The 2002 TJ my wife bought 5 years ago has been fun enough for Jeeping around the high desert until last Labor Day weekend. We've made some fixes, improvements, and/or add-ons that have added value and some that are no longer present.
On this past Labor Day weekend, we decided to retrace a track I did on a motorcycle to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was the second-hardest day of that 4 week cross country trip.
We found that the ride height of our Jeep to be just adequate for the task. I'm not sure it could have been any lower without having to deal with damage along the way.
The day after we got home, I set about researching lift kits and their generalities. We didn't want to make the Jeep about being lifted (Wow, look how high that Jeep is!), but it was clear we needed *something*.
I settled on a 3.5" lift kit from MetalCloak. It seemed comprehensive, not way out of hand in terms of money, and I didn't see the disparaging comments about them that folks have written about other companies (and they had the endorsement of an acquaintance who has experience in this sort of thing).
I was, however, a bit chagrinned to find that 3.5" is right on the edge of needing an SYE rig as well as another driveshaft...but whatever. Looking at the stock rig, after researching those, an SYE with the attendant drive shaft looks way better mechanically anyway.
So, as I discover what we actually have on our Jeep (it belonged to an off-roading enthusiast before we bought it), research, and deal with Chrysler's eccentricities, this will be a somewhat protracted process...BUT, it seems like it might be fun to document it anyway.
Also, I don't take very good pictures with my phone so you might be bummed to see crappy photos that aren't showing every step.
On this past Labor Day weekend, we decided to retrace a track I did on a motorcycle to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was the second-hardest day of that 4 week cross country trip.
We found that the ride height of our Jeep to be just adequate for the task. I'm not sure it could have been any lower without having to deal with damage along the way.
The day after we got home, I set about researching lift kits and their generalities. We didn't want to make the Jeep about being lifted (Wow, look how high that Jeep is!), but it was clear we needed *something*.
I settled on a 3.5" lift kit from MetalCloak. It seemed comprehensive, not way out of hand in terms of money, and I didn't see the disparaging comments about them that folks have written about other companies (and they had the endorsement of an acquaintance who has experience in this sort of thing).
I was, however, a bit chagrinned to find that 3.5" is right on the edge of needing an SYE rig as well as another driveshaft...but whatever. Looking at the stock rig, after researching those, an SYE with the attendant drive shaft looks way better mechanically anyway.
So, as I discover what we actually have on our Jeep (it belonged to an off-roading enthusiast before we bought it), research, and deal with Chrysler's eccentricities, this will be a somewhat protracted process...BUT, it seems like it might be fun to document it anyway.
Also, I don't take very good pictures with my phone so you might be bummed to see crappy photos that aren't showing every step.
