Savvy 3" Lift Kit + UCF Extra Clearance Skid

Caleb Nosak

Caleb Nosak

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Tulsa, OK
Hey guys,

I have a virgin 2004 TJ Rubicon 5 speed. Ive been reading this forum for a while, to plan out a build and I think ive settled on a combo between a Savvy lift and a UCF skid plate. Currently its still my daily. Ive got Goodyear Ultraterrain 265/75R16's, but Im moving to either California, Colorado or Utah so... yeah. I never plan on running over 33's, or regearing, but I'm sure thats what everyone says so I think it would be wise to have adjustable linkages, so if I ever wanted to get more out of it all I had to do was swap the springs.

For the lift, I plan on doing 3", currie anti rock, adjustable trac bar front and back, and adjustable control arms upper and lower.

For the skid plate, I plan on getting the extra-clearance with their LOPRO mount, so I dont have to do a body lift and change the motor mounts etc.

Does this pass the sniff test?
Is there anything I would be spending money on that I dont actually need?
Would I be happier doing a 1.25 body and 1" motor lift, and goign with the ultra clearance from UCF?
What drive shaft should I go with?
Should I do the lift or skid plate first?
Doing this all myself with some army buddies. Is there anything else I'm missing?
 
body lift sure makes some things easier to work on, and it's wheel space that doesn't effect the drivetrain, the height of the body lift could then be subtracted from the spring lift needed to get the desired stance or wheel space.
not sure you have much reason to have to mess with motor mounts.
Tom Wood makes decent drive shafts, i've heard other say Adams.

i'd do it all in 1 shot, no point setting things to be changed again next wkend.
 
Caleb Nosak said:
Hey guys,

I have a virgin 2004 TJ Rubicon 5 speed. Ive been reading this forum for a while, to plan out a build and I think ive settled on a combo between a Savvy lift and a UCF skid plate. Currently its still my daily. Ive got Goodyear Ultraterrain 265/75R16's, but Im moving to either California, Colorado or Utah so... yeah. I never plan on running over 33's, or regearing, but I'm sure thats what everyone says so I think it would be wise to have adjustable linkages, so if I ever wanted to get more out of it all I had to do was swap the springs.

For the lift, I plan on doing 3", currie anti rock, adjustable trac bar front and back, and adjustable control arms upper and lower.

For the skid plate, I plan on getting the extra-clearance with their LOPRO mount, so I dont have to do a body lift and change the motor mounts etc.

Does this pass the sniff test?
Is there anything I would be spending money on that I dont actually need?
Would I be happier doing a 1.25 body and 1" motor lift, and goign with the ultra clearance from UCF?
What drive shaft should I go with?
Should I do the lift or skid plate first?
Doing this all myself with some army buddies. Is there anything else I'm missing?
Click to expand...
I believe a motor mount lift is needed when you raise the rest of the drivetrain up. Check out TJ resources for the official tummy tuck thread
 
GPK03X said:
I believe a motor mount lift is needed when you raise the rest of the drivetrain up. Check out TJ resources for the official tummy tuck thread
Click to expand...
I have a 2003 x with the 5 speed. I installed the extra clearance skid with the LO pro mount. I used a 1/2 inch body lift. With my smaller 231 transfer case it wasn’t really needed but I figured it would help keep the shifter closer to the stock location. Even with the Lopro mount your still raising the trans up 1 1/2 inches .
 
GPK03X said:
I have a 2003 x with the 5 speed. I installed the extra clearance skid with the LO pro mount. I used a 1/2 inch body lift. With my smaller 231 transfer case it wasn’t really needed but I figured it would help keep the shifter closer to the stock location. Even with the Lopro mount your still raising the trans up 1 1/2 inches .
Click to expand...
Also installed 1 inch MML
 
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Hey neighbor, I lived in Norman for 15 years.

Guessing your move is probably a PCS? Done privately it's a horrible time to be going that direction... As crazy as the market is here, it's worse there. I just moved back here from Colorado in 2021 and the house I sold had gone up 40% in the preceding 16 months. If you end up at Ft Carson though, you'll have an entire national forest on your doorstep... My favorite thing about the years I lived in CO.

