Below, is my detailed description of the entire road to the anti-lift.
I'm sure there will be many who disagree or can't relate with much of it, especially my conclusions and assessments. Please understand my conclusions and assessments are based on MY actual experience. You may have experienced things very different but I suspect there are some guys who might benefit from the things I learned while making these changes. I have no other agenda other than to maybe help someone better decide if this is the route they might want to go and to also be better prepared for the unforeseen surprises. Also keep in mind that in my case because I bought the Jeep with the lift already installed and the fact that I have never touched a Jeep suspension before diving into this project, you might not have the same problems if you installed your lift and knew what had been done. I went in blind after a lot of research and a lot of help from
@bobthetj03.
Here is my story...……..
In the beginning: I bought the Rubicon 2 ½ years ago with 22K miles. The Rubicon Express lift was already installed. The Jeep has a 4.0 with an automatic tranny. The original owner also installed the rock slider electric steps as well as a custom made swing out spare tire carrier rear bumper. I wasn’t looking for a lifted Rubicon, but this Jeep was like new inside and out and had the low miles I was looking for. I have rented stock Rubicons several times in Moab so I knew what I wanted for wheeling. We also wanted a Jeep to tow behind our motorhome because we will be in full retirement in a few months and plan on doing a lot of traveling and exploring with the Jeep.
The issues: #1, From the start I didn’t like the harsh ride and no matter how low I ran the load range E tires and even after replacing the shocks with Rancho 5000X the Jeep road very harshly. I have driven enough stock Jeeps to know they can ride much better. #2, a few years ago I hurt my knee and getting into a 5 inch lifted Jeep with 33’s was a real pain, even with the electric steps.
#3, I like to rock crawl on some pretty advanced trails and hated the high center of gravity/mass. In serious down hill off camber drops I nearly rolled the jeep several times. On the same trails with a stock Jeep I never experienced that issue.
The good things about the lift: The only time I ever felt that the Jeep felt good was in the rocks with the sway bar disconnected so the lifted suspension could work as designed. In those situations if felt like it glided over large rocks like no other Jeep I have ever driven. In my opinion the Rubicon Express lift is a quality lift kit. I got full suspension articulation without any binding restriction or noises. That’s what you would expect a lift to do and it did it. When I removed the components all of the bushings looked like new. There were also no bad highway characteristics other than the harsh ride which I attribute to the tires.
The plan: I decided addressing the tire issue would solve the harsh ride but not the other two issues so the lift had to go as well as the 33’s and 16 inch wheels.
The goal was to restore the ride qualities that I knew were possible while still maintaining a capable rock crawling Jeep, with some reduced capabilities. I was going to realize a 7 inch drop but only lose 2 inches of ground clearance.
Execution: I ordered stock control arms and springs from Crown. I ordered new Rancho 5000X shocks to match the zero lift. I was able to reuse my rear adjustable track bar after removing the relocation bracket. I ordered new rear sway bar end links and was able to cut off my front disco sway bar links and re-thread them to work with the zero lift.
I ordered 5 tires and wheels to be delivered to me at home from Extreme Terrain , 31 inch X15 10.5 width mounted and balanced Micky Thompson A/T’s for $1300.
I removed the front springs and then the control arms, removed Jonce extensions and bump stops. Installed new arms and springs and spring isolators and shocks. Repeated the process with the rear.
So far so good, then the fun stuff started rearing it’s head. The front track bar frame mount had been drilled out removing the taper, so a stock track bar would not work. With the help of Jim (bobthetj03) help I found a JKS track bar that would work, but it hit my front aftermarket heavy duty diff cover. Ordered a stock diff cover and installed it. Drove the Jeep a few days and found that my steering components were hitting something. I found that the original owner had installed a ORO high steer steering setup (a 1 ton super heavy duty) steering assembly. It would not work with a zero lift, It hit my track bar when I hit bumps. Sooooo I removed the ORO setup and ordered the ZJ improved TJ steering setup only to find that the original owner had incorrectly drilled out the steering knuckles removing the taper required for the ZJ tapered TRE’s. The ORO kit came with tapered bushings so you wouldn’t have to drill out the knuckles.
I ordered new knuckles , pulled the axles and installed them and then the ZJ steering setup and a steering dampener.
Getting close to done. After the anti lift I noticed that my rear drive shaft looked fully compressed. I removed it with difficulty and replaced it with a non CV used stock Rubicon drive shaft, a much better fit.
After cycling the suspension a few times to be sure I was not going to hit my fenders at full stuff I adjusted my toe in, rechecked my track bar adjustments to insure the axles were centered, re-torqued everything and was done!
The conclusion: Getting in and out of the Jeep is painless now. I run the tires at 25 psi and the suspension soaks up bumps instead of sending them directly to my dental work.
My gearing is improved, the Jeep has some noticeable new pep. We just drove the Jeep from Central Oregon to Lakeport Ca and back and got 21 miles to the gallon driving no faster than 60 mph.
I have taken off at least 300 pounds. The tires and wheels are much lighter and the brakes work much better. I also removed and replaced the super heavy rear swing out bumper with a stock spare tire mount and a ERG rear bumper with hitch and recovery tabs. The ORO steering was super heavy and the stock control arms were at least half the weight of the RE arms.
The lower center of gravity/mass has also made the steering feel much lighter and responsive, I don’t know how else to describe it.
I really enjoy driving the Jeep now. I was also amazed at how easy it was to sell everything I took off the Jeep and at a much higher price than I would have expected. Most things sold within 2 weeks on Craigslist. While I was in the mood and really liking my Jeep I decided to drop the gas tank and shave down the nubs on the roll-over plunger in the gas tank.
Epilog: With lift, no vibes, post lift no vibes. I feel having had the Rubicon Express lift on my Jeep for two trips to Moab that the Forum criticism from mainly guys who have no personal experience with it , is unfounded. I would recommend it to anyone. No matter the fact that many on the TJ forum claim a lifted Jeep can ride as good as a non lifted Jeep, I don’t believe it. The design of the TJ works around a center of gravity/mass that is at a stock height and the steering geometry, body roll and other things that effect the ride and handling are in my opinion, negatively affected. If a lifted Jeep just looks better or a person is into serious rock crawling and doesn’t care about highway characteristics then lift the Jeep.
Again this is one mans experience and opinions.... your mileage may vary
