A Beginners Guide to Lifting Your Jeep Wrangler TJ

I’ve decided based on the advice from this informative guide to piece my own 2” Lift.
I’ve ordered the OME springs and the Rancho shocks for my Rubicon. I am undecided about the adjustable track bars for the front and rear. I’ve had one shop recommend JKS and the other recommended Teraflex. I’ve also heard Metal Cloak produces a good adj track bar. Any advice offered is greatly appreciated!
 
We did a MML on my buddies TJ with a 2.5" OME lift before doing anything else. It didn't get rid of the vibrations at all. It still required a transfer case drop, albeit probably not as much as it would have otherwise. I'm very skeptical a MML will get rid of vibrations for anyone without a SYE / DC driveshaft or a TC drop. Is it possible? Perhaps. But I've yet to hear of anyone who only needed a MML.

It got rid of mine entirely. I have a 2.5” OME, the front is officially 3” and the rear 2.5”. Plus, my rear driveshaft is now shorter with the Dana 44 than the Dana 35 I used to have, and still no vibes
 
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I’ve decided based on the advice from this informative guide to piece my own 2” Lift.
I’ve ordered the OME springs and the Rancho shocks for my Rubicon. I am undecided about the adjustable track bars for the front and rear. I’ve had one shop recommend JKS and the other recommended Teraflex. I’ve also heard Metal Cloak produces a good adj track bar. Any advice offered is greatly appreciated!
JKS.

I have MC and it is good, you just have to drill out the mounts, so there is no turning back once you’ve done that
 
It got rid of mine entirely. I have a 2.5” OME, the front is officially 3” and the rear 2.5”. Plus, my rear driveshaft is now shorter with the Dana 44 than the Dana 35 I used to have, and still no vibes

Lucky you! I guess it's a crap shoot then. For some people it works, for others it doesn't. Just goes to show that no two vehicles are the same I guess (his was all stock other than the lift and 31s).
 
Lucky you! I guess it's a crap shoot then. For some people it works, for others it doesn't. Just goes to show that no two vehicles are the same I guess (his was all stock other than the lift and 31s).
In the end you want to do it all anyway. It’s just a matter of how much money you have and the order you do it. I think adding a BL and MML together is a good idea, but if you are just buying your lift, that may be too much money for a person. I see time and time again, people wanting a lift and then they get vibes and here we go, SYE and DC is expensive, TC drop is cheap. What I’m thinking is there could be a better way to do this and not spend so much at one time.

If we could convince people to do a 1” BL and a 1” MML from the start, that’s not very expensive. Then it won’t take them long to save for their SL and at that point, if it’s a 2-3” lift, there is a good possibility they will never experience vibes. If they want to go to a 4” lift, then they will most certainly know they will need an SYE and DC, (unless they have a Rubicon), but point being, there might be a good way to go about this for someone who has to do it incrementally due to funds. Of course, people will say, just save, but that doesn’t work for some people. If their wife sees them spending $2500 all in one shot, that doesn’t go over as well as $500-600 at a time. Thinking out loud here.
 
How would running 35s work with a 2.5" lift and tube fenders such as Metalcloks
 
In the end you want to do it all anyway. It’s just a matter of how much money you have and the order you do it. I think adding a BL and MML together is a good idea, but if you are just buying your lift, that may be too much money for a person. I see time and time again, people wanting a lift and then they get vibes and here we go, SYE and DC is expensive, TC drop is cheap. What I’m thinking is there could be a better way to do this and not spend so much at one time.

If we could convince people to do a 1” BL and a 1” MML from the start, that’s not very expensive. Then it won’t take them long to save for their SL and at that point, if it’s a 2-3” lift, there is a good possibility they will never experience vibes. If they want to go to a 4” lift, then they will most certainly know they will need an SYE and DC, (unless they have a Rubicon), but point being, there might be a good way to go about this for someone who has to do it incrementally due to funds. Of course, people will say, just save, but that doesn’t work for some people. If their wife sees them spending $2500 all in one shot, that doesn’t go over as well as $500-600 at a time. Thinking out loud here.

Yes, I very much agree. I think people should be doing a 1" MML and 1" BL from the start, since it's usually where you end up anyways. Not to mention that it's cheap enough that there's really no reason not to.

And yes, it's much easier to appease the wife when it's $100 here and $100 there, versus $5000 all at once.
 
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How would running 35s work with a 2.5" lift and tube fenders such as Metalcloks

Unless they are highline fenders then it wouldn't work.

Metalcloak fenders are not true highline fenders (like the GenRight ones) and therefore offer no extra clearance over the stock fenders.

If you want to run 35s with a 2.5" lift, you'd need GenRight highline fenders, and you'd need to cut and modify your hood to run them.
 
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How would running 35s work with a 2.5" lift and tube fenders such as Metalcloks
You’ll be doing some cutting of the wheel well in the rear. See the build of Caster Troy. His build thread is IH8MUD. That will give you some ideas
 
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Not quite as much flex as longer coils. They definelty work fine for off-roading. Not any less flex than stock coils. If you have the money get coils if not get spacers. I've seen more mall crawlers with longer coils than spacers.