Back on subject, I haven't heard a lot of positives about the lo pro mount. I run the extra clearance skid with a stock mount but I also have a BL and MML and a smaller 231 TC. The t case shift linkage isn't gonna like the tuck... You may get it to work ok but most end up with something like Savvy's cable shifter. 3" is pretty popular lift height but the availability of proper length shocks isn't as good as it is at 2" and 4". It might be six of one and half dozen of the other when you choose between 4" suspension or 3" susp + 1" body, but you're basically choosing your compromise between shock selection and belly height.
 
freedom_in_4low said:
Hey neighbor, I lived in Norman for 15 years.

Guessing your move is probably a PCS? Done privately it's a horrible time to be going that direction... As crazy as the market is here, it's worse there. I just moved back here from Colorado in 2021 and the house I sold had gone up 40% in the preceding 16 months. If you end up at Ft Carson though, you'll have an entire national forest on your doorstep... My favorite thing about the years I lived in CO.

Back on subject, I haven't heard a lot of positives about the lo pro mount. I run the extra clearance skid with a stock mount but I also have a BL and MML and a smaller 231 TC. The t case shift linkage isn't gonna like the tuck... You may get it to work ok but most end up with something like Savvy's cable shifter. 3" is pretty popular lift height but the availability of proper length shocks isn't as good as it is at 2" and 4". It might be six of one and half dozen of the other when you choose between 4" suspension or 3" susp + 1" body, but you're basically choosing your compromise between shock selection and belly height.
Click to expand...
I hear you on the Lopro. I have it on mine and it does add vibes. Mines not a DD like the OP. If I was going to daily drive it I would go with a 1 inch body lift and a stock trans mount. The OP should be aware that the tuck can add noise, vibes and heat to passenger compartment
 
I did a 2.5" OME lift and a UCF ultra tuck/oil pan skid and lowpro mount with 1" MORE body lift and 1" MM lift.

Mine is an unlimited with a 231 transfer case. I have zero driving vibes but more idle vibrations. Not terribe. They go away at ~800 rpm so I may bump the idle.

I'm getting adjustable control arms because I bent one and the mount. I'll get more robust adjustable arms and put a plate on the mount.
 
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Savvy 1.25” body lift and Rough country 1” Motor mount spacer. Both are easy to install. Ucf ultra clearance skid I say go for it. Tom wood driveshafts are very popular here. You might want to add Savvy tcase cable

The way I’ll install is body lift, motor mount spacer, suspension then skid

Does anyone know if he needs a SYE with 3” of lift?
 
06TJ35's said:
Savvy 1.25” body lift and Rough country 1” Motor mount spacer. Both are easy to install. Ucf ultra clearance skid I say go for it. Tom wood driveshafts are very popular here. You might want to add Savvy tcase cable

The way I’ll install is body lift, motor mount spacer, suspension then skid

Does anyone know if he needs a SYE with 3” of lift?
Click to expand...
Rubicon
 
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freedom_in_4low said:
Hey neighbor, I lived in Norman for 15 years.

Guessing your move is probably a PCS? Done privately it's a horrible time to be going that direction... As crazy as the market is here, it's worse there. I just moved back here from Colorado in 2021 and the house I sold had gone up 40% in the preceding 16 months. If you end up at Ft Carson though, you'll have an entire national forest on your doorstep... My favorite thing about the years I lived in CO.

Back on subject, I haven't heard a lot of positives about the lo pro mount. I run the extra clearance skid with a stock mount but I also have a BL and MML and a smaller 231 TC. The t case shift linkage isn't gonna like the tuck... You may get it to work ok but most end up with something like Savvy's cable shifter. 3" is pretty popular lift height but the availability of proper length shocks isn't as good as it is at 2" and 4". It might be six of one and half dozen of the other when you choose between 4" suspension or 3" susp + 1" body, but you're basically choosing your compromise between shock selection and belly height.
Click to expand...
Agreed with this. Shock selection is minimal. Either way, I’d say you may need the body lift / mml even with just the extra clearance skid. Then again, I feel like I had plenty of clearance with my 231 and ultra clearance skid, stock trans mount. I do have a 1.25 BL and 1” mml.

