Difference Between 03 Rubicon Coils and 97 Sport Coils?

[Jeepster97TJ]

I am wanting to drop my 97 TJ back down to roughly stock height. When I bought it it had a 2" body lift and a 2" coil lift. I would like to put some stock spring on it. I found someone nearby that has stock coils off a 2003 Rubicon. Would they work for my 97 Sport and what can I expect? I am a new Jeep owner and I am learning. When I first got it had 33's on it and I went to 31's so I have a considerable amount of open wheel well. I will leave the body lift because it isn't a job I am ready to tackle. Springs do not seem quite as difficult to change. Advice? Words of wisdom?

 

[jjvw]

You can expect a stock ride height, give or take a small fraction of an inch.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

Shouldn't be significantly different in any way that would keep you from using them. They have different part numbers, maybe a slightly different rate or free length but not enough to matter.

It's likely you'll have to change your shocks, too. The lift springs probably came along with longer ones and they'll leave you with about 2" of uptravel when you drop it back down.

Make sure you loosen all your control arm and track bar bolts even if you don't have to remove them to change the springs. They're rubber bonded bushings that have a relaxed position and you want that to be at ride height. (disregard if you have aftermarket arms with flex joints, but that would be fairly uncommon for a 2" lift).

 

[Jeepster97TJ]

Shouldn't be significantly different in any way that would keep you from using them. They have different part numbers, maybe a slightly different rate or free length but not enough to matter.

It's likely you'll have to change your shocks, too. The lift springs probably came along with longer ones and they'll leave you with about 2" of uptravel when you drop it back down.

Make sure you loosen all your control arm and track bar bolts even if you don't have to remove them to change the springs. They're rubber bonded bushings that have a relaxed position and you want that to be at ride height. (disregard if you have aftermarket arms with flex joints, but that would be fairly uncommon for a 2" lift).

I am not sure what shocks they put on it. The last owner had shocks put on it but I don’t have any details. I am going to take some measurements and see what the actual lift is over stock. The lower arms are aftermarket but seem fixed length. The uppers look to be stock.

 

[macleanflood]

Price compare to some new Moog springs at stock heights. Odds are good that 20 year old springs are a little tired.

-Mac

 

[freedom_in_4low]

I am not sure what shocks they put on it. The last owner had shocks put on it but I don’t have any details. I am going to take some measurements and see what the actual lift is over stock. The lower arms are aftermarket but seem fixed length. The uppers look to be stock.

I know you're hesitant about the body lift but it's actually really simple, and almost free (just have to buy new body mount bolts) to remove. In your situation I would absolutely pull that and leave the suspension alone. Only exceptions would be if you had a high clearance belly skid or something that requires a body lift.

 

[Mike_H]

I agree. Getting rid of the 2" body lift might seem more difficult...but its really simple, as long as you have the OEM isolators. The only "tricky" things might be what has been done to the transfer case linkage to make it work with a 2" body lift, and readjusting the fuel filler neck. You'll likely need to readjust the fan shroud also.

 

[97TJNM]

Agree with what others have said. Removing a body lift is really not hard at all, and has less of a 'snowball' effect of having to fix other things than monkeying with spring lifts which can effect things like shocks, steering, track bars, sway bars, control arms, etc.

Removing a body lift requires removing less than a dozen bolts, pulling the lift blocks, installing shorter bolts, and maybe having to adjust the fan shroud.

Add to that, 2 inches of spring lift and 31's is actually about perfect for getting full use of those 31's.

Remove the body lift, keep the 2" spring lift.

 

[Rickyd]

I agree. Getting rid of the 2" body lift might seem more difficult...but its really simple, as long as you have the OEM isolators. The only "tricky" things might be what has been done to the transfer case linkage to make it work with a 2" body lift, and readjusting the fuel filler neck. You'll likely need to readjust the fan shroud also.

This,and removing any steering shaft support spacer.

 

[SSTJ]

@Jeepster97TJ what did you end up doing here? I have Moog replacements on my 97 SE, but went with Moog's Rubicon version for the front, which gave me about 0.6" of lift in the front, to level out the factory 'rake'.

Details in the suspension section of my build thread, linked in my signature. (Which I can't see until I post this reply, or else I'd drop the link here.)