Has anyone ever had a lowering a TJ thread?

[BendLarry]

In the spring I want to lower my 06 Rubicon. I bought it with a 5 inch lift with 33 tires. I don’t know much about the components. The tires are g rated and are hard as rocks and I think the shocks suck. In general the ride is very harsh. My goal is to have a good rock crawler that has a decent ride on rough roads. I have had my current setup at Moab and clearance isn’t an issue but I don’t like the high center of gravity. I think a 2.5 OME lift might be a good way to go.

My question is what do I need to consider going down in lift height?


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[glwood]

If your current lift is a bolt-on spring lift, you should be able to remove that and replace it. If the control arms were replaced, those will need to be addressed, depending on what type they are. The drive shaft will probably have to be addressed also, depending on what type and whether it was replaced with a longer one. 5 inches is a lot of lift, that needs a lot done for it to be right. Any pics?

 

[JMT]

In addition to ^^^, if you drop to a 2.5” OME, you’ll need two things; 1) a small 1-1.25” body lift to fit your 33’s and 2) adjust your front and rear trackbar to center the axles

If your ride is harsh though, the problem is not lift height, but your shocks. Replace those and go to 35’s at that height and go back to Moab!

 

[Serbonze]

Load range G tires are crazy stiff for a TJ. I unfortunately have 33" Es, and I have aired down to 21psi to attempt to make the ride more comfortable.

While I agree with everything that you are doing, I would also suggest checking your tire pressure first to see if you can soften up the ride while you are working on replacing the suspension. I can't imagine how low of a pressure you should go to on a G rated tired...15psi?

The list you need to address will partially be determined by how it was originally lifted, and if it was done correctly. However, I would look at the following:

Shocks
Springs
Control Arms
Driveshaft
Front and Rear Trackbars
Brake lines shortened?
Shorter sway bar links

 

[BendLarry]

Load range G tires are crazy stiff for a TJ. I unfortunately have 33" Es, and I have aired down to 21psi to attempt to make the ride more comfortable.

While I agree with everything that you are doing, I would also suggest checking your tire pressure first to see if you can soften up the ride while you are working on replacing the suspension. I can't imagine how low of a pressure you should go to on a G rated tired...15psi?

The list you need to address will partially be determined by how it was originally lifted, and if it was done correctly. However, I would look at the following:

Shocks
Springs
Control Arms
Driveshaft
Front and Rear Trackbars
Brake lines shortened?
Shorter sway bar links

Thanks for the input guys. I have run the tires at 20 psi and it helps . The ride issues I think are a combination of rock hard tires and stiff shocks. I want to lower at the same time I address the shocks. I have rented stock Jeeps at Moab several times and they did scrape often over the rocks, but tire diameter is the biggest factor for clearance. I didn’t like the top heavy feel when in steep off camber conditions.


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[BendLarry]

I posted some pictures when i first joined this site and a couple of guys here thought my lift looked like a Rubicon express lift. I could just replace the tires and shocks and improve things dramatically but getting in and out of that rig on a daily basis even with the electric rock slider step is a pain for an old dude.



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[bobthetj03]

Do you know if you already have a body lift? Decreasing the control arm angle would certainly be a step in the right direction. That's a lot of lift if it is all suspension lift. Do you already have adjustable track bars?

 

[BendLarry]

Do you know if you already have a body lift? Decreasing the control arm angle would certainly be a step in the right direction. That's a lot of lift if it is all suspension lift. Do you already have adjustable track bars?

I have only owned this jeep since last March and it’s my first jeep. I’m not sure how to tell if I have a body lift. The pucks between the body and the frame are around an inch or less I think. Not sure about the track bars. It’s obvious I need to learn more about what I have. The good news, I don’t have any highway vibrations.


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[bobthetj03]

I have only owned this jeep since last March and it’s my first jeep. I’m not sure how to tell if I have a body lift. The pucks between the body and the frame are around an inch or less I think. Not sure about the track bars. It’s obvious I need to learn more about what I have. The good news, I don’t have any highway vibrations.


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That, in itself, is nothing short of amazing! Well, when you have time, snap us some pics of the track bars, and a side shot of your body mounts. That should give us a place to start. You should be able to keep the control arms, get new springs/shocks, and the rest should just be minor adjustments.

 

[BendLarry]

Here are some pictures, some better than others.

 

[bobthetj03]

Here are some pictures, some better than others.

Ok, from what I can see, you have a hodgepodge of lift items. Looks like OME 3/4" TC pucks to lower the TC skid. No body lift. RE adjustable front track bar. Didn't see a pic of the rear TB? OME shocks? Maybe RE springs. 2" maybe 3" bumpstop extensions, Double cardan rear driveshaft is a plus. adjustable front sway bar links, good. Looks like RE fixed lower control arms and adjustable uppers. So, all in all, not too bad.

So, find out if you have an adjustable rear track bar, or if the stock one is on a relocation bracket. If it's adjustable, then your golden. You can recenter both axles once you lower it.

 

[BendLarry]

Ok, from what I can see, you have a hodgepodge of lift items. Looks like OME 3/4" TC pucks to lower the TC skid. No body lift. RE adjustable front track bar. Didn't see a pic of the rear TB? OME shocks? Maybe RE springs. 2" maybe 3" bumpstop extensions, Double cardan rear driveshaft is a plus. adjustable front sway bar links, good. Looks like RE fixed lower control arms and adjustable uppers. So, all in all, not too bad.

So, find out if you have an adjustable rear track bar, or if the stock one is on a relocation bracket. If it's adjustable, then your golden. You can recenter both axles once you lower it.

I don’t think there is a rear track bar. Thanks for taking a look at this rig. I have not been able to see any labels on the shocks. I think there are other manufacturers that have yellow shocks beside OME.


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[BendLarry]

I was impressed with how the lift performed in Moab. I flexed it pretty good and there was no weird noises clunks or binding or odd body twisting.


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[bobthetj03]

Yep, you could be right about the shocks. There has to be a rear track bar. Guessing what you meant to say was "no adjustable rear track bar"?

Take a pick of where the rear TB mounts to the rear axle.

 

[BendLarry]

Yep, you could be right about the shocks. There has to be a rear track bar. Guessing what you meant to say was "no adjustable rear track bar"?

Take a pick of where the rear TB mounts to the rear axle.

Here you go, thanks again!

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[bobthetj03]

Here you go, thanks again!
View attachment 28068


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Yep, it has the relocation bracket. Can't quite tell from the angle but it looks like the angled bracket, which would make sense since you have a double cardan rear drive shaft and would need to adjust the pinion angle up to match the drive line angle. My guess is that since it was lifted so high, he couldn't get rid of the drive line vibes, so he had to put in the 3/4" pucks on the TC skid to lower the angle some. I'll bet that once you lower it down some, you'll be able to remove those pucks.

 

[BendLarry]

Yep, it has the relocation bracket. Can't quite tell from the angle but it looks like the angled bracket, which would make sense since you have a double cardan rear drive shaft and would need to adjust the pinion angle up to match the drive line angle. My guess is that since it was lifted so high, he couldn't get rid of the drive line vibes, so he had to put in the 3/4" pucks on the TC skid to lower the angle some. I'll bet that once you lower it down some, you'll be able to remove those pucks.

Great feedback, thanks!


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[bobthetj03]

You might also be able to identify those shocks by looking for the factory stamp#. They are usually stamped in lower portion of the shock body.

 

[BendLarry]

Will that drive shaft work with a 2.5 inch lift?


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[bobthetj03]

We need to get this rig in ship shape for this year's get together!