Suspension refresh and lift

['05Train]

I've read a bunch of lift threads, and I think I know what I want to do, but I'm all about getting as much guidance and advice as possible.

2001 Sport, everything's stock. Drives well, but the suspension is definitely feeling its age and mileage (113,xxx miles). No weird tire wear, but an off-center steering wheel, a little bit of drift rightwards, and a somewhat "loose" feel at speed. I'd be willing to bet that every bushing needs to be replaced. At this age and mileage, is there anything I should plan on replacing as a matter of course?

And with the famous last words, "while I'm in there....", it makes sense to replace the shocks and springs with lifty things. I'm very intrigued by @CodaMan's lift, and would like to go in that direction with OME springs, the 3/4" front spacers, the 1/2" body lift, and a JKS adjustable rear track bar.

At this point, I have zero interest in running anything larger than a 31" tire. My off-roading will be limited to fire roads and trails through the local national forests. I have zero interest in rock-crawling. I'm not looking to change control arms, do anything to the transfer case or driveshafts, hack up the console, change motor mounts, or anything else. Is this realistic?

Yeah, I know I'll probably want more at some point in the future (I own Harleys, I deeply, profoundly understand mission creep), but for right now I want a simple 2-1/2" lift.

Fire away, and thanks!

 

[JHammett]

I followed CodaMan's lift when running 31s and 33s. the only thing I had to do was add 2 or 3 washers and longer bolts to drop the T-Case just a bit. I read that many did not need to do this, but every driveline and TJ can act a little different. This got rid of some vibes I had.

I also added an adjustable front track bar. I felt it handled quite a bit better getting the front axle centered, but again you may not need this either!

I added a pic of this lift with 31s.

 

[cpwolf]

At this point, refreshing bushings etc is dependent on each TJ, but they are aged for sure. I would think:
1. Control Arm bushings (going stock, then I'd just replace with OEM arms)
2. Track bar bushings
3. TRE's, drag link steering
4. Ball joints
5. sway bar bushings.
6. Shocks

I would stay away from poly bushings, especially if going stock, then rubber always, OEM replacement, the won't pass along road vibes etc.

If you are looking lifty.....only a word of warning. Your TJ will tell you if you get vibes at 2", not a book or post on this forum. You may do only 2" and think "I won't need x or y to fix vibes" but the TJ may prove you wrong. Fixing Caster is not hard, but you would need to get out of stock Control Arms etc.

Rear DS vibes would be a big commitment too, just saying.

 

[dragup]

I struggled with what to do as well. My Jeep is used as a toad. I flat tow it behind my RV of drug it for 10,000 mi the last 2 years. Unhook and go explore national parks with the kids. It's completely stock but I can't leave it. Already on 31s

I'm going with:
1" H&R springs, stock springs already sag 1".
Savvy body lift, tc shift linkage. Mml

I purposely picked shorter springs to prevent me from putting 33s on it. I have a 3.07 gears and understand it will creep at some point I sold a Toyota on 38s to get the jeep, and need it to perform it's current role.

 

[AaronPaul]

I've read a bunch of lift threads, and I think I know what I want to do, but I'm all about getting as much guidance and advice as possible.

2001 Sport, everything's stock. Drives well, but the suspension is definitely feeling its age and mileage (113,xxx miles). No weird tire wear, but an off-center steering wheel, a little bit of drift rightwards, and a somewhat "loose" feel at speed. I'd be willing to bet that every bushing needs to be replaced. At this age and mileage, is there anything I should plan on replacing as a matter of course?

And with the famous last words, "while I'm in there....", it makes sense to replace the shocks and springs with lifty things. I'm very intrigued by @CodaMan's lift, and would like to go in that direction with OME springs, the 3/4" front spacers, the 1/2" body lift, and a JKS adjustable rear track bar.

At this point, I have zero interest in running anything larger than a 31" tire. My off-roading will be limited to fire roads and trails through the local national forests. I have zero interest in rock-crawling. I'm not looking to change control arms, do anything to the transfer case or driveshafts, hack up the console, change motor mounts, or anything else. Is this realistic?

Yeah, I know I'll probably want more at some point in the future (I own Harleys, I deeply, profoundly understand mission creep), but for right now I want a simple 2-1/2" lift.

Fire away, and thanks!

I say do what makes you happy, a 2 inch lift or 2.5 will make it look great! Its a nice Jeep from what we can see and hey, its yours so have fun with it!

 

['05Train]

At this point, refreshing bushings etc is dependent on each TJ, but they are aged for sure. I would think:
1. Control Arm bushings (going stock, then I'd just replace with OEM arms)
2. Track bar bushings
3. TRE's, drag link steering
4. Ball joints
5. sway bar bushings.
6. Shocks

I would stay away from poly bushings, especially if going stock, then rubber always, OEM replacement, the won't pass along road vibes etc.

If you are looking lifty.....only a word of warning. Your TJ will tell you if you get vibes at 2", not a book or post on this forum. You may do only 2" and think "I won't need x or y to fix vibes" but the TJ may prove you wrong. Fixing Caster is not hard, but you would need to get out of stock Control Arms etc.

Rear DS vibes would be a big commitment too, just saying.

Pretty much where I was at with regards to what to replace. Hadn't thought about ball joints, but probably should.

I had a Taurus SHO years ago, and I replaced all the suspension bushings with poly......car handled like a razor, but the squeaking drove me insane.

Yep, I realize that it's going to tell me what works and what doesn't. I'm just trying to go into this with my eyes open and minimize the cost(s). I don't want or need a Moab-ready suspension. If I have to space down the TC, I'm cool with that. But I don't want to go to cable actuation and/or having to modify the center console - or do a motor mount lift...Which I don't think I have to do with a 1" body lift and the suspension lift I'm talking about, but I don't know. Same with the control arms, SYEs, and the driveshafts.....I can see an argument for the adjustable control arms from the get-go, but man, I don't want to mess with the rest of the stuff.

 

[primetime4]

Pretty much where I was at with regards to what to replace. Hadn't thought about ball joints, but probably should.

I had a Taurus SHO years ago, and I replaced all the suspension bushings with poly......car handled like a razor, but the squeaking drove me insane.

Yep, I realize that it's going to tell me what works and what doesn't. I'm just trying to go into this with my eyes open and minimize the cost(s). I don't want or need a Moab-ready suspension. If I have to space down the TC, I'm cool with that. But I don't want to go to cable actuation and/or having to modify the center console - or do a motor mount lift...Which I don't think I have to do with a 1" body lift and the suspension lift I'm talking about, but I don't know. Same with the control arms, SYEs, and the driveshafts.....I can see an argument for the adjustable control arms from the get-go, but man, I don't want to mess with the rest of the stuff.

Bare minimum - new springs, shocks, bump stop extensions, and a few spacers to lower the transfer case
Bare minimum+ - all of the above plus rear trackbar bracket to re-center the axle, front can be re-centered by drilling a new hole (not recommended)
Bare minimum++ - add adjustable track bars front and rear if you care about re-centering plus extended sway bar links for the front

 

['05Train]

Bare minimum - new springs, shocks, bump stop extensions, and a few spacers to lower the transfer case
Bare minimum+ - all of the above plus rear trackbar bracket to re-center the axle, front can be re-centered by drilling a new hole (not recommended)
Bare minimum++ - add adjustable track bars front and rear if you care about re-centering plus extended sway bar links for the front

Bare minimum++ is what I'm leaning hard into at the moment.