Worth a Lift with 138K?

rakoon · **Posted:** Sat Jan 15, 2011 5:48 pm

I have a 2002 Liberty with 138,000 miles on it. I am the original owner and it is in great shape, clean and taken care of. It still has the original suspension, shocks and springs! So, it is in need of shocks for sure and from what I have read here, the spings should be replaced.

So the question is, with this many miles should I lift? If so, should I just go with the spacer lift or smoething like the Franken? I guess my concern is how many miles I might expect on the engine/trans? Don't want to sink a bunch of cash into it and have it die.

Any opinions are welcome.

tommudd · **Posted:** Sat Jan 15, 2011 6:08 pm

If it still runs well, you still want to keep it for a while then why not lift it?
Going to be a huge difference when or if you do.
You can go several routes on springs/shocks but with that many miles a spacer lift would be the same as throwing your money down a rat hole.
4-OME springs around 320, 4 Bilstein shocks from shockwarehouse another 340 and a few more things and you're good to go!

blackwidowkj06 · **Posted:** Sat Jan 15, 2011 6:12 pm

Go with the Old Man Emu Suspension lift. That will take care of the springs and shocks all in one sweep. :wink:

Wouldn't hurt to replace the Upper A-arms with Jeepinbyal's Upper a-arms, which are much better than the OEM upper a-arms. You can also do a clevis lift 3/8 I believe gives 3/4 inches of lift, if I can remember that correctly. Don't go above 3" of lift or you'll run into problems. Keep the tire size around a 245/75/16 or 255/70/16. Anything higher you will have to re-gear. Most people I know run the 245/75/16 tire/wheel set up and works very well. You can regear to 4.10's and run 265/75/16 tires, but that will cost you a lot of $$$. If you have tons of cash to put into the KJ, I'd go all out honestly. :pepper:

That's my opinion. I'm running the Daystar 2 1/2" Spacer Lift Kit with Skyjacker Hydro 7000 rear shocks, which I will be replacing this year sometime with the OME lift with the clevis lift and 2 extra rear iso's on each side to level out the rear. :BANANA:

Only a matter of time before tommudd sees this post :juggle:

He can answer more advanced questions as I am limited on that knowledge :lol:

blackwidowkj06 · **Posted:** Sat Jan 15, 2011 6:14 pm

Yes I admit I went the wrong way with the lift on my KJ, but I didn't buy my lift kit. :wink:

That's why I'm going to do the OME springs, shocks, etc...

slipinkramer · **Joined:** Sat Jan 15, 2011 6:00 pm **Posts:** 43

Hi Brother,

I have a 2003 Liberty Sport with 235,000 miles and it's still going strong. I bought it when new and immediately installed a Rocky Road Combo lift and 245/75/16 tires. That lift was really OK but not great; its certainly a great value for the low price. Overall, I have no complaints with Rocky Road's products or service. After all these miles and wheeling, my springs, struts and shocks were flat so I recently installed Rusty's 2-1/2" Coil Spring Suspension Kit. Wow! it drives and wheels great! Rusty's components look like rebranded Old Man Emu to me... Somewhat similar to the basic Frankenlift. Anyhow, that particular kit is on sale for $400 right now so you might want to glance at Rusty's web page.

With a mere 138,000 miles on your Jeep, I wouldn't hesitate to lift it. If you fix it up the way you want it, you will love it. If you love it, you will drive the wheels off of it. That will save tons of money in the long run since you won't be hanging around new car dealers, buying new rigs and getting new payment plans.

tommudd · **Posted:** Sat Jan 15, 2011 6:27 pm

slipinkramer
Ah... Rustys springs are only rated at 310 lb, same as stock, you had a better lift with the RRO since they at least use OME springs with crappy customer service, than you have now,
hate to break the news to you.

Rustys are well known to sag quickly . Rustys do at least use OME front shocks with their sticker on them to cover the OME name
For comparison OME 927s which most use are rated at 410 lb

blackwidowkj06 · **Posted:** Sat Jan 15, 2011 6:28 pm

slipinkramer wrote:

Hi Brother,I have a 2003 Liberty Sport with 235,000 miles and it's still going strong.

235,000 miles??? WOW :shock:

I hope my KJ keeps going that long.

blackwidowkj06 · **Posted:** Sat Jan 15, 2011 6:42 pm

I've heard bad things about RRO, in all honesty I wouldn't buy from them. My :2cents:

irollgen4s · **Posted:** Sat Jan 15, 2011 6:49 pm

lifted my CRD at 145k. As far as suspension and frame concerns no issues at all, but if your talking longevity wise about the motor then i cannot help you there.

rakoon · **Posted:** Sat Jan 15, 2011 8:45 pm

Thanks for the replies. I pretty much want a lifted Jeep, was just wondering how long they last. I think I will be doing it this Spring. Since I plan to drive the Jeep until it dies, I may as well lift it and have fun killing it!

blackwidowkj06 · **Posted:** Sat Jan 15, 2011 10:26 pm

rakoon wrote:

Thanks for the replies. I pretty much want a lifted Jeep, was just wondering how long they last. I think I will be doing it this Spring. Since I plan to drive the Jeep until it dies, I may as well lift it and have fun killing it!