Maybe start with the lift, skid; I’d rather do mml/BL over the lopro mount. Then measure for shocks and TW driveshaft. If you need to clearance the tub for the 241, do so at that time or determine decision to buy a lopro. It took me over a month to get the Jeep up and running after a TT but that’s bc I already had the mml and BL
 
I have an '04 TJR that I have been very slowly building up over the years due to budgetary constraints... for quite a while I ran 3" springs, 1.25" BL, 1" MM, adj front lower CAs, upgraded steering, adj front trackbar, rear TB relocation bracket, AntiRock, rear extended swaybar links, extended front brake lines, Savvy TC shifter, and stock everything else. So basically 6 stock CA's, stock skids, and stock DS's. This is on 33" tires with 4.88s (manual trans).

I needed to replace shocks so I just put on adjustable CA's all around.

Next phase will be belly up and new rear DS.

I say this bc I suspect once you move out west you'll want to move up to 33s. Once you do that I would definitely regear bc it not only helps on the trail but as a DD as well. My recommendation, if cost is a factor, would be to consider saving the belly up and rear DS for a later phase. If you do that, depending on the condition of your current CAs, you may be able to get away with only needing front lower CAs (as opposed to all 8) along with the other things I listed above.
 
freedom_in_4low said:
Hey neighbor, I lived in Norman for 15 years.

Guessing your move is probably a PCS? Done privately it's a horrible time to be going that direction... As crazy as the market is here, it's worse there. I just moved back here from Colorado in 2021 and the house I sold had gone up 40% in the preceding 16 months. If you end up at Ft Carson though, you'll have an entire national forest on your doorstep... My favorite thing about the years I lived in CO.

Back on subject, I haven't heard a lot of positives about the lo pro mount. I run the extra clearance skid with a stock mount but I also have a BL and MML and a smaller 231 TC. The t case shift linkage isn't gonna like the tuck... You may get it to work ok but most end up with something like Savvy's cable shifter. 3" is pretty popular lift height but the availability of proper length shocks isn't as good as it is at 2" and 4". It might be six of one and half dozen of the other when you choose between 4" suspension or 3" susp + 1" body, but you're basically choosing your compromise between shock selection and belly height.
Click to expand...
Thats pretty wild man! Im actually in the guard, but i just finished all my tradoc stuff so Im looking to start civilian career.
 
GPK03X said:
I hear you on the Lopro. I have it on mine and it does add vibes. Mines not a DD like the OP. If I was going to daily drive it I would go with a 1 inch body lift and a stock trans mount. The OP should be aware that the tuck can add noise, vibes and heat to passenger compartment
Click to expand...
So even though UCF's site says with the lopro you can do the extra-clearance skid plate without a body lift, this is not advisable?
 
InOmaha said:
I did a 2.5" OME lift and a UCF ultra tuck/oil pan skid and lowpro mount with 1" MORE body lift and 1" MM lift.

Mine is an unlimited with a 231 transfer case. I have zero driving vibes but more idle vibrations. Not terribe. They go away at ~800 rpm so I may bump the idle.

I'm getting adjustable control arms because I bent one and the mount. I'll get more robust adjustable arms and put a plate on the mount.
Click to expand...
How do you like your OME lift? What shocks did you go with? Do you wish you would have done 4"?
 
Anyone here have a savvy or are familiar with it? Should I just scrap Savvy and go with OME 2.5" + 1.25 Body lift? From my research it seems like that is a classic choice (probably for good reason) and is not as expensive.
 
I've got a lot of set-up you describe. '04 Rubi on 3" JKS springs, Rancho shocks, UCF extra-clearance with the factory transmission mount, savvy control arms, adjustable front/rear track bars, savvy body lift and JKS MML and 285/75r16s (32.8") on Moabs.

With the factory transmission mount, there's absolutely zero chance of fitting the 241 with the extra clearance skid without a 1.25" body lift, and yes, I think the .25" made all the difference. i think it might be possible with the lopro mount, but even then, its probably very tight.

The 3" SL and 1.25" BL provide more than enough tire clearance with the 33s. Its true shock selection is limited at 3" but I'm happy with the travel bias and ride quality of the Rancho RS5000x shocks with my set up.
 
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