Question regarding Lifting my Liberty

Cpike · **Posted:** Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:06 pm

jsc7002 wrote:

I wouldnt mess with RC, if you have to go cheap and do a spacer go with Daystar from Bouldbers, but if you want something that will last, and ride and handle better call Dirk at DPG Off-Road (316-776-9900) and tell him you would like to order some OME HD coils for the KJ front and rear and then call Heater at Boulderbars and tell her you would like to order the Ranchos shocks and struts for the KJ, all said and done it should be around $650, and then post up in your section and have a lift party.

if I did something like that, Would that be considering shipping costs to? and will a Jeep dealership be able to install that? Other then some wranglers, i don't know many Jeep owners up here who are up for modding there jeeps. I'm just starting to get into exploring with my KJ. I'm thinking about taking it to a small jeep dealership my parents have done work with in the past, whos a RC dealer, and said he can give me a quote if I give him specs and prices.

I guess because all this is new to me I'd love it to be something simple, but I also want to do things the right way since its my daily driver. and I need to use it to go to college week as well as drive to work every day.

jsc7002 · **Posted:** Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:11 pm

Yes that would be including shipping, IIRC I paid about $670 for everything and shipping, and then I just read any and every lift write-up I could find for the KJ and did it myself in my garage in a day with the help of my dad, and neither one of us had ever done any suspension work before, its pretty easy and straight forward.

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:20 pm

Spacer lifts you use your old springs which if they have over 30,000 miles are pretty much junk anyways
Jeep dealerships will charge you an arm and two legs to do a simple lift. Not worth it in my book
RC=junk in the long run, read through how many have had spcer type lifts and then had to swap everything out later, not worth it again in the long run.

What you need to "upgrade" your suspension is 4 new coils and 4 new shocks
for instance
2 OME 927s for the front
2 OME 948s for the rear
2 Rancho RSX17505 for front shocks
2 Rancho RSX17004 for the rear also Teraflex front bumpstops

You can get other springs like Rustys and they will give you lift for a while but they sag badly, and they are only rated at 310 lbs about the same as stock which are rated at 300 to 320 depending on options

If you wanted to go with a spacer lift you would still want to change out the shocks so for a little bit more you have a whole new , much better riding and handeling KJ :wink:

Cpike · **Posted:** Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:23 pm

jsc7002 wrote:

Yes that would be including shipping, IIRC I paid about $670 for everything and shipping, and then I just read any and every lift write-up I could find for the KJ and did it myself in my garage in a day with the help of my dad, and neither one of us had ever done any suspension work before, its pretty easy and straight forward.

I'll definitely keep that in mind, I had thought special tools were necessary to install a suspension lift. I may end up just having this small jeep dealership do it, Hes a good guy and I think hes one of the few around here that isn't going to close this fall.

But i've written down the information you gave me in the previous post, so I can look into it more..But If i do decide to go with what you suggested, How much lift is that going to give me? do OME coils come in one size? And how much work is it to install a lift manually? I thought it needed special tools?

Cpike · **Posted:** Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:28 pm

tommudd wrote:

Spacer lifts you use your old springs which if they have over 30,000 miles are pretty much junk anyways
Jeep dealerships will charge you an arm and two legs to do a simple lift. Not worth it in my book
RC=junk in the long run, read through how many have had spcer type lifts and then had to swap everything out later, not worth it again in the long run.

What you need to "upgrade" your suspension is 4 new coils and 4 new shocks
for instance
2 OME 927s for the front
2 OME 948s for the rear
2 Rancho RSX17505 for front shocks
2 Rancho RSX17004 for the rear also Teraflex front bumpstops

You can get other springs like Rustys and they will give you lift for a while but they sag badly, and they are only rated at 310 lbs about the same as stock which are rated at 300 to 320 depending on options

If you wanted to go with a spacer lift you would still want to change out the shocks so for a little bit more you have a whole new , much better riding and handeling KJ :wink:

Its starting to sound like spacer lift is something I don't want. What you suggested with the OME Coils and the Rancho shocks, is similiar to what JSC suggested to buy? But he mentioned struts as well?

Cpike · **Posted:** Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:31 pm

Alright, Im starting to rethink having a dealership do it.. if I do get the suggested OEM and Rancho struts\shocks how much of a lift will that be?

