Why Do People Dislike Skyjacker Lifts?

[Sancho]

I am thinking of getting the zone kit.. well.. more like dreaming (Read: 18 yr old daughter takes all dads money).

I even thought of the OME 3 inch kit... but then I ran out of bourbon and sobered up.

 

[AndyG]

I was dumbfounded how bad the skyjacker kit was on my 03 Rubicon.

I thought , with 20,500 original miles , I can't go wrong with this Jeep. Interior was perfect, body solid , no rust , hard doors, soft top, every imaginable accessory.

Worst driving Jeep I'd ever driven. Anything over 50 was really pushing it

Rear steer , roll, bad tracking , you name it .

A quality lift matters . I didn't say expensive, just all the right parts and design.

 

[Trendsetter75]

Zone is the sister company of BDS. I had BDS on my old LJ. The reason I went with BDS over Zone is BDS has a lifetime no fine print warranty on their products and made in the USA. I had quite a few lift kits in my time and I would have to say the BDS 2" lift kit and OME 2" lift kit were exaclty the same great lifts. My next one is the Rancho 5000x and probably using either BDS springs or Procomp springs.

 

[jjvw]

... I had quite a few lift kits in my time and I would have to say the BDS 2" lift kit and OME 2" lift kit were exaclty the same great lifts. ...

They are not the same. The lengths and rates are different. BDS has one 2" option, OME has several.

 

[Trendsetter75]

They are not the same. The lengths and rates are different. BDS has one 2" option, OME has several.

I went with the OME soft rate not the HD. OME doesnt have a complete kit just shocks, springs, rear tb bracket. Ppl like to pair them up with JKS as far as Discos, FTB, RTB, rear sway links, etc. I used the OME Nitrocharger sport shocks, soft rate springs, and used BDS FTB, RTB, Rear sway links, Front Disconnects.

 

[tomtaylz]

I am in the process of taking off the skyjacker lift on my LJ. The Jeep is In very good condition from a rust perspective, most oem components have very little or only surface rust if any at all. The skyjacker components are disintegrating from rust. I am pretty sure they just spray paint their components and that’s the only protection from rust, removing the skyjacker sticker on a control arm took a layer of paint and metal with it. One angle to consider there I hadn’t heard before about a cheaper lift.

 

[Nicholas]

My Skyjacker springs are fine, that’s all I have in my suspension that’s skyjacker but I guess u can’t really get springs wrong. But I really was confused about that too. I’m starting to think people go off of what others say partly. Skyjacker rides better than Rough country but it’s not bad, I have a friend that had skyjacker shocks


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[AndyG]

I quickly formed an opinion based on what was on my 03 when I got it... The design of the kit as well as the design of the bushings and how poorly it had held up ... And how atrociously the Jeep drove and behaved on the road... Told me everything.

It's not all the lift kit but that is a big part of the equation.

Someone's knowledge in installing the kit and taking the build all the way with things like adjustable track bars are going to make the difference and how successful it turns out.

The particular Rough Country kit installed uses OEM 1-ton Dodge bushings... That is a strong strong bushing and more than capable of handling a little jeep.

 

[D M]

Here is what we have determined...

Skyjacker's inclusion of a dropped pitman arm, by itself, will disrupt the steering geometry creating bump steer. Skyjacker has been screwing up people's steering for 2 decades. The internet forums have been fixing their lazy stupidity for nearly that long.

Can confirm. My previous owner put a 3" skyjacker lift kit, rides like shit, and after 2 weeks of owning it I had to put in an Omix-ada stock height pitman arm along with an alignment because I would die if I hit the smallest bump in the road.

 

[Plumber1]

So how is that the Currie kit I am running does not come with a TC drop ? and rides like a charm no vibes. Now I know it's
5 times the cost of SJ kit

 

[jjvw]

So how is that the Currie kit I am running does not come with a TC drop ? and rides like a charm no vibes. Now I know it's
5 times the cost of SJ kit

View attachment 132454

Something else is going on that is allowing you to get away without a double cardan rear drive shaft at 4".

