Springs, and what's the consensus on "sagging"

blansky

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I have a gently driven 2005 LJ that I bought new and within a week of buying it I put in a rather inexpensive Rocky Road Outfitters 2" budget lift kit which was basically just a 2 inch coil spacer. The stock springs were used, and I then put on 33 inch tires which lifted the Jeep about 3 inches.

Now 18 years later it feels and looks like the Jeep has "settled" and is riding a bit lower. My question is in the 18 years of just street driving would you think that it has dropped maybe an inch or so. And would just putting back stock springs get everything back to where it was.

With the initial installation the ride was pretty great and I don't want to mess with it by going with someone else's lift kit and new springs, feeling I may be getting into a can of worms of screwing up the ride.
IMG_2921-4xxxx.jpg
 
Is that all the kit consisted of, just spring spacers? No track bar bracket, bump stop extension, shocks, etc? Had to at least include shocks im sure.
 
Thanks for the reply. This is the ad for the lift.....https://www.rocky-road.com/wrangler-lift-kit-budget.html

As far as I can remember it just used the stock springs and shock extensions. I've since replaced the shocks a couple of times.

Basically I'd like to get it up maybe another inch or so, because I'm getting the occasional rub on the back tire and fender flares.
 
I have a gently driven 2005 LJ that I bought new and within a week of buying it I put in a rather inexpensive Rocky Road Outfitters 2" budget lift kit which was basically just a 2 inch coil spacer. The stock springs were used, and I then put on 33 inch tires which lifted the Jeep about 3 inches.

Now 18 years later it feels and looks like the Jeep has "settled" and is riding a bit lower. My question is in the 18 years of just street driving would you think that it has dropped maybe an inch or so. And would just putting back stock springs get everything back to where it was.

With the initial installation the ride was pretty great and I don't want to mess with it by going with someone else's lift kit and new springs, feeling I may be getting into a can of worms of screwing up the ride.
View attachment 427519

The only way to know objectively is to measure the springs plus spacer and compare that to the original spring plus spacer measurement 18 years ago.

But yes, I’m sure it has sagged some. Replace the springs with 2” OME 933/941 combo or replace the 2” pucks with 3”.
 
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Thanks for the reply. As I said, I only drive it on the street or freeway.

It is an LJ. There is no winch, just the tube bumpers front and back. Rarely passengers, and nothing in the back. I have only the hardtop. So the question is, do you think the 933/941 is the best ride combo and if I went 2.5 would that change any ride/handling configurations. The same for changing out the pucks from 2 to 3 inch. Would that affect any ride/suspension/handling things?

As you can see I'm not all that well versed in the lift kit/suspension dynamics and all the things that can be affected. Which was one of the reasons I only initially went with 2 inch.

Just as a reference the first picture was taken back in 2005. The second a year or so ago. But the first picture has the stock fender flares, so it's kind of hard to judge.

IMG_4406.JPG


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Thanks for the reply. As I said, I only drive it on the street or freeway.

It is an LJ. There is no winch, just the tube bumpers front and back. Rarely passengers, and nothing in the back. I have only the hardtop. So the question is, do you think the 933/941 is the best ride combo and if I went 2.5 would that change any ride/handling configurations. The same for changing out the pucks from 2 to 3 inch. Would that affect any ride/suspension/handling things?

As you can see I'm not all that well versed in the lift kit/suspension dynamics and all the things that can be affected. Which was one of the reasons I only initially went with 2 inch.

Just as a reference this picture was taken back in 2005. But it has the stock fender flares, so it's kind of hard to judge.

View attachment 427527

I am on 933/942's. Again, not the best source but I am quite happy with ride.
 
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I've heard people say that, but after 18 years with the same setup I've only recently had a bit of rubbing when hitting a dip in the road. The pocket flares have been on for 6 years at least. And this only happens when I have two bikes on the trailer hitch mounted bike rack.

Some of this rubbing is why I'm considering if the springs have fatigued a bit.
 
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my 05' with 95k on it was soft and wallowing- I did spring change(2.5")and it firmed up-rides actually better- still was on the same shocks. I am going to go with yes the springs are fatigued- if you can manage it you might be surprised what new springs would do- OEM sized keep your spacer- or ditch the spacer and go all spring. my .02 cents
 
Thanks. What do you mean uprated rear springs?

Heavy Duty vs regular.

Mine had regular OME rear springs and with the hard top on the rear sat low. I bought a new set of regular OME springs and it sat the same. So I bought a set of OME HD springs and that made the rear sit level.
 
I've heard people say that, but after 18 years with the same setup I've only recently had a bit of rubbing when hitting a dip in the road. The pocket flares have been on for 6 years at least. And this only happens when I have two bikes on the trailer hitch mounted bike rack.

Some of this rubbing is why I'm considering if the springs have fatigued a bit.

Measure your springs. Front=12" tall new,rear=8" tall new.measure on flat ground with the weight on the springs. If yours are shorter then just get new oem height springs
 
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Thanks everyone for the help.

Really for 33’s you need at least 3.5” of lift. Your rubbing at 2” confirms that.

A 2” lift is good for 31’s.

By OME HD springs they’re talking about Old Man Emu 2933/2942 springs. 2933 is the front spring #. 2942 is the rear spring #. They’re saying you need these springs because you have an LJ, which is longer and heavier than a TJ.

Nobody can tell how much actual lift you have by just looking at a picture of your Jeep. Go measure the springs and spacer and report back.

For 33’s I’d get the RockJock 4” springs and a few more items. 🤣
 
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