked up 30mm more lift than the OME lift on my CRD (I have an ARB Bar on as well), so now it sits at 29inches Arch to Lower Rim measurement.

The only question I have to those who have experience fitting the Daystar spacers - is that do you get some noise from the front end with these spacers fitted, when compared to just the factory springs by themselves?

I've noticed when I flex the front over speed humps etc, that I get some noise in the front suspension. It sounds like the polyurethane spacer 'binding' on the spring. Its really quite noticeable at slow speeds when the suspension hits a rut or speed bump and flexes significantly. On the highway you can't hear it, nor when cornering - it only seems to occur when you purposely flex the front end. I've flexed the suspension hard a dozen or so times to break in the spacer, but it still persists.

Can you tell me if this is something that you guys experience when fitting a combo lift and whether the noise dissipates after the spacer wears in a little if indeed you think it is the spacer?

Anyway, that's the only drawback I can see with changing out the OME Spring - the rest is all positive with regards to fitting a Daystar Spacer lift with the factory springs on the CRD - much less body roll, less diving under brakes and a lot more stability in the front end in general.

I'd recommend this setup for the CRD over the OME now having tried both. The front of mine now sits about 10mm lower than the rear with the OME 947 springs, so when you load up the cargo area, it levels out - another reason why I didn't go with the 2.5inch Daystar kit - cause I didn't want the rear lower when loaded up.

Cheers

Andrew

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2005 KJ CRD Cherokee (Liberty) Extreme Sport, ARB bar and IPF lights, Rocky Road Combo lift (Daystar 1.5inch spacer with RR strut top plate and factory springs) with OME struts (front), OME 947 with Rancho RSX17004 shocks (rear), all Mopar skid plates, Tow Hitch, BFG 245/70/16 AT's Pics.

I'm running the 2.5" Daystar pucks with mine. I don't hear any noise when flexing. What struts do you have? I'm set up with Rancho RSX. Maybe this is where your noise is coming from.

Something else to check out. Do your ball joints hit when flexed? My spacer has a bump stop on the side to prevent this.



Sorry I don't have a better pic but you can see it in the circle.

Jason

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Now: "07 steel blue JK Rubicon 2dr
4.5" Rubicon Express lift
rolling on 35"x12.5" Xtreme MT's
Warn M8000 winch
On board Air
Ham radios
Skidrow and kilby skids

Former: '05 Patriot Blue CRD. Lifted, locked, and a few other toys.

Is that were the contact is?were the bump stop is on the spacer?Did you customize that bump stop or did it come that way

Here is a better shot. As you can see it is molded into the puck.


Check out this pick of the frankenlift strut assembly. You can see how a spacer is held into place. Just useing a pipe clamp.


Jason

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Now: "07 steel blue JK Rubicon 2dr
4.5" Rubicon Express lift
rolling on 35"x12.5" Xtreme MT's
Warn M8000 winch
On board Air
Ham radios
Skidrow and kilby skids

Former: '05 Patriot Blue CRD. Lifted, locked, and a few other toys.

It wasn't the ball joint contacting - the Rocky Road Combo lift (advertised as 2.125 inches) isn't tall enough for that problem to occur by the looks of where my suspension sits.

I figured out the noise was coming from where the spacer slips over the strut - basically the inside surface of spacer was rubbing against the strut outer wall and sticking. I imagine this is because when the spacer gets compressed, it pushes the polyurethane inwards and it 'grips' onto the strut more firmly - this coupled with the movement vertically as the spacer compresses a little, caused the noise.

A bit of WD40 spray in the gap there and this has fixed it! Easy. Now perfectly silent, and still a much better lift than the OME Springs for a CRD!

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2005 KJ CRD Cherokee (Liberty) Extreme Sport, ARB bar and IPF lights, Rocky Road Combo lift (Daystar 1.5inch spacer with RR strut top plate and factory springs) with OME struts (front), OME 947 with Rancho RSX17004 shocks (rear), all Mopar skid plates, Tow Hitch, BFG 245/70/16 AT's Pics.

I got the same noises when I first installed the Frankenlift. Quinn mentioned that this is not uncommon and usually goes away as the painted surfaces break down a bit. Glad you found the noise, but use silicone spray next time. Petroleum will attack rubber and plastic over time.

Yep, thought of that after the fact so washed out the WD40 and sprayed some silicon spray in there now.

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2005 KJ CRD Cherokee (Liberty) Extreme Sport, ARB bar and IPF lights, Rocky Road Combo lift (Daystar 1.5inch spacer with RR strut top plate and factory springs) with OME struts (front), OME 947 with Rancho RSX17004 shocks (rear), all Mopar skid plates, Tow Hitch, BFG 245/70/16 AT's Pics.