 

[kmas0n]

So how is that the Currie kit I am running does not come with a TC drop ? and rides like a charm no vibes. Now I know it's
5 times the cost of SJ kit

View attachment 132454

Likely your upper rear control arms are adjusted to reduce pinion angle.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

So how is that the Currie kit I am running does not come with a TC drop ? and rides like a charm no vibes. Now I know it's
5 times the cost of SJ kit

View attachment 132454

Your Rubicon doesn't require a SYE kit to be installed but my bet is the factory single-cardan rear driveshaft was replaced by a double-cardan. You have a SWB TJ and 4" of SL is enough to cause vibrations for a SWB TJ.

 

[chino1969]

So, just out of boredom and curiosity (and I’ve had a few beers ), I want some insight into why people dislike Skyjacker lifts for our Jeeps, as more of an entry lift kit. Not a super duper off-roader, but for the average guy with half a grand to spend on a lift because he wants 33-35 in tires and to hit some decently challenging trails and it’s his DD.

I bought my kit in ‘09. It was like just shy of 600 bucks from Quadratec (another topic to discuss, but that’s for another thread). I installed in a car port in the middle of summer and used ratchet straps to get the transmission skid plate to realign with the holes in the frame after the drop bars went in. Also, the front track bar requires measuring and drilling on the OEM mount on the front axle. Our measuring must have been sufficient because I’ve had it over 80 multiple times. I used to travel from NC to CT twice a year for about 3 years.

I have never experienced death wobble. I have never had flex issues (I have recently been enlightened on the lack of flex with tubular control arms. Totally makes sense and I can see getting more flex with this kit with better arms) and my ride has always been ... like a Jeep. Stiff especially with a lift. Yet I see Skyjacker getting a bad wrap from several threads here on the TJ Forum. My question is simply, why? For 600 bucks I have had the time of my life in the woods, never broken anything, cleared MANY obstacles that amazed some people with beefier Jeeps, and the only issue I have is I need new control arm bushings.

Thanks for the conversation


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To answer your original question from my observations. Most of the people on this site are seasoned Jeepers with plenty of off road experience. I'd be willing to bet that some have initially installed components/lifts/mods that seemed right at the time but as they gained more experience, realized entry level wasn't cutting it. Reading through many of these threads you will realize there are several groups of Jeepers. There is the seasoned hard core enthusiast who uses their Jeep mainly for heavy off roading and it is not a daily driver. Then there is a group that uses their Jeep as both a daily driver as well as moderate off road use. The last is the group who primarily run a stock Jeep with some enhancements. There are various combinations of these but that summarizes most. The class requiring the best performance typically are willing to spend the bucks on the components required. It trickles down from there.

 

[Plumber1]

Your Rubicon doesn't require a SYE kit to be installed but my bet is the factory single-cardan rear driveshaft was replaced by a double-cardan. You have a SWB TJ and 4" of SL is enough to cause vibrations for a SWB TJ.

No I am still running the stock drive shafts, maybe I am one of the lucky ones

 

[Plumber1]

Likely your upper rear control arms are adjusted to reduce pinion angle.

Yea all of my CA's are adjustable Currie arms w/ JJ

 

[chino1969]

This flies in the face of all convention but I have no vibration issues. 2004 TJ manual with 4" of lift, 1" body lift, 1" trans. case drop, original drive shaft, no SYE. Bought it from PO like that.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

They're all different but your tcase drop is why you're not having vibes.

 

[chino1969]

They're all different but your tcase drop is why you're not having vibes.

Thanks Jerry. It is the reason I am reluctant to change anything in the drive line. I just had it re-geared with no vibes afterward. Have followed too many posts where owners have lifted, installed SYE, double cardin shaft. etc. and still had vibes. I don't have time for a science project or just keep pumping money into a problem with no resolution. I also learned the hard way, at great expense and wasted time, to accept the maxim; 'if it ain't broke don't fix it'.

 

[Blackthorne]

I’m looking at a 4” Skyjacker lift now, plus replacing my front track bar with a Steinjager. The guy helping me with install has a habit of driving his installs until it’s “dialed in,” so I’ve got high hopes (for now )