1.5", 1.75", and 2" lift tradeoffs

Zorba

Zorba

"The Veiled Male"
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As I've said before, I've been thinking of a 2.00" lift for this '06 "X", and 31x10.5 tires...

HOWEVER...

Edumacate me please. It seems from my reading here, that a 2.00" lift is right on the borderline of needing other enhancements, motor lift, t-case drop, or SYE, etc, etc. May or may not need it, depending on the phase of the moon when my particular Jeep was built, the number of fruit flies in Orange county, and whether or not the current world population is an even or odd number. Do I have this right?

With 31" tires - which I know can be run on a stock height TJ - how much do I care? Would I be almost as well off doing an 1.50 or 1.75? Is the quarter to half inch decrease from 2.00 enough to get me far enough away from possibly needing said other enhancements? "From the other side", is a 1.50 or 1.75 worth doing from a capability enhancement standpoint? It would still give me a bit more clearance and suspension travel to my mind - it needs new shocks anyway, and it wouldn't hurt it to replace the coils.

Obviously, I won't be rock crawling at Moab, more of a dirt trail, bad road, open country type Jeep - which is pretty much what we have around here anyway. Occasionally go on a beach somewhere.
 
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Does anyone even sell a 1.5" or 1.75" lift?

For 31s, 2" is really the ideal height. Remember, the more suspension lift you have, the longer travel shock you can fit, which is good for both on-road and off-road.

You could of course run 31s even with a 1" lift, but the extra travel is a good thing.
 
I've been hearing tell of the lower lifts - but my main concern is I really don't want to have to go the whole SYE or engine lift, blah, blah situation...
 
Every TJ is different. Some can get away with a 2" lift and no vibes. Others, not so much. Do a 2" lift, and if you don't have vibes you just increased your shock travel and ground clearance. If you have to lower the t-case a little, then do it. You won't lose much vs. a 1", 1.5", 1/75" lift options.
 
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Chris said:
Does anyone even sell a 1.5" or 1.75" lift?

For 31s, 2" is really the ideal height. Remember, the more suspension lift you have, the longer travel shock you can fit, which is good for both on-road and off-road.

You could of course run 31s even with a 1" lift, but the extra travel is a good thing.
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Quick question - for a 2" lift don't the RS5128 and RS5240 have sufficient travel to work with a 2" lift? The next Rancho models are for 2.5".
 
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My TJ on a OME 2.5" lift and 31's. You know you like it!
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Fonz54 said:
Quick question - for a 2" lift don't the RS5128 and RS5240 have sufficient travel to work with a 2" lift? The next Rancho models are for 2.5".
Click to expand...

A little experiment, jack your jeep up by the frame to approximate what a 2" lift would be at. Measure your front shocks ride height from top mount to lower mount as if what they would be with said lift. Now, go to the Rancho website and get the specs on those shocks and see how close they would be for a 50/50 shock bias. If you can get 4" up and 4" down then you'll be in the sweet spot for that shocks maximum performance. 60/40 would even be good.

Problem with the RS55239 shock is they run a bit long, so with a 2" lift you'd have to add at minimum 1.75" added bump stop to keep them from bottoming out. I'm at 3" of lift with 1.75" added bumps. See how close I am to bottoming out the shock.
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Zorba said:
Yes I do (like it), it looks *really* nice! Did you have to mitigate driveline vibration or were you lucky with this one?
Click to expand...

I've never been lucky with anything on this TJ. I had to lower the t-case 0.75" to rid the vibes.
 
Zorba said:
I've been hearing tell of the lower lifts - but my main concern is I really don't want to have to go the whole SYE or engine lift, blah, blah situation...
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To lower the risk of vibrations, and to reduce control arm binding, at minimum install adjustable upper control arms. You can adjust front pinion to equal, or one degree above, front driveshaft angle. The rear pinon can be adjusted to match u-joint operating angles at each end of the rear driveshaft. When suspension lift is added, the rear pinon rotates up, and the front rotates down, which creates much of the issues associated with low lifts.
 
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I just added the 2” pro comp springs and Rancho shocks on my 06 X. I did have slight vibes at ~55-60 mph. I addd a 1” MML and 1.25” BL and the vibes are gone. I could have dropped the t-case a little and solved the vibes but I was planning on the BL anyway.
I replaced the control arms with oem style arms from crown. Overall I am pretty happy with 2” lift.
 
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I just removed my 2" spacer lift and stock shocks that came with my Jeep. I installed the 1" lift H&R springs with the Ranchos for 0-2" lift. I like the ride. The H&R coils seemed to be the same length as the stock coils that I took out, but they are a bit thicker so they don't sag as much under the weight of the Jeep.They also leveled it out pretty well. It's got a 1" Body Lift on 31x10.5 tires. Drive line seems a bit less "noisy", but it could be a placebo effect from the new purchase! I ordered a 1" gain belly plate and 1" gain gas tank skid from Barnes 4wd. So, the height I lost from changing the lift, I can counteract by raising some of the low parts of the Jeep. Seemed to make sense when I was thinking it all out. Only thing that was a bit weird was that the writing on the springs was upside down. Yes, they are in the correct way. Maybe they made these springs on a Friday at 4:30???
Like OP, I wanted to avoid all the drive line stuff as well.

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I've had luck with 2 TJs on 2" lift without having all the issues. I say go for a simple 2" ProComp spring and the Ranchos for no lift, good chance you'll be good. It won't be so bad if you have to mitigate from this level although I never had to. I have the lift mentioned in this reply right now, this is the best riding Jeep out of 4 I have owned so far..
 
FJQue said:
I've had luck with 2 TJs on 2" lift without having all the issues. I say go for a simple 2" ProComp spring and the Ranchos for no lift, good chance you'll be good. It won't be so bad if you have to mitigate from this level although I never had to. I have the lift mentioned in this reply right now, this is the best riding Jeep out of 4 I have owned so far..
Click to expand...
Leroy_TJ said:
I just added the 2” pro comp springs and Rancho shocks on my 06 X. I did have slight vibes at ~55-60 mph. I addd a 1” MML and 1.25” BL and the vibes are gone. I could have dropped the t-case a little and solved the vibes but I was planning on the BL anyway.
I replaced the control arms with oem style arms from crown. Overall I am pretty happy with 2” lift.
Click to expand...
One example each of how things could go - several folks have recommended ProComp both here and elsewhere.
 
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