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Installed Mopar 2" lift tonight

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So tonight I took my JL and lift over to my friends off-road shop and we (he) installed my lift. We took measurements before and after. It took about 2.5-3 hrs. On average, I netted 3.5" of lift with the kit. 3 3/4 in the front and 3 1/4 in the rear. A couple of observations:

My stock spring pads (particularly on the driver side) had started to collapse similar to what I've seen others posted that the lift pads have done. Luckily, I'd I picked up a set of the RockKrawler pads earlier in the week.

The shocks are definitely the limiting factor for the axle droop. The suspension has about 2" more down travel than the shocks do.

The front axle is shifted 3/4" to the drivers side.
The rear axle is shifted 3/4" to the passengers side.

It seems to ride exactly the same as stock, from my short test drive. When I got home, i was surprised that my top rubbed the garage door pulling in. My JK with 3.5" of lift and 35's never came close to hitting the door.

So far so good, although my 35's now seem small. I'm guessing I'll be selling my Toyo 35's in the next week or so to get 37s...
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So tonight I took my JL and lift over to my friends off-road shop and we (he) installed my lift. We took measurements before and after. It took about 2.5-3 hrs. On average, I netted 3.5" of lift with the kit. 3 3/4 in the front and 3 1/4 in the rear. A couple of observations:

My stock spring pads (particularly on the driver side) had started to collapse similar to what I've seen others posted that the lift pads have done. Luckily, I'd I picked up a set of the RockKrawler pads earlier in the week.

The shocks are definitely the limiting factor for the axle droop. The suspension has about 2" more down travel than the shocks do.

The front axle is shifted 3/4" to the drivers side.
The rear axle is shifted 3/4" to the passengers side.

It seems to ride exactly the same as stock, from my short test drive. When I got home, i was surprised that my top rubbed the garage door pulling in. My JK with 3.5" of lift and 35's never came close to hitting the door.

So far so good, although my 35's now seem small. I'm guessing I'll be selling my Toyo 35's in the next week or so to get 37s...
Where are the pics?
 

Csward12

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So tonight I took my JL and lift over to my friends off-road shop and we (he) installed my lift. We took measurements before and after. It took about 2.5-3 hrs. On average, I netted 3.5" of lift with the kit. 3 3/4 in the front and 3 1/4 in the rear. A couple of observations:

My stock spring pads (particularly on the driver side) had started to collapse similar to what I've seen others posted that the lift pads have done. Luckily, I'd I picked up a set of the RockKrawler pads earlier in the week.

The shocks are definitely the limiting factor for the axle droop. The suspension has about 2" more down travel than the shocks do.

The front axle is shifted 3/4" to the drivers side.
The rear axle is shifted 3/4" to the passengers side.

It seems to ride exactly the same as stock, from my short test drive. When I got home, i was surprised that my top rubbed the garage door pulling in. My JK with 3.5" of lift and 35's never came close to hitting the door.

So far so good, although my 35's now seem small. I'm guessing I'll be selling my Toyo 35's in the next week or so to get 37s...
Pics???????????????
 

