Daystar 2" lift install and review on JL Sahara

[Shots]

I just installed a Daystar 2" spacer lift on my JL Sahara. I figured I'd give some tips and review it since I couldn't find any when I was looking for them.
As many of you know I spent a lot of time looking for the lift that best fit my use. I wanted the lift more for looks than anything else. I like the stock ride, and I wanted to keep my stock rims/tires (I bought the optional set for a reason). After reading a LOT of product specs, reviews, etc I decided the Daystar kit was the best choice so here it is.

The install is pretty straight forward, and the kit comes with instructions. They're decent, and have a few photos. If I can figure out how, I'll attach a PDF of them [Edit: Post #12 the pdf was added]. There are a few things I'd change about them though, and I have a few tips to add too.
INSTALLATION TIPS:

1. The parts list tells you what you should have but doesn't tell you what anything actually is. This kinda sucks, but I only had one part that took a while to figure out. There are some flat washers in the fastener kit that didn't seem to have a designated use. As it turns out they must go to the lower bolt of the shock extension brackets, which I figured out while installing the rear brackets.
2. Onto the install. First they have you remove the driver side front wheel, and support the axle. Then they tell you to replace the LCA. After this they tell you to remove the sway bar end link. Woo, back it up. Remove the swaybar links first. Do this before jacking it up. I don't know if the Wrangler is different, but the last time I tried to remove swaybar links from a vehicle that wasn't on level ground it sucked.
3. After removing the swaybar links, you can jack it up, swap the LCA, and install the shock extensions.
4. TIP 1: Don't bother jacking up the entire front end. Leave the passenger side tire on, and lift the driver side via the frame rail. Put a jack stand under it for safety and support the axle with another jack. This second jack allows you to raise/lower the suspension to line stuff up with ease. By jacking one corner at a time you can flex it and remove the springs A LOT easier. I struggled with the first spring until I figured this out. With it flexed, they all came right out with no effort.
5. Tip 2: Don't install the bump stop extension before the spring. That's stupid, because then you have to get the spring over it. Instead, slide the bump stop extension into the spring, and mount the spring first. Then just drop the bump stop extension down to the perch, and install the fastener.
6. The instructions have you covered for installing everything, but they don't give you any torque specs. What I found online was: LCA = 190 ft-lbs, shock mounts = 75 ft-lbs, swaybar links 60 ft-lbs.
7. Once the driver side front is done, set it down, and repeat on the passengers side front.
8. Tip 3: While installing the front passenger side bump stop extension, you'll notice the stud/nut is a bear to access. Save yourself a ton of work, and simply remove the bracket that's mounted to the bottom of the spring perch. It's held on by 1 bolt, and easily moves out of the way. See the attached photo of the bracket, and an arrow pointing to the bolt holding it in place.
   
9. Aside from this the passenger side is just like the driver side.
10. Moving on to the rear. As with the front, unbolt the sway bar links first. I didn't completely remove them until the Jeep was jacked up because the bottom fastener was easier to access with the wheels off, but you can remove the top of them with it on the ground.
11. Tip 4: Unbolt the rear track bar. You don't need to remove it (unless you're replacing it), but unbolting one end allows the rear suspension to drop a little more making spring removal much easier. I couldn't find torque spec for the JL when refastening the track bar so I used specs for the JK which was 125 ft-lbs.
12. The instructions have you covered for the rear though like the front, I held off on installing the bump stop extensions. The rear can be done with them in place first as the instructions tell you, but putting them on after the spring simply gives you a little more room to work. Not a big deal either way.
13. That's it set it down and check all the bolts for proper torque.
14. The last part of the install that the instructions don't tell you, is to correct your steering wheel angle. This is a very easy task. First drive the Jeep to settle the suspension. Make note of how far off the wheel is turned when going straight. Park, crawl under the Jeep and loosen the 15mm bolt on the drag link. With that loose, twist the knurled nut which turns the wheel. Once the wheel is straight tighten the bolt back down. Drive it again to make sure you got the wheel straight and adjust again if needed.
15. NEW TIP ADDED 11/23/22. Remove the e-brake line from the axle and unplug the wire connected to the rear differential. Doing this makes reinstalling the rear springs much easier. See post #52 for details and photos.