X2

slipinkramer · **Joined:** Sat Jan 15, 2011 6:00 pm **Posts:** 43

Hi Tommudd and all,

Well if Rusty's lift is weak, as you say, its a good thing I have the 2.4 liter engine. Its a lighter motor so my KJ sits a little nose high. A bit of sagging in the front might not be a bad thing. Regarding the RRO Combo Lift I mentioned, no springs were involved with that particular lift kit product so I've been riding on stock (post lowered) coils all along. The "Combo" refers to a combination of an over the top spacer plate sandwiched in above the coil over assembly and a poly spacer inserted into the stock coil over assembly. Despite all the dire warnings I read urging me to stay away from RRO, their Combo Lift has worked as advertised for me for years.

Someone said they "heard" RRO was bad. Maybe so... Maybe not... I've ordered from them only twice over the years and both times everything was fine, but I tend to be lucky so YMMV. I can't get overly excited about things "heard" on the Internet; most of it is excrement.

Someone else here expressed that 235,000 miles was a lofty goal for KJ longevity. I've yet to meet the Jeep that's not good for a quarter of a million miles of service. Even then, they are cheap and simple to repair and rebuild to keep driving. What it really comes down to is whether or not you want it to last and thus are willing to maintain and repair it. Also whether or not you wreck it...

slipinkramer · **Joined:** Sat Jan 15, 2011 6:00 pm **Posts:** 43

blackwidowkj06 wrote:

rakoon wrote:

Thanks for the replies. I pretty much want a lifted Jeep, was just wondering how long they last. I think I will be doing it this Spring. Since I plan to drive the Jeep until it dies, I may as well lift it and have fun killing it!

X2

Sounds like a great plan to me! Just hold that lift to 2-1/2 or 3 inches max. Don't end up like this :0

http://i317.photobucket.com/albums/mm38 ... ulch11.jpg

tommudd · **Posted:** Sun Jan 16, 2011 12:31 am

slipinkramer wrote:

blackwidowkj06 wrote:

rakoon wrote:

Thanks for the replies. I pretty much want a lifted Jeep, was just wondering how long they last. I think I will be doing it this Spring. Since I plan to drive the Jeep until it dies, I may as well lift it and have fun killing it!

X2

Sounds like a great plan to me! Just hold that lift to 2-1/2 or 3 inches max. Don't end up like this :0

http://i317.photobucket.com/albums/mm38 ... ulch11.jpg

The above had nothing to do with lift, thats TJKJs
also RRO is not hearsay :wink:

plenty of real life experiences on here
I've had one of the RRO lifts you had that wa gave to me laying in the garage for 5 years now as a "what not to use" :ROTFL:

Jackson02 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 16, 2011 3:16 am

I also have an 02 with the 2.4l in it. I lifted it at 125k miles with a spacer lift, then replaced that with a pieced together version of a frankenlift at 145K. I am now at 165k or so. The OME springs and new shocks rode 100 times better than the stock stuff with the spacer lift. Dont waste your money by doing it twice, go OME and dont look back.
As far as RRO goes, I ordered my OME springs from them and there costomer service was dissappointing at best.

slipinkramer · **Joined:** Sat Jan 15, 2011 6:00 pm **Posts:** 43

Jackson02 wrote:

I also have an 02 with the 2.4l in it. I lifted it at 125k miles with a spacer lift, then replaced that with a pieced together version of a frankenlift at 145K. I am now at 165k or so. The OME springs and new shocks rode 100 times better than the stock stuff with the spacer lift. Dont waste your money by doing it twice, go OME and dont look back.
As far as RRO goes, I ordered my OME springs from them and there costomer service was dissappointing at best.

Do you like the little 4 liter? I've found mine crawls pretty good for an SUV. Those stock 4:10 gears in the diffs really help. What size tires do you push with it? I've never run anything larger than 31 inches.

slipinkramer · **Joined:** Sat Jan 15, 2011 6:00 pm **Posts:** 43

The above had nothing to do with lift, thats TJKJs
also RRO is not hearsay :wink:

plenty of real life experiences on here
I've had one of the RRO lifts you had that wa gave to me laying in the garage for 5 years now as a "what not to use" :ROTFL:

[/quote]

Yes, I can see that you would have no use for a baby spacer lift like that.

Xodius · **Posted:** Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:15 am

OME it. You will love it. I did a few years back and wish I did it at day 1. I have only 125k on mine and it is running strong. A few things here or there but it is a jeep and that is to be expected. If i didn't want the minor maintenance I would have bought a toyota or some thing like it. :-)r

MojaveKJ · **Posted:** Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:43 pm

slipinkramer wrote:

Hi Brother,

I have a 2003 Liberty Sport with 235,000 miles and it's still going strong...

THAT is good to hear! Mine is just "middle aged" at 125k!!

Thanks for the good news. And yes, a Frankenlift would be the best way to go.

KJ_WHEELER_2010 · **Posted:** Sat Jan 22, 2011 5:32 am

Xodius wrote:

:POPCORN:
OME it. You will love it. I did a few years back and wish I did it at day 1.

I agree!!! It handles sooo much better. Running my OME and 265s for tires....love the combo :BANANA:

Worth a Lift with 138K?

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