dwc

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I finally got around to getting tires put on my JL Unlimited Sport-S! This is going to be a book, so get comfortable. And this is my first Jeep so everything is a learning process. Awhile back, I knew I was going to have to mod the tires eventually so I looked around for a lift kit that was decent quality and reasonably priced. After alot of research I chose the company that's been making them for about 40 years - the Rough Country 2.5" lift kit for just $399 made for the JL Wrangler that comes with springs, sway bar links, bump stop extentions and N3 shocks. I went ahead and added an RC adjustable track bar just in case I needed to recenter the front axle from the drop down, and also from Rough Country I purchased and installed the Dual Shock Steering Stabilizer kit too, mainly because my steering seemed kinda "touchy" to me right from day one, with the 245/75/R12 stock tires it came with. I managed to put it all on myself over a week end with a floor jack and stands (6-ton for safey). Did the front axle on Saturday, taking my time and a lot of breaks in the hot July heat, and then did the easier rear axle on Sunday. Man did it set it up nice! I think I got slightly more than 2.5". Fun fun fun and you really get to know your jeep! Only tools needed were metric sockets and wrenches, and impact air wrench, torque wrench and some crescent wrenches. I learned how to install it not from the paper instructions which unfortunately were not that good and the pictures are hard to see - so went to youtube and watched every DIY how to video I could find from other adventurous Jeep owners and Jeep parts websites. One in particular that was very helpful to me was actually the MOPAR 2" Lift install video from CJPonyparts.com. It's almost Identical to the Rough Country kit, but has lower control arms and a $1400 price tag. Can't say enough about the Rough Country kit's quality - this stuff is BEEFY! I mean everything was thicker and heavier than the stock counter parts and it actually gives a good feeling knowing I'm driving around with all that improved hardware under the front end. Two things I noticed on the lift kit install was that the paper instructions tell you to disconnect the driveshafts, I found I was able to do the install with NOT doing that. The other thing was actually a challenging problem that I did run into during the install and that was the install of the bump stop riser on the PASSENGER front side. It was challenging in that you have to put on a nut on the retaining bolt from underneath the lower coil spring mount and there is finger room only from the front of it not really any clearance for a tool or wrench even and it's recessed upwards, so I was trying to hold this nut in place with 2 fingers to install the bump stop and it was impossible... kept dropping it, and even if I had got it on, how was I going to tighten it? So what I finally figured out is that all you need to do (and this is not on any video or in the instructions) is remove the bracket piece that routes/holds some brake line components located on the REAR of the coil spring mount and wallah! The back side has room to get under the coil spring base mount. Once you take that lose and let it hang, you can see that there is a port behind this piece that gets you underneath the coil spring mount where you can actually use a very small Ratchet and socket to get that nut screwed on to secure the bump stop piece. That was to me, the hardest part of installing the RC kit. Hope this info helps someone.

So once I got the lift installed, about a week later, I started my journey of figuring out what tires to put on. Started doing the research and reading the forums to make a decision. And boy was it a journey... so much information and mis-information! Most of it carried over from JK owners because the JL is so new, with not as much good info yet. I knew I wanted BIG tires, but I also knew that I did not want the headaches I read about associated with running 37" meats - just too many things you have to do before, and/or after like re-gearing front and rear, changing axles, possibly drive shafts or installing a larger lift that can possibly void your warranty, and so on and so on - so I started looking for a good compromise between looks, size and function. I almost got the BFGoodrich KO2's in 285/70/R17 which is a 33" tire - mainly because I had stopped by the dealership and looked at some of the upscale lot offerrings and that was what he was installing on some of the high end JL's that he had, but then I learned you may not even need a lift to run those... so I started looking at 35" inch tires and possibly using my 7.5 17" stock rims. Not recommended according to some and some saying you could do it. I decided not to do this and started looking at aftermarket wheels. Entered the swamp of backspace and offset which I new little about! Uggghhh. After going to chool on that, ended up choosing a 9" x 17 since you could run several different sizes on that, and even run a 35 x 12.50. Wasn't still really sure about offset, rim width and back space and that was really confusing.... decided to trust the experts at Quadratec.com and took their advice on what to look for for a JL and went with a FUEL wheel, called the "Beast". Has a 4.5 backspace and -12 offset. Original factory rim has a 6.25 BS and +44 offset. So was nervous about the wheels, but trusted the professional advice I got from Quadratec's guys. So these wheels show up on the doorstep and I pick up a box, and man was it heavy! one rim probably weighs as much as my factory wheel and tire together. (slight exaggeration) Weighed 35 pounds on the label but felt more like 50, and I'm thinking oh crap, I'm adding alot of weight here!!!! Took one out jacked up jeep and pulled off the front tire and hung this new "BEAST" on the studs and then I really freaked out - because it's poking way out the side of the fender flares, and I'm thinking to myself man when you put the tire on this, it's going to poke out even further and I'm thinking no way am I going to do this...


