Hello, I have a 2003 TJ X which has a old 4” skyjacker lift. The tire are 33/13.5/15. The Jeep rides really bad and as I get older I can’t handle the rough ride. Does anyone have any ideas on how to smooth the ride? I was looking at a RC 2.5” lift with 31” tires. Are there any issues going down with lift? Thanks
How can I get a smoother ride and go down in lift height?
- Thread starter Parks31
- Start date
What shocks are you using? Tire pressures? How about shock travel?
Jeep looks great. Buy better shocks and get rid of the dpa (dropped pitman arm) if they installed it with the lift. Also, they're fixed length control arm bushings are probably shot. Most importantly, WELCOME TO WTJF!!! Most people after a week here, just forget the J.
A lot of people here, including myself, have done the 2.5" lift consisting of OME springs with Rancho RS5000x shocks. I love it so far, drives great (for a jeep) and it looks good with the 32"(ish) tires IMO. That being said I love the looks of your jeep how it is, I'd consider working on your existing setup as there's definitely some things you can do that will help it drive better.
The Shocks are Skyjacker hydro 7000. They are 15 years old. I’m running 30 psi on tires. They are Toyo MT. I haven’t checked shock travel. Thank you for responding. I would love to keep lift and tires and just replace components.
Thank you. I owned the Jeep from 2007-2010. I sold it because of the Dana 30/35 axles and 3:07 gears. The new owner regeared it and called me last week and asked if I wanted to buy it back. I did, and now have more knowledge then I did 11 years ago. I eventually want to replace axles and keep Jeep for long time.
1. lower the air pressure in your tires to ~28psi
2. try out some Skyjacker BlackMAX shocks of appropriate lengths
2. try out some Skyjacker BlackMAX shocks of appropriate lengths
try coming down to about 27 psi. When you can, measure your rear shock length between bushing centerlines, and your front from the lower bushing centerline to the bottom of the lower bushing washer and get back to us.
Do you feel a lot of vibration when you drive. May be a drive shaft issue. Once I went with the SYE and aligned the driveshaft, everything smoothed out. Shocks are easier and cheaper to start with though.
no real vibration. I am replacing clutch next weekend. It has no play in suspension. The Jeep jumps over bumps.
30 psi is excessive for a 33x12.50 tire that is supporting a TJ, lower it down to 26 psi when the TJ is lightly loaded with just one or two passengers or 28 psi when it's fully loaded. Doing that alone will help with your ride.
Then, Skyjacker shocks are notorious for a stiff jarring ride. I'd swap them out for the above recommended Rancho RS5000x shocks which provide a great highway ride together with a well-controlled offroad ride.
For 33" tires I'd run a 3" (or 2.5" at the lowest) together with a 1" to 1.25" body lift. A 2.5" or 3" suspension lift alone without a body lift does not provide quite enough clearance for 33" tires.
That is an awesome looking tj! I will just echo what everyone else said--lower your tire pressure to 25, and buy some rancho rs5000x shocks. Also check your bumpstops and make sure they allow your shocks to actually be shocks. My brother recently purchased an xj with a janky lift setup and he told me the ride was horrible. I checked it out and found that he had less than 2" before full bump (probably to clear the tires that were too big since xj's have very, very little space for big tires). He downsized, reworked his bumpstops to allow for a little over 4" of uptravel and has been much happier. I'm not saying that your bumpstops are part of the problem but definitely check them out too.
Edit: I have heard really good things about the skyjacker blackmax shocks too but have not personally tried them
Edit: I have heard really good things about the skyjacker blackmax shocks too but have not personally tried them
RS5000 will make your TJ ride like a buckboard. You want the 5000X if you are going with Rancho.
RS9000 are a gimmick which supposedly allow a "tuning" of the ride. They don't. I had them.
Lots, I've owned both. The 9000(xl) is adjustable, the RS5000 is not and where a TJ is concerned it's stiff enough riding to loosen fillings. Go with the RS5000x.