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Building up a spacer lift?

Ryno77

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Hey guys. I recently added a 2.5" spacer lift. It had the pucks and longer control arms, but no shocks or coils. Here is my question: I recently picked up a set of fox shocks for cheap. Would it make sense for me to swap out my already existing rubicon shocks with these? I assume I would see some improvement. Has anyone else started with a spacer lift and built on from there?
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Arterius2

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Shock swaps are really easy to do yourself so I don’t see why not.

If these fox shocks are longer you probably should do it anyways since you don’t want to overextend your stock shocks.
 

WranglerMan

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I have wondered the same thing...I have the RC budget boost which I’m super happy with but as you well know they use existing springs and shocks so I was thinking of swapping shocks to say Fox or similar and just get longer shocks and remove the spacers but not sure I would see an improvement over the factory shocks that are on my Jeep now.
 
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Ryno77

Ryno77

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Shock swaps are really easy to do yourself so I don’t see why not.

If these fox shocks are longer you probably should do it anyways since you don’t want to overextend your stock shocks.
This was kind of my thought as well. In my mind it made sense. Lol. I just wanted to see if anyone else had done something similar.

Eventually I will be doing a full lift, I am just trying out a few heights to see where I want to end up.
 

Bandana

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This was kind of my thought as well. In my mind it made sense. Lol. I just wanted to see if anyone else had done something similar.

Eventually I will be doing a full lift, I am just trying out a few heights to see where I want to end up.
I put a 1.5" Teraflex spacer lift w/bump stops on my Rubicon after switching up to 35" tires. In addition to the kit I added Icon shocks & steering stabilizer. I highly recommend upgrading to longer shocks for the travel and improved ride. The fox shocks you have on hand should do the trick, especially for a 2.5" spacer lift.

Down the line I also added an adjustable front track bar and adjustable front sway bar links to tighten up the steering. Still have the stock LCA's.

Good luck on your build
 

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Ryno77

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I put a 1.5" Teraflex spacer lift w/bump stops on my Rubicon after switching up to 35" tires. In addition to the kit I added Icon shocks & steering stabilizer. I highly recommend upgrading to longer shocks for the travel and improved ride. The fox shocks you have on hand should do the trick, especially for a 2.5" spacer lift.

Down the line I also added an adjustable front track bar and adjustable front sway bar links to tighten up the steering. Still have the stock LCA's.

Good luck on your build
I've heard good things about the icon shocks. My buddy has a stage 2 setup. He says the ride is amazing.
 

word302

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I have wondered the same thing...I have the RC budget boost which I’m super happy with but as you well know they use existing springs and shocks so I was thinking of swapping shocks to say Fox or similar and just get longer shocks and remove the spacers but not sure I would see an improvement over the factory shocks that are on my Jeep now.
If you remove the spacers you won’t have any lift anymore. Shocks don’t add lift.
 

WranglerMan

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If you remove the spacers you won’t have any lift anymore. Shocks don’t add lift.
Not remove the spacers just the shock extenders and go with longer better shocks than the factory ones
 

MyDaughters20JL

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Excuse the hijack, but I've got a similar scenario:

'20 JLUR
if I add a RC spacer lift, can I get away with using the stock Rubi shocks with the shock extensions that are provided with the lift? Mainly thinking for only a month or 2, then upgrading to the teraflex 9550 (Longer shocks & remove the shock extensions)when work picks back up.

probably not much off roading until things settle down, but would like to get things planned
 

WranglerMan

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Excuse the hijack, but I've got a similar scenario:

'20 JLUR
if I add a RC spacer lift, can I get away with using the stock Rubi shocks with the shock extensions that are provided with the lift? Mainly thinking for only a month or 2, then upgrading to the teraflex 9550 (Longer shocks & remove the shock extensions)when work picks back up.

probably not much off roading until things settle down, but would like to get things planned
This is my plan, I have a Sahara and a 2.5” RC boost that uses existing shocks and springs and just spacer blocks and shock extenders so I was thinking of doing what you want to do with your shocks which is remove the extenders and put in longer better shocks but not sure the shocks would be better than factory, I only do light wheeling and most of it’s on the sand
 

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Bandana

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This is my plan, I have a Sahara and a 2.5” RC boost that uses existing shocks and springs and just spacer blocks and shock extenders so I was thinking of doing what you want to do with your shocks which is remove the extenders and put in longer better shocks but not sure the shocks would be better than factory, I only do light wheeling and most of it’s on the sand
Yes, definitely go with the longer after market shocks. 2.5” inches of lift is substantial over stock. The shock extenders might be a good temporary solution, but your ride (and life of your shocks) will be much better with the upgrade from stock. Nice part of about a spacer lift is that you don’t have to worry about shocks being tuned to a specific coil rate so you can pick n choose based on what you want out of your ride.
 

WranglerMan

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Yes, definitely go with the longer after market shocks. 2.5” inches of lift is substantial over stock. The shock extenders might be a good temporary solution, but your ride (and life of your shocks) will be much better with the upgrade from stock. Nice part of about a spacer lift is that you don’t have to worry about shocks being tuned to a specific coil rate so you can pick n choose based on what you want out of your ride.
What would be some good shocks to consider if it’s a daily driver and only do occasional light wheeling and beach running, I don’t rock crawl so most of my off roading is in wooded areas that have semi paved roads and then I run over sand at the beaches here in south texas.
 

Bandana

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What would be some good shocks to consider if it’s a daily driver and only do occasional light wheeling and beach running, I don’t rock crawl so most of my off roading is in wooded areas that have semi paved roads and then I run over sand at the beaches here in south texas.
I'm running icon and think they're great for my DD, firmer than stock without feeling stiff. I've got buddies running Fox and Falcon shocks too on their DD Wranglers.
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