Lift advice

S

SB50

New Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2019
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21
Location
Florida
Hi, new member and 1st time Jeep owner. So, bought a 97 TJ a couple months ago. It had a 4” body lift already on it with 35” tires. Pretty sure it has the original 22 year old suspension under it and it is shot to say the least. Was wandering if I could install a 3” or 3.5” suspension lift and drop the body lift down to 2” and still be able to run a 35? My wife throws the paddle boards on top and goes to the beach. My son hits the power lines near the house and plays in the mud. That’s about all the off-roading it sees. I know the smart money says to go with a Currie 4 or 5 inch lift but as you all know it’s expensive. I’ve already replaced the starter, alternator, ignition switch, ignition switch actuator, idler pulley, tensioner, battery and cables, master cylinder, slave cylinder, clutch, pressure plate, flywheel, upgraded to Currie correct link tie rod/drag link and sway bar. If I can get by with the combo of SL/BL for now, I plan on upgrading everything to Currie down the road but this thing is already a money pit. But hey, that’s the Jeep life, right?!
Thanks

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The short answer is yes, a 3-3.5” lift with 1.25-2” body lift will clear the 35’s as long as you aren’t doing any serious wheeling.

There are some 4” lifts out there that are fairly inexpensive that may work for you. People here can advise on cost effective solutions and maybe piece together something that will work great if and when you decide to tackle some more radical trails.

Nice looking TJ BTW
 
MaloStapalo said:
4" body lift is some ludacris shit right there.
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Right? I honestly didn’t even know that existed... yikes! Fortunately it shouldn’t be very difficult to fix that with a 1.25” body lift kit (and 1” MML), then put a proper lift kit on it.

On the other hand, what are the odds that the previous owner re-geared for 35’s? Depending how much life is left in those tires, dropping down to 33’s might not be a bad idea.

Good luck with the new Jeep, cool color!
 
afmoto said:
Right? I honestly didn’t even know that existed... yikes! Fortunately it shouldn’t be very difficult to fix that with a 1.25” body lift kit (and 1” MML), then put a proper lift kit on it.

On the other hand, what are the odds that the previous owner re-geared for 35’s? Depending how much life is left in those tires, dropping down to 33’s might not be a bad idea.

Good luck with the new Jeep, cool color!
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You can count your driveshaft rotations and your tire rotation count and it will tell you your gear ratio. Maybe someone can elaborate.

1.25" body lift from savvy is awesome, especially if you want to tuck your gas skid and your transfer case skid.
 
MaloStapalo said:
You can count your driveshaft rotations and your tire rotation count and it will tell you your gear ratio. Maybe someone can elaborate.

1.25" body lift from savvy is awesome, especially if you want to tuck your gas skid and your transfer case skid.
MaloStapalo said:
You can count your driveshaft rotations and your tire rotation count and it will tell you your gear ratio. Maybe someone can elaborate.

1.25" body lift from savvy is awesome, especially if you want to tuck your gas skid and your transfer case skid.
Click to expand...

MaloStapalo said:
You can count your driveshaft rotations and your tire rotation count and it will tell you your gear ratio. Maybe someone can elaborate.

1.25" body lift from savvy is awesome, especially if you want to tuck your gas skid and your transfer case skid.
Click to expand...

If you run 35’s a 4:56 ratio is in my understanding the best combination
if you run 33’s which I recommend and run myself you would want to run 4:10 ratio which I also have. As far a suspension I would hold out and buy a Currie. I went the middle of the road route with mine and wish I had not now. I will be installing a Currie lift in the near future.
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hamrickac said:
I was thinking the same thing! I thought maybe it was a mistake until I saw his pictures holy hell 😂
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I know. It’s crazy I didn’t know they existed either. Probably homemade but I really don’t like it and want to find a combo suspension and body lift that will work. And no it’s not regeared. 5th gear is basically useless. Gears in on the to do list as well...
 
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SB50 said:
I know. It’s crazy I didn’t know they existed either. Probably homemade but I really don’t like it and want to find a combo suspension and body lift that will work. And no it’s not regeared. 5th gear is basically useless. Gears in on the to do list as well...
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I'm a big fan of my currie/savvy combo lift and arms, and savvy support mods.
 
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Plumber1 said:
If you want to run 35's and do some real off roading you will need a 4" lift and a 1" BL. I started with a 4" Currie Lift Kit and I had to add the 1" BL.
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My .02, the savvy aluminum BL is 1.25" which can really save you some trouble if tucking the transfer case and gas skid and that extra. 25 isn't noticable at all.
 
For the type of wheeling it sees I would lean towards the Zone 4.25" combo with an adjustable track bar and call it day.
 
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tworley said:
For the type of wheeling it sees I would lean towards the Zone 4.25" combo with an adjustable track bar and call it day.
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Ok. I haven’t heard good things about Zone tho. I was thinking tereflex 3” or rubicon express 3.5” plus 1.25 bl. Any thoughts?
 
It’s weird. With my jk tereflex and re were very highly regarded but most tj owners don’t seem to like them. OME, Currie, and Zone are the go tos depending on budget for tjs
 
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Zone combo lift, swap out the shocks for a set of Rancho’s, adjustable track bars and save the rest for a re-gear. 4.56 at a minimum, personally I run 4.88’s and love it compared to 3.73’s

Good looking TJ
 
Thanks! Already installed Currie correctlink. Will look into the Zone combo. I read on here that rancho 5000 shocks were the way to go.
 
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