Recommendations On Lift Kit Please

Phil Younger

Phil Younger

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I need some help guys. I have an '06 LJ 6 cyl auto that I want to lift. I currently am running pretty new 31" tires and will remain with them for at least 2016. My intent is to never exceed 33" if I even do that (yeah- I know you will say I will go to 35"s but I will not). I only get off road for one week a year and the Jeep is garaged all winter (not a DD). Road manners are more important than trail due to the fact the trails I go to are 1200 miles one way from where I live. I have an Aussie locker ready to go in the front Dana 30 and the rear is a Dana 44 limited slip that is in good shape. I also have a Currie AntiRock sway bar on the shelf ready to go in. I was not going to lift it at all this year as I was very pleased with what I could do with this stock Jeep last year-even on a milder class 4 trail -BUT- then i decided it was foolish to cut down the AntiRock rods just because I was not lifted yet.

What I am thinking about is a 3.5" Rubicon Express Super Flex kit with Bilstein monotube shocks, a drop pitman arm, and a front trackbar from Quadratec. I don't know if the trackbar is adjustable or not (if not- how important is that?).
This kit does not have upper arms (which I could add adjustable ones later). The kit # is 16300.403M.07 and as I said I will be adding the drop pitman kit and trackbar to the RE kit.
Chris- in your "how to" you show the a slip yoke eliminator should be used- but with this kit (which has the transfer case drop) and the fact this is an LJ will the SLE be needed?
I really only want to put less than $1500 in this lift but I also do not want to do it wrong or get a nasty surprise. The perfectionist and engineer side of me will make me overthink this too long by myself so I am looking for opinions here so I can move forward.

Here is the link to the kit (but kit is without shocks): http://www.quadratec.com/products/16300_403X_PG.htm
 
Phil Younger said:
Chris- in your "how to" you show the a slip yoke eliminator should be used- but with this kit (which has the transfer case drop) and the fact this is an LJ will the SLE be needed?
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The fact that it is an LJ (and therefore has a longer rear driveshaft, thus less extreme angles) and it comes with a transfer case drop means that you should be just fine without a SYE.

The only shifter you may or may not run into issues with is the transfer case shifter. You can address that by either slightly moving it or getting a nice Novak transfer case shifter cable.
 
But shit... for just a little more money (not that much) you could get the Currie 4" lift! :D

That is one of the nicest out-of-the-box lift kits in existence!
 
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Do not install that dropped Pitman arm if you're installing a track bar that bolts to the factory driver's side OE mount or you'll end up with bump steer. You should ONLY install a dropped Pitman arm when you're also installing a dropped driver's side track bar mount. It doesn't sound like you are.

It is very important to install front and rear adjustable length track bars with that tall of a lift. Suspension lifts pull the axles to the side and you use adjustable length track bars to center them back up.

X2 on the Currie suspension lift recommendation. I used to run an RE 4.5" suspension lift and my present Currie 4" suspension lift does everything better.
 
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Didn't even realize that came with a dropped Pitman arm until I just looked! Yep, bad, bad idea to install that part!
 
You definitely can't go wrong with the Currie lift. Another route is to consider the 2 1/2" OME lift (DGP Offroad sells a complete kit) and possible augmenting it with a 1" body lift. This will give you the height you're looking at for 33's but you won't have to be as concerned with the driveline angle causing vibrations. Here's my '05 LJ with that exact setup. For comparisons sake the second picture is my '05 LJ next to my daughter's stock '04 LJ.

IMG_2741.jpg


IMG_0303.jpg
 
While I do love my Rubicon Express 4.5 lift, the springs suck. They come out of the buckets almost all the way at full flex and the front has sagged about an inch over the last year. I'm going to be upgrading to metal cloak dual rate springs in a few months. I got the whole lift for dirt cheap so I'm not too upset. I would go Metal Cloak or Currie in the future. She does flex pretty good for a short arm kit.
ad31b8f2b9c32c97602e530b0ce0778d.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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VirtualRussel said:
You definitely can't go wrong with the Currie lift. Another route is to consider the 2 1/2" OME lift (DGP Offroad sells a complete kit) and possible augmenting it with a 1" body lift. This will give you the height you're looking at for 33's but you won't have to be as concerned with the driveline angle causing vibrations. Here's my '05 LJ with that exact setup. For comparisons sake the second picture is my '05 LJ next to my daughter's stock '04 LJ.

View attachment 3882

View attachment 3883
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Pair of Aces!
 
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Package deal here for Rock Krawler. Just a smidge more money. But worth it.

x1000 with the others on the drop pitman arm.

Allen
 
TheFrenchMan said:
While I do love my Rubicon Express 4.5 lift, the springs suck. They come out of the buckets almost all the way at full flex and the front has sagged about an inch over the last year. I'm going to be upgrading to metal cloak dual rate springs in a few months. I got the whole lift for dirt cheap so I'm not too upset. I would go Metal Cloak or Currie in the future. She does flex pretty good for a short arm kit. View attachment 3891
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Nice looking TJ, I know right where that photo was taken. One thing I'd suggest are taller bump stops for the front axles. Your front tire is stuffed too far up into the fender where there are several really sharp objects located. :)
 
You guys are awesome- very helpful. I would have messed up with the drop Pittman arm for sure.

Question is then what does one do about the fact the pittman arm is now at a sharper angle to the drag link - is that not an issue then?

I may consider just putting on a 1" body lift to get thru this season and then do either do the Currie 4" lift or as VirtualRussel suggested- then add a 2 1/2" OME kit next year. In that case I will just have to replace the cut down AntiRock links when I add a 2 1/2 OME or 4" Currie when I am ready for 33" tires. I have a bit more of study to do- been swamped at work and not had time to look into any of this.
 
Jerry Bransford said:
Nice looking TJ, I know right where that photo was taken. One thing I'd suggest are taller bump stops for the front axles. Your front tire is stuffed too far up into the fender where there are several really sharp objects located. :)
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Thanks.

I think it just looks like it's stuffed up really far because of the fender flares. The come down from the fender edge a lot. Nothing rubs at all at full flex very surprising when you look at it. I have a 1 1/4 body lift and a 1 inch motor mounts (thanks again Chris!) that I'm going to put on after I get my TT skid. Plus I want some type of tube fender in the future.
 
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