Help with lift ideas

[JWFlash]

So today I brought home my first Jeep! Woot-woot! I'm a newbie so go a little easy on me. It looks to me that the front was lifted using spacers, see pic below. Can't know what the past owner did since he had passed away 4 years ago so the Jeep has only been driven 5k miles in those 4 years with a total of 49k miles on the clock.

Not going to be doing any real off roading so the upgrades will be mainly for looks. She has 32" tires that I think I like them ok. Don't really like the rims and the tires are in need of replacement so I can go down to 31" if need be. My plan was to do the 2" OME springs and shock lift. Was hoping that would give me a better ride than how it is now.

Ok...start the stone throwing!

Thanks for all the awesome info you guys have and share!

 

[Chris]

If that was my rig, I would keep it on 32" tires and put the OME 2" lift on, and then add a 1" body lift. That would be perfect IMHO!

It wouldn't break the bank either:

About $886 for the OME lift:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P9JY0E/?tag=wranglerorg-20

And maybe another $120 for a 1" body lift:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001GH5OBG/?tag=wranglerorg-20

That would look perfect on 32" tires!

 

[Rob5589]

Wow, that is clean, even underneath. Great find! There are options galore, wallet dependent of course. I'd look around online for Jeep pics and see if something catches your eye. I would definitely ditch those 3" spacers and install a proper lift or go back to stock, nothing wrong with that. I can't get over how clean the chassis is. You really scored:clap:

 

[JWFlash]

Awesome! You guys are making me feel "Really" good about her!

She has a clean Carfax and I don't think it has ever been off road. Been garaged the last 10 years. A new top was put on 2 years ago.

So a 1" body lift is necessary for the 32"? I am going to ditch those Flair's and go with the flat ones. Something like these.

https://www.quadratec.com/products/12513_5001_07.htm

 

[JMT]

Your shocks are what control ride quality.

For your intended use, you could go two ways:

1) The OME Lift mentioned by @Chris. If you don't add heavy mods like bumpers, winches, et al., you'll get 2.75" of Lift. 32's would clear. A 1" BL wouldn't be a bad idea. This would allow you to upgrade and wheel easily if you got the bug

2) Stay with the spacers and just get OME Nitro shocks or Rancho 5000x. That will improve your ride quality. A 1"BL wouldn't be a bad idea here either. 32's would clear. This would be more for looks.

Edit: with flat flares you probably would not need a BL

 

[JWFlash]

Thanks again for the suggestions. I've been reading thread after thread and pretty much have fried my brain with all the info that is on this forum. So I'm sure more questions will follow!

 

[bobthetj03]

Ok,first off, great score, and you have a great start there. Take my opinion as what it is, an opinion. 3" of spacer lift is not ideal, but I get why the PO installed them to fit 32's. I too am not a fan of the wheels, but they are not horrible. You will not be disappointed going with a OME 2" lift. Since you are needing new tires anyway, I'd jump back down to 31's and don't worry about a body lift. The OME lift will give you plenty of clearance for 31's, plus your new flat flares will give you even more clearance, however, some Rubi flares would look better IMO. Next, see if you can find some used Golden Eagle Ravines. It would complete the GE looks. Smart getting rid of those Bushwhacker flairs. Put them on CL and recoop some cost. The bumpers and tube steps need to go. Welcome aboard, and have fun with it. My 2 cents.

 

[JWFlash]

Yep...Flairs, bumpers, and wheels will be going away. I still got to decide if I like the big eagle on the hood!?

 

[bobthetj03]

Yep...Flairs, bumpers, and wheels will be going away. I still got to decide if I like the big eagle on the hood!?

I bet it'll grow on you.

 

[JamesAndTheSahara]

Yep...Flairs, bumpers, and wheels will be going away. I still got to decide if I like the big eagle on the hood!?

Give that rare TJ some love, keep her bonnet how you found her

 

[Andy5150]

Nice Jeep. I would go back to 31,s, though. You're geared too tall for 32,s. Beyond that, I'd leave it alone, and enjoy it.

 

[Fouledplugs]

Welcome, the TJ I purchased recentnly has the Golden eagle Package as well. I just pulled the stickers. Still got the GE embroidered seats and gold ravine wheels.

Hope you get rid of those spacers soon so that you can ride a little smoother. A 2 1/2 inch will be great and be better suited for stock axle gear ratios if you ran 31's.

 

[Ahoragi]

If it's just for looks then I'd look into BDS 2" lift kit. It's a quality kit with an excellent warranty.