Or maybe a better question is, Since right now Im stock anything new will be better (otherwise I have other issues). But If i just replace the springs shocks and struts (which im guessing I already stock) will it just give me an inch or two over stock?

long_tall_texan · **Posted:** Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:32 pm

Cpike wrote:

tommudd wrote:

Spacer lifts you use your old springs which if they have over 30,000 miles are pretty much junk anyways
Jeep dealerships will charge you an arm and two legs to do a simple lift. Not worth it in my book
RC=junk in the long run, read through how many have had spcer type lifts and then had to swap everything out later, not worth it again in the long run.

What you need to "upgrade" your suspension is 4 new coils and 4 new shocks
for instance
2 OME 927s for the front
2 OME 948s for the rear
2 Rancho RSX17505 for front shocks
2 Rancho RSX17004 for the rear also Teraflex front bumpstops

You can get other springs like Rustys and they will give you lift for a while but they sag badly, and they are only rated at 310 lbs about the same as stock which are rated at 300 to 320 depending on options

If you wanted to go with a spacer lift you would still want to change out the shocks so for a little bit more you have a whole new , much better riding and handeling KJ :wink:

Its starting to sound like spacer lift is something I don't want. What you suggested with the OME Coils and the Rancho shocks, is similiar to what JSC suggested to buy? But he mentioned struts as well?

Yes. That is exactly what jsc had suggested. It should run you around $650 for all of the pieces combined. And there are several write-ups her on how to install it yourself. It is really pretty easy. Just takes a little time.

jsc7002 · **Posted:** Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:33 pm

the only 'special tool' needed would be a spring compressor and you can rent them, I rented one and it was like $40 but you get it back when you return the compressor.

the OME coils come in light duty, medium duty and heavy duty, light duty is about the same as your OEM coils as far as spring rate and HD is for winch and bumpers, which I dont have and several others but I still went with the HD, it isnt a harsh ride at all or anything. You will also need the basic hand tools, wrenches, sockets...I did my lift ALL by hand no power tools no air tools. You can also take the OEM and the new OME coils to most auto shops and they should be able to disassemble the old and reassemble using the new parts for you and it shouldnt cost too much.

Cpike · **Posted:** Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:40 pm

Alright, Im starting to rethink having a dealership do it.. if I do get the suggested OEM and Rancho struts\shocks how much of a lift will that be?

Or maybe a better question is, Since right now Im stock anything new will be better (otherwise I have other issues). But If i just replace the springs shocks and struts (which im guessing I already stock) will it just give me an inch or two over stock?

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:41 pm

Cpike wrote:

tommudd wrote:

Spacer lifts you use your old springs which if they have over 30,000 miles are pretty much junk anyways
Jeep dealerships will charge you an arm and two legs to do a simple lift. Not worth it in my book
RC=junk in the long run, read through how many have had spcer type lifts and then had to swap everything out later, not worth it again in the long run.

What you need to "upgrade" your suspension is 4 new coils and 4 new shocks
for instance
2 OME 927s for the front
2 OME 948s for the rear
2 Rancho RSX17505 for front shocks
2 Rancho RSX17004 for the rear also Teraflex front bumpstops

You can get other springs like Rustys and they will give you lift for a while but they sag badly, and they are only rated at 310 lbs about the same as stock which are rated at 300 to 320 depending on options

If you wanted to go with a spacer lift you would still want to change out the shocks so for a little bit more you have a whole new , much better riding and handeling KJ :wink:

Its starting to sound like spacer lift is something I don't want. What you suggested with the OME Coils and the Rancho shocks, is similiar to what JSC suggested to buy? But he mentioned struts as well?

KJs have 4 shocks no struts although a lot of people call the front ones struts since they sit inside pf a spring like a strut does :wink:

All I have done to date I just run them up to a local mom and pop garage and they compress the springs for me, 10/15 minutes and they hand them back :wink:

If you have any basic knowlede you can install a lift with reading on here and / or calling one of us. Which several have called me before they got theirs done :lol:

Cpike · **Posted:** Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:47 pm

I wonder how long it would take me to drive to Ohio....

lol I wish there were more KJ's in my neck of the woods who did this kind of thing.

