Tire advice

Do I need the body lift with 33s?
33s ought to have close to 4" of total lift in order to keep the factory 4" of suspension up travel. The body lift contributes to the total lift. Up travel is part of the comfort. It also adds to the off road stability by allowing the tires to move before shoving the body up and out of the way. The more up travel the better both on and off road, imo.
 
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I will need to research extending a bump stop. When i change tires, Inerd to check alignment. Camber looks negative to these old eyes.
You're stuck with the camber. It is what it is, but usually is a non issue.
 
Those look like 1.25" body lift pucks to me. Looks like the PO also replaced the factory jounce bumpers with longer ones. How well does the jeep shift into 4wd? Any binding? I'd suggest taking those jounce bumper out and getting factory ones, then bump down to 33's with a C load range tire. Personally, I'd lose the body lift too, but the BL can come in handy for other mods and also gives you access when working under the rig.
Transfer case shifts well. Any change Reducing the height would be welcome.
 
Transfer case shifts well. Any change Reducing the height would be welcome.
You can reduce the Jeep height through the springs, body lift and tires. Any combination of those will work. I would just encourage you to at least maintain that 4" of suspension up travel. This is where the bump stop extension matters. Bump stops are typically determined by your specific mix of tire size or shock lengths (lift height is irrelevant). Their purpose is to keep parts from crashing into other parts.
 
Transfer case shifts well. Any change Reducing the height would be welcome.

I get where you're going. I'm no spring chicken either, and my wife is vertically challenged, so I have limited my jeep's height to what is comfortable for us. If I were you, I'd get 33x1050x15 tires, sell the springs/shocks, get some 3" springs and Rancho RS5000X shocks, replace the jounce bumpers, keep the BL, and get an alignment. Those changes alone will improve ride, drop the jeep down to manageable levels, and improve driveability.
 
33s ought to have close to 4" of total lift in order to keep the factory 4" of suspension up travel. The body lift contributes to the total lift. Up travel is part of the comfort. It also adds to the off road stability by allowing the tires to move before shoving the body up and out of the way. The more up travel the better both on and off road, imo.

If I did change the coils to give a three inch lift
I get where you're going. I'm no spring chicken either, and my wife is vertically challenged, so I have limited my jeep's height to what is comfortable for us. If I were you, I'd get 33x1050x15 tires, sell the springs/shocks, get some 3" springs and Rancho RS5000X shocks, replace the jounce bumpers, keep the BL, and get an alignment. Those changes alone will improve ride, drop the jeep down to manageable levels, and improve driveability.[/
33s ought to have close to 4" of total lift in order to keep the factory 4" of suspension up travel. The body lift contributes to the total lift. Up travel is part of the comfort. It also adds to the off road stability by allowing the tires to move before shoving the body up and out of the way. The more up travel the better both on and off road, imo.
i am going to order 33x10.5s. Get them on and then address needed height. I really appreciate the knowledge shared an everyones patience. 25psi in the interim.
 
I get where you're going. I'm no spring chicken either, and my wife is vertically challenged, so I have limited my jeep's height to what is comfortable for us. If I were you, I'd get 33x1050x15 tires, sell the springs/shocks, get some 3" springs and Rancho RS5000X shocks, replace the jounce bumpers, keep the BL, and get an alignment. Those changes alone will improve ride, drop the jeep down to manageable levels, and improve driveability.

5C9949A2-1CB6-4118-8AB7-D0C43146B948.jpeg
 
I think you answered your own questions before even starting this thread. hard ride = new tires regardless of what is said.
Not so. The ride I have with these 35 inch mud and snow tires is only part of the problem. The lugs are very rough at low speed and the jeep is too high. I have gained a bunch of knowledge from forum members on tire size and reducing my 5.25 inch lift.
 
Ron Hall said:
Can I loose that inch by simply changing the 4 coils?
Yes...although you "might" need to adjust your control arms.
Personally though, I do not think it would be worth it to spend that much money just to lose 1 inch.
Even if you do it, with the springs being new, it still is a bit of guessing game on how much it will lower, and you might end up spending lots of $$$ just to lose 0.5". (And then maybe your new tire brand is actually 0.5" bigger than your previous ones, and you're back to the same height, etc).
Are some springs better than other? The spacer are 1.25. Would there normally be any spacer stock?
Yes...BUT not as much as you might think.
I am not a suspension expert by any means, but in order of important/how much effect they have on ride quality, it goes something like this:

tire pressure > shocks > springs/control arms

(not sure which factors in the most on springs vs control arms).
But shocks definitely factor in more than springs with regards to ride quality, IMO. And they're much easier to change too.
Ironically, that also happens to fall under cheapest to most expensive too. (The cheaper fix is more effective in this case IMHO...unless you're buying new tires that is).

The ride quality of my 35" Cooper ST Pros might be a bit better than my 33" Duratracs IMO, but that might be subjective.
For me, 35" tire is set around 23-25psi (in the city)
33" is set around 25-27psi

The larger the tire, the lower the air pressure should be, IMO.

The "majority" of vehicles are cars with small tires, so they seem to think 30-35psi or higher is the "proper" tire pressure. I believe that is incorrect. I believe the appropriate tire pressure is dependent on the tire size.