There is totally nothing wrong with spacers, you just don't get the added benefit of more flex with longer springs.

Some follow up questions:
If I add 2” spacers, do I need to do anything else? (Bump stops, longer shocks or shock extenders, etc). I have seen numerous “kits” with only the 4 spacers as well as some with shock extenders. There are a few with longer bump stops.

If I wanted to go with longer coils, what are my options? I read on a different site where someone replaced their TJ Springs with Springs from a JKU. (Go figure!)

Thanks in advance for the help!
 
Some follow up questions:
If I add 2” spacers, do I need to do anything else? (Bump stops, longer shocks or shock extenders, etc). I have seen numerous “kits” with only the 4 spacers as well as some with shock extenders. There are a few with longer bump stops.

If I wanted to go with longer coils, what are my options? I read on a different site where someone replaced their TJ Springs with Springs from a JKU. (Go figure!)

Thanks in advance for the help!
If you add 2” spacers you will need longer shocks and you will need to extend your bumpstops

If you go with coil springs the same holds true. Pro comp 2”, OME 2”, Zone 3”...
 
Hi Chris,
I've been getting a lot of comments from customers and potential customers about some comments in this thread and wanted to offer some additional info.

We've been building TJ's since they came out in '97 and I have sold thousands of suspension packages for the TJ/LJ wranglers. We have built, wheeled and tested many different configurations and heights using Old Man Emu, Currie, Rubicon Express, Fox and more. In the last decade plus, the heaviest emphasis has been on Low COG systems and Old Man Emu. As with much of the internet, there is good and bad. Lot's of good info in this thread, but some I disagree with. I hope I can bring some clarity to a couple of points you made in the original post.

You said that when it come to ride quality, it's 100% about the shocks.
Respectfully, I must disagree!
Obviously, you've ran multiple different shocks on your Jeep, so you really do have a feel for what's best in your situation. It raises a lot of confusion however, as multitudes of people will tell you that their OME kit rides beautifully, while others say their suspension is "stiff." Ride quality is certainly subjective, but there are some points to be made. To say the shocks are 100% the cause in all cases is simply incorrect.

When it come to Old Man Emu, we have literally tested and use 14 different coil rate combo's we can set one of these jeeps up with.
I can tell you with absolute certainty that putting the wrong coils on a TJ will dramatically effect the ride quality! If you run the OME "ZJ/LJ" combo (for example) on a stock or near stock jeep, it will not ride good- no matter what shocks you put on it. It is imperative that the coil rates are matched well to the jeep and the individuals preferences on ride, handling, etc. OME has spring rates ranging from 140lbs to 250lbs for TJ/LJ jeeps. If the coil rates are too stiff for the application, no shock can fix that. If you have a 2.5" lift coil at 140lbs and the same lift coil at 250lbs on the same jeep, the ride will be dramatically different- regardless of the shocks! We pioneered OME/JKS low COG hybrid kits over 15 years ago. Several companies have since emulated these packages, but hands down, coil rates are the biggest variable when it comes to ride quality in these packages. This is why some LOVE the ride with the exact same OME shocks that others find too stiff. Current and future mods also come into play often as well and need to be considered.

From your post, it sounds like you tried multiple shocks with the same coils all the way through, correct?
For your application, you found the best ride quality from the rancho shock. That's great. I don't dispute that.
To assume that everyone else's jeep will respond the same way yours did is where the issue lies. Another persons jeep with different coils, different accessories, etc, will react differently to a different set of shocks than yours did. You can run a firmer coil rate and a softer shock compression valving and get a similar ride to a softer coil rate and a firmer compression dampening. The biggest difference between the 2 will often be handling. That is another important factor to consider in a lifted daily driven jeep.

You also stated that OME shocks are made for heavier vehicles, while the rancho's were valved for a lighter vehicle. like the TJ.
This is incorrect. While some lower end shocks are universal, OME shocks are built, valved and tested specifically for the application. A LOT of testing and tuning goes into the development of these shocks. Anti-dive and anti-squat characteristics under braking and acceleration, handling & cornering and ride quality are all tuned specifically for the TJ/LJ wrangler platforms. I can say from personal experience as well as having built countless jeeps that these shocks are not "stiff", but rather they are excellent! In fact, I have been hard pressed to find anything else out there that offers the combination of ride and handling that we can achieve from OME shocks.

The difference in ride quality then (in these cases) is not from the shocks, but the coils- along with some other parameters.
In your case, with your coils- the ride was best with the rancho shocks. For someone else, the OME's may very well be best. The compression and rebound dampening is different in different shocks and will most definitely respond differently to different spring rates and vehicle loads.

I can build 3 identical TJ's with the exact same OME shocks and produce rides from very plush, through something firmer to a very stiff ride by changing nothing but the coils.

Other factors come into play as well. Tire air pressures, tire load ratings, operating geometry on other suspension components, control arm bushing materials and more all combine with coil rates, vehicle weight and shock valving to determine final ride quality and handling characteristics. Knowing how to optimize all of these factors in a specific application is what determines the final ride, handling and performance of that particular vehicle.