That's it. It's a pretty easy install, and took me roughly 7 hours over the course of 3 days. I didn't work on it straight through, or I think I could have done it a bit faster. Plus I wasted quite a bit of time on the first spring before I figured out that setting the passenger side on the ground let me flex it better to easily remove the spring. I think if you take these tips, and work on it all in one day, you should be able to knock it out in 5 ish hours.

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[Shots]

I also mentioned a "review". So far I haven't really driven much, other than to settle everything and check steering angle. In the mean time, I can say that over a very short drive, it felt the same as stock, just like it should. I'll update more when I get some miles on it, but in the mean time I figured I'd give some measurements.

This is advertised as a 2" lift, and it gave me 2" of lift. Not extra, not short, 2" on the button. After the install it was sitting about 2.5", but after taking the drive to settle everything and remeasuring, it was spot on two inches.

As for the axle shift (offset, track shift, however you want to word it) it's not bad. I was concerned about this and planed on adding track bars to correct it. That said I'm now on the fence about that, and may leave it alone. I'll see how it rides first.
I measured from the face of the rims to the sway bar links before and after the lift. Before I had 13.25" on the passenger side and 13.00 on the driver side. That's 1/8" offset to the passenger side from the factory. After installing the kit it's actually centered. So the axle shifted 1/8" to the driver side, which was my concern, but since I was shifted to the passenger side from the factory it's in the middle now. I'm going to have to do some research to decide if I want to shift it back or leave it alone.

And then of course the actual measurements. I measured from the ground to the edge of the fender flares. The front went from 36.5" to 38.5". The factory rake was retained with the rear going from 37.5" to 39.5" This lift moved both the front and back up 2", which kept the factory 1" of rake. I wanted that, but I know some people don't.

And lastly the control arms. One of the main reasons I bought this kit instead of some of the others is because it replaced the lower control arms. I wanted the caster to be corrected and very few kits did that. After checking before/after it is exactly where it started. The new LCA's aren't much longer than stock and I was skeptical, but the minor change was apparently enough. Here's a shot of them side by side. The difference being roughly 1/4" (kinda hard to tell because they're curved).

Overall, I'm happy with the results. I'll get some better photos of my Jeep in a few days, and update with how it feels. Until then here's two garage photos of the end result. Sorry I didn't get a good full shot of it. I thought I did, but when uploading my photos I see that I didn't take that one. Oops.

 

[Shots]

Well I haven't taken it out yet for quality photos, but I did take an after photo in the garage to compare to the stock photo. Probably the best way to do it anyway, so you get the same angle and background. Here's before an after.

It's not a huge difference, but then again, I didn't want a huge difference. A slight gain, that didn't make my stock tires look to small. I think this lift does the job well.

 

[SicEmJN]

The product picture shows the bushings separate from the lower control arms and sway bar links. Are they shipped that way and if so, are special tools required to press in the bushings?

 

[Shots]

Yes, they are shipped in a bag separate with some grease. You need to "press" the bushings into the control arms and sway bar links. You could probably do it (with some effort) without any special tools, but I used a bench vise. Not what I would call a special tool, but certainly easier than trying to figure out some other method. IDK, maybe you could do it with a C-clamp or something similar if you're creative. It's not difficult and they press in really easy if you have a vise or a press. It took me maybe a 30 minutes to assemble the control arms and sway bar links using the vise.

 

[Shots]

Don't mind the dirt on my Jeep, but here are some better photos of the finished product.

