Lift Dilemma

Whitfield

Whitfield

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Joined
Oct 6, 2020
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16
Location
Germantown, TN
We picked up my wife’s old ‘98 TJ last week. I’m new to Jeeps but she used to drive it when she was in high school. My father-in-law told me it had a 3” lift. I assumed it was a suspension lift but now that we’ve got it, I see that it is a body lift. I had been planning to replace the shocks with a set of Rancho RS5000x but now I’m not sure if that makes sense. There is a limited budget for fun projects with the Jeep as the kids have to eat first... Would upgraded shocks still make sense to improve the ride at stock suspension height with the body lift?

The Jeep is in pretty good shape with 95k miles and no mechanical issues of note.

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Thanks for the recommendation, it is much appreciated but I guess I'm going to have to drive it as is. A whole new set of tires isn't in the budget right now.
 
Whitfield said:
Thanks for the recommendation, it is much appreciated but I guess I'm going to have to drive it as is. A whole new set of tires isn't in the budget right now.
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If thats the case, then I would cycle your suspension as is and buy shocks based on those numbers. A body lift doesn't change shock mount locations as the shock is mounted to the frame. But since it looks like you have larger tires so you'll have to bumpstop accordingly
 
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RS5000X that are listed for stock height will be a good idea in my opinion. It doesn't seem like you are after a high travel build. If/when possible, lower the body lift to a 1" and get a 2" suspension lift.
 
tworley said:
If thats the case, then I would cycle your suspension as is and buy shocks based on those numbers. A body lift doesn't change shock mount locations as the shock is mounted to the frame. But since it looks like you have larger tires so you'll have to bumpstop accordingly
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X2

Those look like 32's or 33's. So measuring is the right way to do it.
 
Awesome, thanks for the advice! I do hope to swap out the body lift for an actual suspension lift at some point but with 4 boys 10 & under, that is going to have to come later. I saw some threads on measuring for bumpstops so I'll take a look there too.
 
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I'm not seeing a BL. If that has a 3" BL, someone relocated the side bars/steps to cover the gap.
p.s. I have been wrong once before.
BODY lift gap 3 inch.jpg
 
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Ok...so what I gather from your post is a complaint on the ride...no?

I'm not sure why the thread has gone this direction of ditching your body lift and all that when it seems to me you're trying to get a better ride on a budget.

Can that be obtained with shocks. Possibly. Lots of things will determine that. Age of old shocks...brand...type...etc.

There are also things that impact your ride quality like tire load rating, (sidewall is stiffer with a higher load rating)
how much psi you're running said tires....it doesn't take much psi on a TJ jeep to be safe and all the tire contacting the road.

Lastly is you. You've stated just getting this jeep again so you're comparing the ride to what? A Silverado crew cab? A 1975 Cadillac? Or another Jeep TJ?

You're dealing with a 93.4 inch WB vehicle. And yes Jeep (A) can ride better than Jeep (B) they're still in the SWB category. Bumps tend to be more magnified with the rear axle being so close to the harsh meter. (Your ass)

Can shocks make a difference? Indeed. As can many other things so it's you as the jury only.
 
Rubicon88 said:
Ok...so what I gather from your post is a complaint on the ride...no?

I'm not sure why the thread has gone this direction of ditching your body lift and all that when it seems to me you're trying to get a better ride on a budget.

Can that be obtained with shocks. Possibly. Lots of things will determine that. Age of old shocks...brand...type...etc.

There are also things that impact your ride quality like tire load rating, (sidewall is stiffer with a higher load rating)
how much psi you're running said tires....it doesn't take much psi on a TJ jeep to be safe and all the tire contacting the road.

Lastly is you. You've stated just getting this jeep again so you're comparing the ride to what? A Silverado crew cab? A 1975 Cadillac? Or another Jeep TJ?

You're dealing with a 93.4 inch WB vehicle. And yes Jeep (A) can ride better than Jeep (B) they're still in the SWB category. Bumps tend to be more magnified with the rear axle being so close to the harsh meter. (Your ass)

Can shocks make a difference? Indeed. As can many other things so it's you as the jury only.
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Good points, and yes, the idea is to improve the ride on a budget if possible. I am new to Jeeps but I figured the stock shocks from '98 could be improved upon and I've seen a number of posts about how much new shocks can help. I was also surprised at the cost of the Rancho RS5000x along with the positive reviews so I thought that would be a good direction to start out. My harsh meter has been used to my motorcycle that will beat the hell out of you so I'm hoping to get a little softer than that. I didn't even think about the tire pressure so I'll take a look at that too. Thanks again!
 
Whitfield said:
Good points, and yes, the idea is to improve the ride on a budget if possible. I am new to Jeeps but I figured the stock shocks from '98 could be improved upon and I've seen a number of posts about how much new shocks can help. I was also surprised at the cost of the Rancho RS5000x along with the positive reviews so I thought that would be a good direction to start out. My harsh meter has been used to my motorcycle that will beat the hell out of you so I'm hoping to get a little softer than that. I didn't even think about the tire pressure so I'll take a look at that too. Thanks again!
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Check the load range and PSI. One you can't change but can at least verify if it's a load range "c". Which is ideal for this platform.

The psi you can change. If it's sitting on 35-50 psi that in itself will make a big difference.

Let us know what you find
 
The tires do have a load range “c” and they are at 35# all the way around. They are 33x15x12.5 and were put on the week before we drove it back to Memphis from Atlanta. So they’ve got about 500 miles. It seems like it rides pretty good for a Jeep but I still plan to put on some new shocks as that seems the best bang for my buck to get a better ride. Any other budget friendly suggestions would be appreciated.
 
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Whitfield said:
The tires do have a load range “c” and they are at 35# all the way around. They are 33x15x12.5 and were put on the week before we drove it back to Memphis from Atlanta. So they’ve got about 500 miles. It seems like it rides pretty good for a Jeep but I still plan to put on some new shocks as that seems the best bang for my buck to get a better ride. Any other budget friendly suggestions would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Bump those down to 22-25# once and report back about you ride thoughts
 
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