Note - I also had 33" BFG KO2 tires, and I was very happy with them. They lasted an extremely long time too.
I originally ran those around 35psi...because that's what it said on the sidewall or something. That turned out to be bad as they were bulging a little too round in the center and would wear unevenly.
I typically ran them 25-27psi, and they were happy.

Note - your gas mileage may theoretically go down a minor amount when running the lower psi, and the "high speed handling" will go down too...but the ride quality is much improved, the traction is improved, and the tread wear is more even.

So I pretty much just parrot what everyone else is saying - lower your psi and get new shocks and see how you like that before spending a lot of money on shorter springs. (And/or get adjustable control arms, because if they're not adjustable - they will handle poorly unless you are the stock height).

If part of the reason for wanting to lower the Jeep is for ease of getting in/out, you might want to consider a different or modified side step/rock slider to help you in/out. (And the metal, not the nylon grab handles to help you in - I love mine).
 
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Yes...although you "might" need to adjust your control arms.
Personally though, I do not think it would be worth it to spend that much money just to lose 1 inch.
Even if you do it, with the springs being new, it still is a bit of guessing game on how much it will lower, and you might end up spending lots of $$$ just to lose 0.5". (And then maybe your new tire brand is actually 0.5" bigger than your previous ones, and you're back to the same height, etc).

Yes...BUT not as much as you might think.
I am not a suspension expert by any means, but in order of important/how much effect they have on ride quality, it goes something like this:

tire pressure > shocks > springs/control arms

(not sure which factors in the most on springs vs control arms).
But shocks definitely factor in more than springs with regards to ride quality, IMO. And they're much easier to change too.
Ironically, that also happens to fall under cheapest to most expensive too. (The cheaper fix is more effective in this case IMHO...unless you're buying new tires that is).

The ride quality of my 35" Cooper ST Pros might be a bit better than my 33" Duratracs IMO, but that might be subjective.
For me, 35" tire is set around 23-25psi (in the city)
33" is set around 25-27psi

The larger the tire, the lower the air pressure should be, IMO.

The "majority" of vehicles are cars with small tires, so they seem to think 30-35psi or higher is the "proper" tire pressure. I believe that is incorrect. I believe the appropriate tire pressure is dependent on the tire size.

Note - I also had 33" BFG KO2 tires, and I was very happy with them. They lasted an extremely long time too.
I originally ran those around 35psi...because that's what it said on the sidewall or something. That turned out to be bad as they were bulging a little too round in the center and would wear unevenly.
I typically ran them 25-27psi, and they were happy.

Note - your gas mileage may theoretically go down a minor amount when running the lower psi, and the "high speed handling" will go down too...but the ride quality is much improved, the traction is improved, and the tread wear is more even.

So I pretty much just parrot what everyone else is saying - lower your psi and get new shocks and see how you like that before spending a lot of money on shorter springs. (And/or get adjustable control arms, because if they're not adjustable - they will handle poorly unless you are the stock height).

If part of the reason for wanting to lower the Jeep is for ease of getting in/out, you might want to consider a different or modified side step/rock slider to help you in/out. (And the metal, not the nylon grab handles to help you in - I love mine).
Here is the jeep on 33s. Drives a lot better. I am going to check angles for drive lin. Future plans to reduce spring lift.
8629BE3D-CC94-4B63-8E76-9EC4A911A5F4.jpegLll
8629BE3D-CC94-4B63-8E76-9EC4A911A5F4.jpeg


3C872CE3-80D9-473D-A86B-941BA237367D.jpeg
 
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Unless you plan on a tummy tuck (raise the tcase skid) I'd pull the body lift. Looks like you could use some new body mounts anyway, so you'd kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. Far cheaper than new springs, too.

Setting the bump stops correctly is needed based on the pics. Some Rancho 5000X shocks will make for a nice ride.
 
Unless you plan on a tummy tuck (raise the tcase skid) I'd pull the body lift. Looks like you could use some new body mounts anyway, so you'd kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. Far cheaper than new springs, too.

Setting the bump s

Setting the bump stops correctly is needed based on the pics. Some Rancho 5000X shocks will make for a nice ride.
Unless you plan on a tummy tuck (raise the tcase skid) I'd pull the body lift. Looks like you could use some new body mounts anyway, so you'd kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. Far cheaper than new springs, too.

Setting the bump stops correctly is needed based on the pics. Some Rancho 5000X shocks will make for a nice ride.

You are sure correct on the body mounts. I will study setting bump stops and get those rc shocks off.
Unless you plan on a tummy tuck (raise the tcase skid) I'd pull the body lift. Looks like you could use some new body mounts anyway, so you'd kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. Far cheaper than new springs, too.

Setting the bump stops correctly is needed based on the pics. Some Rancho 5000X shocks will make for a nice ride.


You are sure correct on the body mounts weathered. I will get those out and learn about bump stop setting. Those rc shocks are rough.
 
You are sure correct on the body mounts. I will study setting bump stops and get those rc shocks off.



You are sure correct on the body mounts weathered. I will get those out and learn about bump stop setting. Those rc shocks are rough.