Aftermarket suspension, NO LIFT. Thoughts?

[MattLaurence]

I've driven my 2019 JLU Sport S (6MT) 50,000 miles to date, and I've done a fair bit of casual off roading. Sometimes down a muddy forest road that turns pretty rough a few miles in and i require a winch, sometimes down a badly washed gravel road where I bottom out on exposed boulders, etc. The point is, it's casual. This is my daily driver, and I don't want to lift it 3-5 inches, add bigger tires, and go down the path of regearing, etc etc. I haven`t felt that my experience has been hindered by not having a lift. This is a very capable machine!

However, in the next year or so, I do plan on adding a fair amount of weight to my vehicle, including skid plates, rock rails, steel rear bumper, and roof rack (gobi stealth rack for soft top). All things that will add protection that I wish i had had when i was casually off roading.

My thinking is that I should upgrade the shocks with these:
https://www.extremeterrain.com/tera...adjust-piggyback-shocks-11-02-33-400-000.html

Would these provide a benefit over stock shocks in terms of handling increased weight on daily driving + off road?

They are meant to be installed on a Jeep with 0-1.5" of lift. Basically I'd like beefier shocks to protect the other suspension components of my Jeep, but im not interested in lifting the vehicle.

What do ya think? Am I being too conservative? I'm on a limited budget and want to add FUNCTION before looks

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[Geronimo]

A small 2.5 spring lift, quick disconnects, 33" tires would be very helpfull in the off roading you described. Tera Flex and Rancho make great packages in that range that are very reasonable on price. You will be able to run level 3 trails (1-5 rated) all over the country. No regear and no drive shaft issues. You will also maintain great highway behavior. Very good that you have added undercarriage armor.
That's my thoughts as you described your wheeling anyway.

Those shocks are really great but for your application some Adjustable Rancho 9000XLs would make allot more sense and the price difference would pay for your 2.5 lift and a couple of your tires.

 

[Geronimo]

Just went to look at the latest from Rancho. They have a great 2 inch package that includes 9000 XLs . If you shop that from various venders I think you will be very pleasantly surprised on price.

 

[word302]

There's a lot of people that are unhappy with the ride of the Terraflex shocks.

 

[BroncoHound]

For the price of those shocks alone, you could buy EIGHT complete Rubicon take-off suspension systems. If you simply want to compensate for additional weight and want to retain stock on and off road manners, it doesn't make any sense to do anything more than a $200 upgrade by picking up someones Rubicon take-offs.

 

[ThirtyOne]

I am a big fan of just a Rubicon take-off suspension. Very cheap and minimal impact to ride and gas mileage. It will give 1.5 inches, or at least 1 inch with the added weight.

edit: Also check out this thread: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/ultimate-no-lift-goal.23016/

 

[ThirtyOne]

For the price of those shocks alone, you could buy EIGHT complete Rubicon take-off suspension systems. If you simply want to compensate for additional weight and want to retain stock on and off road manners, it doesn't make any sense to do anything more than a $200 upgrade by picking up someones Rubicon take-offs.

LOL. We basically posted the same thing at the same time.

 

[JeepU4IA]

I agree with the Rubicon takeoff suspension idea at a minimum. If you add substantial weight but no lift, your Jeep will be LOWERED!

 

[Z&KOJL]

Plus one for the rubicon take offs. I found a set for $120 and coupled that with 33” BFG Ko2 and got 2 inches of lift at the center of the frame. Rides like stock for a reasonable price and a definite improvement off road coming from stock sport.

 

[MattLaurence]

+1 for the Rubicon takeoffs
I'm not sure why I never considered this... it is the solution I need.
Im already stretched very thin on a budget, so that would help with the added weight. Then I'll have a few more dollars to put towards future upgrades

 

[blnewt]

Yep, Rubi takeoffs FTW!
Simple install and the OEM parts won't cause any warranty worries, and for the price they can't be beat. Be sure to add the longer Mopar LCAs to keep your steering proper at speed.
Here's my install thread on both of those.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/rubicon-suspension-on-2-door-sport.40700/

 

[word302]

For the price of those shocks alone, you could buy EIGHT complete Rubicon take-off suspension systems. If you simply want to compensate for additional weight and want to retain stock on and off road manners, it doesn't make any sense to do anything more than a $200 upgrade by picking up someones Rubicon take-offs.

I would definitely add the Mopar longer control arms if you want to keep the same road manners.

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