I hope that's OK and certainly don't want to offend. Your experience with your jeep has lead you to the conclusion you're at and I totally respect that. I don't spend much time on forums these days, but having received so many comments about this, I wanted to address it in the hopes of clearing up some of the confusion. The rancho 5000 was long known as a low end shock and I'm glad they have finally improved it! I still don't find that it can outperform an OME shock for all around ride and handling characteristics in a properly tuned OME based package. Of course, YMMV...

Thanks!
Dirk Sanders
DPG Off-Road
 
....

I can build 3 identical TJ's with the exact same OME shocks and produce rides from very plush, through something firmer to a very stiff ride by changing nothing but the coils.

...

Thanks!
Dirk Sanders
DPG Off-Road

When you build these TJs using the exact same shock but with different coils, what are the differences in ride height? How are the travel biases of the shock affected? How does shifting the travel bias of the shock effect it's performance?
 
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While lift heights vary depending on multiple factors, we average around 2.5" over stock with many of these coils. Could be more or less. If running the heavier coils, we are generally setting up for more heavily accessorized jeeps. We've seen ZJ/LJ coils sit around 3" or so on stock jeeps, but again, the ride is rough. A few people actually desire that, but most don't. If a bit more height is desired, I'd rather run a 2.5" coil with a 3/4" spacer on a stock jeep and have a nice ride than run a ZJ/LJ combo alone!

If I was using different coils on 3 identical jeeps, obviously, the ride height would vary as would the shock travel bias. Nonetheless, within that sphere, the coils would easily be the biggest difference in ride quality.

We also use the standard length and long travel shocks in these applications, depending on other components and factors. The standard OME shocks work well in the 2" to 3" range where they are designed to work. There is no appreciable felt bias of those shocks at 2" vs 3" of lift. Just a slightly different percentage of up vs down travel.
 
Does changing the travel bias of a shock effect it's ability to perform?
 
Wanna be more specific?
Like I said, both the standard and long the shocks ride very well in these applications.

Performance is great.

(Again, assuming the coil rates and other parameters are set up correctly- which is true with any suspension)
 
I'm suggesting that by changing the coils, you are changing the ride height. By changing the ride height you are changing the shock performance, either by changing the travel bias or by changing out the shock. Adding or subtracting an inch of travel from ~4" of suspension travel at ride height is not insignificant and will change the ride. This is one of the reasons many of us modify our shock mounts to fit longer travel shocks, to give the shock valving more distance to do its work.

This is where Chris's comments about the greater significance of shocks over coils is coming from. The argument is that the change being felt is mostly from the changes to the shocks, and far less from changes to the coils.
 
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I'm suggesting that by changing the coils, you are changing the ride height. By changing the ride height you are changing the shock performance, either by changing the travel bias or by changing out the shock. Adding or subtracting an inch of travel from ~4" of suspension travel at ride height is not insignificant and will change the ride. This is one of the reasons many of us modify our shock mounts to fit longer travel shocks, to give the shock valving more distance to do its work.

This is where Chris's comments about the greater significance of shocks over coils is coming from. The argument is that the change being felt is mostly from the changes to the shocks, and far less from changes to the coils.
I see what you were getting at. I just don't agree to the extent that you are implying. Again, we've built tons of these rigs at a wide variety of ride heights over the last 2 decades, with both standard and long travel shocks and a variety of spring rates. I KNOW how they perform on a variety of jeeps at a variety of final ride heights.

If you think that the shock travel bias will make a significant ride quality difference from 2" to 3"of lift, well... that's OK....but I cannot agree. Coil rates will make a MUCH greater difference at that point than shock travel percentages. Let's take 2 bone stock TJ's with a soft top. On one, we'll put the lighter TJ coils and OME shocks. One the 2nd one, we'll put the "HD" TJ coils and the exact same OME shocks. Everything else the same. We'll see appx 2" from the lighter coils over stock. Maybe 2.5"+ on the "HD" coils. We're talking about appx 1/2" difference in ride height. I guarantee the ride is quite different. I'm not speculating here, I know that for a fact.

Ride height differences would be greater than that on some of these applications. A 4" lift on short arms rides rougher than a 2" lift just because of the operating angles of the control arms, so other factors apply too.
I've built packages with OME shocks and RE and other coils too- again with a variety of spring rates. My conclusions are based on over 20 years of working on these combos on a full time basis.

Again, I did not come here to start an argument. My point is that the comments in the OP are not fully encompassing the possibilities and variables that exist and therefore, are not accurate in every situation. To assume that coil rates make no difference in ride quality is simply not a true statement and will be confusing for those who read that. When we have so many of these packages out there that truly ride NICE, I hate to see a good shock like OME get classified as "stiff."

This is just my .02 cents, but not based off speculation or experience with one jeep.
It is the internet after all, so opinions vary...
 
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Hey Dirk, glad to have you on the board.

If I may ask, do you have any knowledge of the valving change between the older OME Nitrocharger and newer Nitrocharger Sport shocks, and if the Metalcloak Rocksports are just a rebranded Nitrocharger Sport?
 
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