 

[Shots]

Well this has been a pretty quiet thread, but here's another update.
Now that I've had it on about a week and gotten some miles on it I can safely say it rides great. It feels just like it did before the lift. No added roughness over bumps, it corners the same as stock, and handles light trails just as well as before. I don't know if there is any difference on more extreme trails, because I never took it on those in the stock configuration, and likely won't with this kit installed either.
I'm very happy with this choice. It suits my needs perfectly, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone looking for few extra inches without making their Jeep ride rougher. That said, I wouldn't recommend it to a serious off-roader who is looking to increase performance, because it doesn't really do anything to improve off-road capability. I guess it adds some room to clear bigger tires, and should help a little with approach/departure angles from the increased height, but it's not a extreme use kit. It's great for the light user, like me, who wanted to retain the stock ride, won't be doing anything off-road more extreme than they would have in a stock configuration, and doesn't want to make any irreversible changes to the Jeep. The Daystar kit is cheap, easy to install (100% reversible back to stock), and rides/handles just like stock.

Long story short: 100% would recommend to a friend, and would absolutely buy it again.

 

[jerseymike]

Well this has been a pretty quiet thread, but here's another update.
Now that I've had it on about a week and gotten some miles on it I can safely say it rides great. It feels just like it did before the lift. No added roughness over bumps, it corners the same as stock, and handles light trails just as well as before. I don't know if there is any difference on more extreme trails, because I never took it on those in the stock configuration, and likely won't with this kit installed either.
I'm very happy with this choice. It suits my needs perfectly, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone looking for few extra inches without making their Jeep ride rougher. That said, I wouldn't recommend it to a serious off-roader who is looking to increase performance, because it doesn't really do anything to improve off-road capability. I guess it adds some room to clear bigger tires, and should help a little with approach/departure angles from the increased height, but it's not a extreme use kit. It's great for the light user, like me, who wanted to retain the stock ride, won't be doing anything off-road more extreme than they would have in a stock configuration, and doesn't want to make any irreversible changes to the Jeep. The Daystar kit is cheap, easy to install (100% reversible back to stock), and rides/handles just like stock.

Long story short: 100% would recommend to a friend, and would absolutely buy it again.

looks great, although now you need bigger tires, I like that the daystar includes longer control arms. If I go with 35's I might switch my 1/2 pucks for the daystar lift

 

[SicEmJN]

Thank you for the detailed review and follow up information. It was just what I needed to get over the hump and place my order. The lift arrives tomorrow...my next challenge is finding time to install it. I also have a set of black Quadratec '41 wheels and 37" Milestar Pantagonia's on their way which should pair up nicely with the lift.

 

[Shots]

I'm glad to hear you've found it helpful.
FWIW, I ordered my kit through Amazon for $311 w/ free shipping (Daystar on Amazon). The order arrived with paperwork from Quadratec, so if you prefer to buy from them you may ask if they will give you the Amazon price since their site shows $390.

 

[Shots]

looks great, although now you need bigger tires, I like that the daystar includes longer control arms. If I go with 35's I might switch my 1/2 pucks for the daystar lift

Ha ha. Yeah, I don't plan on changing the tires any time soon, though it seems to be a very popular thing to do. I was looking for a 2" kit instead of a 2.5" or more, because I planned on keeping the stock tires for a while. At most I'll probably go to a 265/70/18 which is an inch bigger, but that size give you a ton of A/T, and MT tire options. I have no interest in 35's or bigger. I had them on my Ram, and wasn't impressed. My biggest issue being that you have to get a pretty wide tire for that diameter, and a narrower tire handles snow better. In N.E.Ohio we see a lot of that. Plus by keeping the tires closer to stock width, it minimizes the affect on the turning radius which is amazing on the JL, and I don't want to make it worse.

 

[Shots]

I've finally attached the PDF for the installation. I've been looking for an attachment option, but it turns out you just upload data files just like image files. Anyway, the instructions at attached to the is post.

 

[Shots]

Thank you for the detailed review and follow up information. It was just what I needed to get over the hump and place my order. The lift arrives tomorrow...my next challenge is finding time to install it......

John, did you get yours installed yet? Any tips to add from your experience if you did?

 

[SicEmJN]

Not yet. Planning for tomorrow.

 

[Shots]

Ah. Looking forward to hearing how it goes for you. Don't forget to take some before and after photos.

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