The dreaded lifting puck

AfricanPotatoTJ said:

So it’s incredibly hard to find anything for a Jeep, let alone a TJ, in Africa.

A proper lift kit from RC is too big to fly back from the US so I’ve bought a set of these 2” lift pucks to take with.

I have no knowledge when it comes to lifting a vehicle, for me the lift is mostly cosmetic and to allow for different wheel/tyre options.

Is using these pucks looking for trouble, it seems way too straight forward, cheap and easy to actually work in the real world.

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You should be fine, I have 3" pucks in the front and 2" pucks in the back (for now) running 33's
Not optimal but it gets me down the trail and to and from work

AfricanPotatoTJ said:

A proper lift kit from RC

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"proper lift kit" and "RC" dont belong in the same sentence.
"Cheap garbage" and "RC" go together well though

if you are looking for small things to bring along for that lift , consider shock extensions: as you lift the vehicle one of the things that is moving out of its normal range of motion is also the shocks.

There's nothing wrong with using "pucks", or spring spacers for small lifts, up to 2 inches. 3 inches would be considered too much spacer lift for most people because it could make the ride harsh and at that point you would have to swap out a bunch of other components anyways. A lot of people with taller lifts use spacers to level out the front or back when spring combinations don't match as well as intended, or the weight of a winch or bumper has to be offset. Rough Country is the cheapest of the cheap and I personally wouldn't recommend them.

I went with a 1.25 inch teraflex polyurethane spacer lift that was maybe 20 bucks on my TJ. However, I also used Rancho 1 inch lift shocks in conjunction with it, got a new stock length moog track bar and stock length sway bar links, did the ZJ tie rod and aligned it. I don't plan on keeping the TJ for long as it is a rust bucket. Otherwise I would have done a 2.5 inch Old Man Emu spring lift, 2.5 inch Ranchos, with adjustable currie track bar and JKS disco sway bar links.

JustDandee said:

if you are looking for small things to bring along for that lift , consider shock extensions: as you lift the vehicle one of the things that is moving out of its normal range of motion is also the shocks.

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These are not necessary for a small lift; he won’t be rotating the pinion.

I used them on my first TJ and they caused major problems. Within a year I was broke, divorced and addicted to Jeeps.
p.s. 17 Jeeps later and nothing has changed.

Picks cause problems?
I’ve had them on both TJ’s, 2” on the 2002, and 1.75” on the current 2006 without any issues at all.
Perhaps yours wet your appetite for more lift

PUCKS, damn spell check to hell!!

Tob said:

These are not necessary for a small lift; he won’t be rotating the pinion.

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Did not realize those where for compensating for axle rotation, I was only thinking of the shocks bottoming out sooner. I have that issue with mine but I am just waiting for the bigger tires to arrive to see how the tires fit before I commit to a shock purchase.

AfricanPotatoTJ said:

So it’s incredibly hard to find anything for a Jeep, let alone a TJ, in Africa.

A proper lift kit from RC is too big to fly back from the US so I’ve bought a set of these 2” lift pucks to take with.

I have no knowledge when it comes to lifting a vehicle, for me the lift is mostly cosmetic and to allow for different wheel/tyre options.

Is using these pucks looking for trouble, it seems way too straight forward, cheap and easy to actually work in the real world.

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You are right in thinking it is not that straightforward. You will need longer shocks as well to complete your lift. Lift pucks are as cheap and easy as they seem, but they are a compromise. They will not perform as well as a "proper" lift kit, but they will serve you well for normal street driving. If you do decide to add larger tires, keep in mind that you will have decreased braking performance, acceleration, and fuel efficiency. Using pucks at 2" and under of lift is not looking for trouble, but if you lift the ride height a little higher, you will have to change other parts to accommodate the increased ride height.

Not to sound rude but you may want to do some more research before ordering any more parts. This is a great guide to follow:
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/stock-spring-swap-walk-thru-with-pics.12655/

Do not use a spring compressor, they are dangerous and can literally fly away and hit your face causing serious injury or even death. Cancel your order.

The only proper way to replace springs or work on them is by removing the suspension components that prevent droop. Here is a fast run down:

Starting with the front suspension; you need to chock your rear wheels and apply parking brake, Jeep should be in 1st gear or park. Disconnect sway bar links at axle, and track bar at axle with all four tires on ground. Frame connections can be left alone for now unless you are replacing sway bar links and track bar anyway. Loosen the front lug nuts.

Place a 3 ton floor jack by axle tube next to pumpkin and jack up until you have enough clearance to put jackstands on frame. It helps to use wooden blocks on your floor jack to gain extra height to pick the axle up high enough. You need jackstands on frame because you need the axle to move freely, to stuff it up and droop it back down while working on it. You need a minimum of 6 ton jack stands on the frame rails, 3 tons are strong enough but aren’t tall enough. If worried about scuffing paint you can put a rag on the top of the jackstand. Once both sides of frame rail have jackstands under them behind the lower control arm mount, you slowly release the floor jack and settle the frame rails evenly onto the jack stands.

Remove tires, remove shocks, then you have to figure out if you can get springs out. In some cases the drag link needs to be disconnected from the axle side. After that the stock springs should be able to come out by hand, if you press down on the axle with your leg it helps get them out. That is just the basics. It doesn't cover doing a bumpstop check, fender clearance, or tie rod alignment, or drag link adjustment, all of which will have to be done after. I hope that makes sense.

The rear is the same except there are no steering components obviously, you chock the front wheels and use 4wd, then you lift up by pumpkin.

AfricanPotatoTJ said:

Thanks for all the advice lads, now comes the bigger job of actually fitting them - I really want to push myself here and do it myself instead of just dropping it off at the dealer. I'm semi-mechanically inclined I've rebuilt motorcycle engines and such but I have little to no experience with cars like these.

Can anyone here point me to a thread, or advise on here on how to go about this?

Am I taking off the wheels, shocks, springs etc, then slotting these into the top of the springs and just release the spring again?

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All above very good posts.

A 2” puck lift works at getting you 2 more inches of height, but doesn’t come close to doing what a good complete lift does. In a lot of cases people would be so much better to do the pucks than a cheap, incomplete lift that opens a pandoras box of consequences the kit doesn’t help compensate for.

Once you unbolt a few things its pretty easy to get them in- and you want to check the toe in after.

Do they have camels in your part of Africa? If they do, are the mostly single humpers or double humpers, sort of like the LJ of camels.

AfricanPotatoTJ said:

Yes we have camels, but they're not native - we have giraffes however which is probably the same bloodline

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I bet it is hard for giraffes to find turtleneck sweaters.

AfricanPotatoTJ said:

So it’s incredibly hard to find anything for a Jeep, let alone a TJ, in Africa.

A proper lift kit from RC is too big to fly back from the US so I’ve bought a set of these 2” lift pucks to take with.

I have no knowledge when it comes to lifting a vehicle, for me the lift is mostly cosmetic and to allow for different wheel/tyre options.

Is using these pucks looking for trouble, it seems way too straight forward, cheap and easy to actually work in the real world.

View attachment 392237

Click to expand...

I think you may find (as others have said) you may need to shocks and or springs if you put those on. You may not as well. Put them on, drive it, see how it feels and move on from there.

They are pretty straight forward as far as install. Your only hardships might be the rusty nuts and bolts holding the shocks on ( you may need to remove them) Getting the spring out is pretty simple using a spring compressor.

If you have any questions about install hit me up or any of the guys on here who are all really awesome at helping