And what exactly does....
2 Rancho RSX17004 for the rear also Teraflex front bumpstops
mean? Teraflex front bumpstops are what?

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:48 pm

Cpike wrote:

Alright, Im starting to rethink having a dealership do it.. if I do get the suggested OEM and Rancho struts\shocks how much of a lift will that be?

Or maybe a better question is, Since right now Im stock anything new will be better (otherwise I have other issues). But If i just replace the springs shocks and struts (which im guessing I already stock) will it just give me an inch or two over stock?

With just doing the shocks / springs you will get about 2.5 inches over what it was new. so you may end up with say 2.75 or 3 from where you are now depending on how bad your springs are, its all hard to tell since each is different. You can also do what we call a clevis lift for an extra 1/4 to 1/2 inch and then you can also install a flat top plate for more. If you look at a current post asking people to list their height and what kind of lift they have you will see quite a difference

tomsjeep · **Posted:** Wed Jun 03, 2009 6:06 pm

It also kinda depends upon the dealership... some are more mod-oriented than others. In general, having the dealership do a mod like a lift is going to meet with all kinds of flak about it.
And as you're starting to figure out, for the money you spend on a spacer kit, and keeping your old springs, you're a lot better off with new springs! It's not that much more cash for new springs, and it doesn't make your old, sagging coils worse.

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Jun 03, 2009 6:19 pm

whoops never mind :roll:

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Jun 03, 2009 6:20 pm

Cpike wrote:

I wonder how long it would take me to drive to Ohio....

lol I wish there were more KJ's in my neck of the woods who did this kind of thing.

And what exactly does....
2 Rancho RSX17004 for the rear also Teraflex front bumpstops
mean? Teraflex front bumpstops are what?

2 Rancho RSX17004 rear shocks
Teraflex bumpstops to replace the stock front bumpstops

jhblackwell · **Posted:** Wed Jun 03, 2009 7:20 pm

where is the best place on line to get the rancho shocks, etc.

Cobalt-60 · **Posted:** Wed Jun 03, 2009 7:40 pm

Follow Tom's lead. The only place where he and I will disagree is on the Rancho over the OME "shocks" (front and back) but both should work great.

Do the work yourself, it is part of the hobby... :wink:

tumanator · **Posted:** Wed Jun 03, 2009 7:49 pm

Cobolt-60 wrote:

Follow Tom's lead. The only place where he and I will disagree is on the Rancho over the OME "shocks" (front and back) but both should work great.

Do the work yourself, it is part of the hobby... :wink:

Yep, and once you tear into once it'll make it that much easier to tear into the next time.... which once you start it never really stops, so how many conduit nuts do you actually have now Tom?

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Jun 03, 2009 8:22 pm

tumanator wrote:

Cobolt-60 wrote:

Follow Tom's lead. The only place where he and I will disagree is on the Rancho over the OME "shocks" (front and back) but both should work great.

Do the work yourself, it is part of the hobby... :wink:

Yep, and once you tear into once it'll make it that much easier to tear into the next time.... which once you start it never really stops, so how many conduit nuts do you actually have now Tom?

How many conduit nuts , I could tell but she would be upset if I told all of her secrets.

Ranchos can be bought at a vairty of off road shops, your local parts stores, AllJs etc. and guess what they have a lifetime warranty, which OME does not :lol:

tumanator · **Posted:** Wed Jun 03, 2009 8:38 pm

tommudd wrote:

tumanator wrote:

Cobolt-60 wrote:

Follow Tom's lead. The only place where he and I will disagree is on the Rancho over the OME "shocks" (front and back) but both should work great.

Do the work yourself, it is part of the hobby... :wink:

Yep, and once you tear into once it'll make it that much easier to tear into the next time.... which once you start it never really stops, so how many conduit nuts do you actually have now Tom?

How many conduit nuts , I could tell but she would be upset if I told all of her secrets.

Ranchos can be bought at a vairty of off road shops, your local parts stores, AllJs etc. and guess what they have a lifetime warranty, which OME does not :lol:

somehow i knew i was gonna get that answer...... again

Question regarding Lifting my Liberty

Who is online