The OME kit is a great kit but if you aren't going to wheel then it's only doing half of what it's intended for. That's alot of money to put into just a 2" lift for looks.

If you downsize to 31's then you really do not need a lift. If you want some height then you have the option of using a coil spacer (1") or grab some H&R 1" coil springs for a little lift. Some of us including me are running H&R and it's a good quality spring. Heck you can just run stock springs with 31's and throw on some OME, Rancho 5000X, BDS, or Bilstein shocks and call it good.

 

[LTTJ]

Welcome! That is a beautiful looking Jeep.

I recently upgraded mine to the OME lift and I love it. The ride quality is really just so much better. I've got 265/75R16 tires, which comes out to about 31.6 inches. I've attached a picture so you can have an idea what it'll look like with 31 or 32 inch-ish tires. This is *almost* the setup @Chris described, but no body lift and the metric sized tires. Keep in mind also about the picture, I have the stock bumpers and spare, so the Jeep is sitting a little higher than it would with heavy bumpers and a bigger spare.

I think @Andy5150 has a good point to consider- if you go with 32s you may not be happy with the gearing.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JP98]

Great looking rig. Welcome aboard.

 

[JWFlash]

Thanks for all the feedback. I already have 32" and was wanting to go back down to 31". It already has 3" spacers that I want to remove, but want more than stock height so that is why I was looking at the 2" OME. Was thinking that a quality kit would be better in the long run. The BDS kit looks to be a good (lower cost option). So maybe that is what I will look to do.

Now a question about wheels! I currently have MT 15x8 wheels that have about 3 & 3/8 of backspacing. I'm looking at the Ultra 178 Mongoose wheel. 15x8 but with 3.75 backspace. Called 4wheelonline and the guy said it wouldn't work because of the backspace. I thought I had read that 3 3/4 to 4 1/4 was the optimal backspace? BDS (2" lift) recommends 32"x10.5 on 16x8 with 3 & 1/2 back spacing.

Dang!!! Trying to figure out this wheel stuff is making me crazy!

 

[ac_]

No stone throwing from me! Great score, the great thing about the Jeep is there are so many options, you can do practically anything to make it your own, but that is also the double edged sword. There are so many options.

My advice is it has low miles; drive it for a while, and see what you like and don't like about it, and go from there. Figure out what you want to do with it? Is it a beach dweller, a road racer, or a rock crawler maybe a weekend warrior? You may change your mind while you are trying to decide.

Welcome aboard! Have fun dressing up your new toy!

 

[bobthetj03]

Thanks for all the feedback. I already have 32" and was wanting to go back down to 31". It already has 3" spacers that I want to remove, but want more than stock height so that is why I was looking at the 2" OME. Was thinking that a quality kit would be better in the long run. The BDS kit looks to be a good (lower cost option). So maybe that is what I will look to do.

Now a question about wheels! I currently have MT 15x8 wheels that have about 3 & 3/8 of backspacing. I'm looking at the Ultra 178 Mongoose wheel. 15x8 but with 3.75 backspace. Called 4wheelonline and the guy said it wouldn't work because of the backspace. I thought I had read that 3 3/4 to 4 1/4 was the optimal backspace? BDS (2" lift) recommends 32"x10.5 on 16x8 with 3 & 1/2 back spacing.

Dang!!! Trying to figure out this wheel stuff is making me crazy!

View attachment 21229

3.75" back spacing will work fine. I'm running Ultra Nomads with that exact BS and I'm on 33X1050's.

 

[JMT]

Thanks for all the feedback. I already have 32" and was wanting to go back down to 31". It already has 3" spacers that I want to remove, but want more than stock height so that is why I was looking at the 2" OME. Was thinking that a quality kit would be better in the long run. The BDS kit looks to be a good (lower cost option). So maybe that is what I will look to do.

Now a question about wheels! I currently have MT 15x8 wheels that have about 3 & 3/8 of backspacing. I'm looking at the Ultra 178 Mongoose wheel. 15x8 but with 3.75 backspace. Called 4wheelonline and the guy said it wouldn't work because of the backspace. I thought I had read that 3 3/4 to 4 1/4 was the optimal backspace? BDS (2" lift) recommends 32"x10.5 on 16x8 with 3 & 1/2 back spacing.

Dang!!! Trying to figure out this wheel stuff is making me crazy!

View attachment 21229

X2. That will work. Don't know why in the world they would say it wouldn't. You are on the money

 

[JWFlash]

Awesome! Thanks for confirming the BS.