CodaMan's 2004 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon

Hey Codaman,

As others have said, thanks for the info on this lift. Just did mine this winter. Everything went smoothly. Only issue I ran into was the towers that the front bump stop cups screw into were completely rotted. Had to fab something new. Thanks again, this forum is a great resource.
Jeep.JPG
 
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mjr said:
Hey Codaman,

As others have said, thanks for the info on this lift. Just did mine this winter. Everything went smoothly. Only issue I ran into was the towers that the front bump stop cups screw into were completely rotted. Had to fab something new. Thanks again, this forum is a great resource.
View attachment 157985
Click to expand...

Looks great!!!
 
mjr said:
Hey Codaman,

As others have said, thanks for the info on this lift. Just did mine this winter. Everything went smoothly. Only issue I ran into was the towers that the front bump stop cups screw into were completely rotted. Had to fab something new. Thanks again, this forum is a great resource.
View attachment 157985
Click to expand...
I thought about getting those exact tires on my Jeep how do you like them?
 
Hey, @CodaMan! I've used your build as a template for mine. Interestingly, I've run into some different experiences and am curious what you think.
  • I used the same shocks, RS55128 front / RS55240 rear.
  • I used OME springs (2942/2933), instead of the ProComp. They measured about 2" longer than stock.
I've had some challenges with the shocks, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Front shocks: I still had about 1/2" shock travel when the bumpstop was completely compressed. Unfortunately, this means shock extension is limited to about 2.2" below ride height, with 5.75" compression available. If I put in a spring spacer, which I expect to need to level out the rake, that'll cut into my extension yet further.

Rear shocks: I had to wait for the springs to start to settle before I could even measure. Suspension loaded pre-settling, the gap between the upper and lower shock mounts was longer than the total rear shock length. After settling, I have about 1.5" extension left on the rear.

Did you encounter this kind of problem; and, if you did, how did you handle it?
 
kalmairn said:
Hey, @CodaMan! I've used your build as a template for mine. Interestingly, I've run into some different experiences and am curious what you think.
  • I used the same shocks, RS55128 front / RS55240 rear.
  • I used OME springs (2942/2933), instead of the ProComp. They measured about 2" longer than stock.
I've had some challenges with the shocks, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Front shocks: I still had about 1/2" shock travel when the bumpstop was completely compressed. Unfortunately, this means shock extension is limited to about 2.2" below ride height, with 5.75" compression available. If I put in a spring spacer, which I expect to need to level out the rake, that'll cut into my extension yet further.

Rear shocks: I had to wait for the springs to start to settle before I could even measure. Suspension loaded pre-settling, the gap between the upper and lower shock mounts was longer than the total rear shock length. After settling, I have about 1.5" extension left on the rear.

Did you encounter this kind of problem; and, if you did, how did you handle it?
Click to expand...

I had a similar problem. I first installed the RS55239 up front, but that one only gave me 3" of UP travel (compression) with 6" of DOWN (extension). I would rather have more UP travel than DOWN travel, so I switched to the RS55128. Now I sit at 4.75" of UP travel. According to the specs that should give me about 3.5" of extension.

Bump stop settings really make no difference since they can be adjusted. What is important is available UP/DOWN travel from ride height. The way I look at it is ideally I want a 50/50 ratio of UP/DOWN travel from ride height, so I went with the part number that would put me closest to that without sacrificing UP travel ... meaning I would rather be 60/40 UP/DOWN than 40/60 UP/DOWN giving me more compression over extension.

It seems that in your situation the RS55239 would be a better fit than the RS55128, especially after you add a leveling spacer.

Remember, Rancho has a 90 day no questions asked return policy where you can get a full refund and then purchase the RS55239. They sent me the return labels and I waited until I received the replacements before I took them off and sent them back. It was super easy.
 
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CodaMan said:
I had a similar problem. I first installed the RS55239 up front, but that one only gave me 3" of UP travel (compression) with 6" of DOWN (extension). I would rather have more UP travel than DOWN travel, so I switched to the RS55128. Now I sit at 4.75" of UP travel. According to the specs that should give me about 3.5" of extension.
<...edit...>
It seems that in your situation the RS55239 would be a better fit than the RS55128, especially after you add a leveling spacer.

Remember, Rancho has a 90 day no questions asked return policy where you can get a full refund and then purchase the RS55239. They sent me the return labels and I waited until I received the replacements before I took them off and sent them back. It was super easy.
Click to expand...
Thank you! And apologies for the delayed response.

I installed the RS55241 rears last night. A full cycle on the suspension and everything clears nicely. Fully compressed, it appears the bumpstop fully compresses before the shock bottoms out - a measurement put the shock at 13.75" with a minimum compression of 13.51". I'll re-measure in the Spring after the springs have more time to settle.

In my case, rear suspension under neutral load, I have 4.5" compression (up) and 3.6" extension (down).

I'll be installing the RS55239 today along with spacers. My measurements say I'll have 4.8" compression (up) and 4.5" extension (down) under neutral load, which I'll confirm. That being true, I'll need 1.8" of bumpstop after installing 3/4" spacer (including adding 1/8" tolerance).
 
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kalmairn said:
Thank you! And apologies for the delayed response.

I installed the RS55241 rears last night. A full cycle on the suspension and everything clears nicely. Fully compressed, it appears the bumpstop fully compresses before the shock bottoms out - a measurement put the shock at 13.75" with a minimum compression of 13.51". I'll re-measure in the Spring after the springs have more time to settle.

In my case, rear suspension under neutral load, I have 4.5" compression (up) and 3.6" extension (down).

I'll be installing the RS55239 today along with spacers. My measurements say I'll have 4.8" compression (up) and 4.5" extension (down) under neutral load, which I'll confirm. That being true, I'll need 1.8" of bumpstop after installing 3/4" spacer (including adding 1/8" tolerance).
Click to expand...
Looks like you got it dialed in just about perfect.
 
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Oh, being clear, I cycled the suspension without springs. And, as I think about it, nothing should change from a shock stroke perspective, beyond wear-and-tear to bushings. So, I'm good.

Clearly need MOAR COFFEE. :coffee:
 
CodaMan said:
I get a lot of members asking for details on my lift, so I thought it appropriate to provide the information on it here, along with some gratuitous photos of course ;)

Parts used in my 2.5" lift (under $600 for everything listed):
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks for this. Sorry to change subjects, but can you tell me about your sliders? Looks like maybe you are using two separate ones—the sliders on the tub, and tube steps mounted to the frame?
 
Hey just curious, what size tires and rims do you have? I'm thinking about doing this lift but then I'll also need new rims and tires.
 
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