And beside the POKE to the outside, it was looking like it was only about half the way into the fender well. Didn't like that poke at all that much.... but did like the overall outside appearance of the Beast Wheel.... so talked to Quadratec about it and they assured me it was going to be fine, but if I didn't like it I could certainly send it back and they even offered to pay the shipping for me... but something told me to hold off on that, and the next day my tires showed up. I had decided on 315/70/R17's from BFGoodrich and chose the KM3 new Mud tire. 65 pounds each, so now I was up to around a weight of 100+ pounds times 5! The reason for my choice of the KM3 was that it had the look I wanted and was just under a 35" height at 34.4 so since most jeepers are putting on 35's and up I figured I should have no issues with it, and it's made from a new type of rubber that is supposed to be able to last longer if you use it on the street, which is 3/4 of where it's going to be used and it was almost as wide as a true 35 or 37" measuring in at over 12" across. I figured if I was going to do all this modding I was gonna have that fat tire look as my reward - but man I gotta tell ya when these things showed up - they looked sooooo HUGE!!! Actually, the visual appearance of them unmounted/uninflated totally freaked me out - they looked wider than 12", more like MONSTERS and made me totally second guess myself once again thinking how in the heck is that going to FIT?? LOL... So I went back to the forums and youtube to double check all my info, and re-read everything I had read or anything new I could find about JL Jeeps and tires as to what you can actually put on and all the offsets to use and yada yada and decided - heck there is only one way to truly know! - just do it! So I took them all down to my local tire shop in my pickup truck to get them mounted and balanced. They took all my info down and analyzed the numbers themselves to give me a real professional opinion about it, and they said the most I might have to do is trim a little of the front air dam, so I said go ahead and mount 'em up! Here is what it looked like:
71442-bbb7378d852fded435a553b8a8423be0.jpg

So I get them home, jack up the JL and nervously set about installing one on the front axle. I was thinking all the time man if I am wrong this is going to cost me big time - but it cleared just fine and when I did the wheel lock turns - IT DID NOT RUB and actually had tons of clearance all the way around!

71443-657be03e29777c53c57f19592873f453.jpg

71444-49432477b49e3e495ecd672fc1478302.jpg

71446-761a3ec2505b69d46e1ce5f96777dc64.jpg


and the "Poke" didn't look as bad as I initially thought it would either:
71453-657be03e29777c53c57f19592873f453.jpg

71475-68cb3ac6bcd46bea9b1c8e5230519b15.jpg


Back view:
71455-0e994ae605b8b2a0b613f942dc727be4.jpg

Actually I think it looks pretty darn good!

So I guess I better end this book now and go put the Spare tire on - I did get a Rough Country tire relocation bracket just in case it would not fit on my yet to be replaced stock rear bumper, and that's getting done later today and not ready for pics etc. Here is the finished product, it's way better in real life than these pics which really do not do it justice! Very happy with the final outcome, and happy to find out I have no shifting issues with my 8-speed auto, and no noticeable acceleration loss either! Only thing is that I need to recal the Speedo and I was expecting that. JL Tazer on the way, but that's a whole 'nother story.

71464-b1020e48c465f796b40d9e180bfcca73.jpg


I like the way the sun made a glare in the grill that makes it look like it has TEETH. It really has some now, LOL.
71465-793b6533c21f0b6ddf7efee64233d96f.jpg

:devil:

Side of Wheel.jpg


More Front Poke.jpg


Front Clearance.jpg


Rear Clearance.jpg


More Front Poke.jpg


Rear Poke.jpg


Side JL with KM3's.jpg


Finished Product.jpg


Front Poke.jpg
 

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offcamber

offcamber

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I finally got around to getting tires put on my JL Unlimited Sport-S!

71464-b1020e48c465f796b40d9e180bfcca73.jpg


I like the way the sun made a glare in the grill that makes it look like it has TEETH. It really has some now, LOL.
71465-793b6533c21f0b6ddf7efee64233d96f.jpg

:devil:
On mine, the hardest part of the install was the front bump stops, so we found you could get a socket driver or ratcheting wrench if it had the flexible end, but the problem we had was that the bump stop itself spun and we couldnt find an easy way to stop it from spinning. We finally ended up using a pry bar to put so much pressure on it that it wouldnt spin. Jeep really needs to put a slot in them or something so you can hold them still.
 

Csward12

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On mine, the hardest part of the install was the front bump stops, so we found you could get a socket driver or ratcheting wrench if it had the flexible end, but the problem we had was that the bump stop itself spun and we couldnt find an easy way to stop it from spinning. We finally ended up using a pry bar to put so much pressure on it that it wouldnt spin. Jeep really needs to put a slot in them or something so you can hold them still.
I second that-the hardest part. I used ratcheting straps.
 

bikenutty

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I finally got around to getting tires put on my JL Unlimited Sport-S! This is going to be a book, so get comfortable. And this is my first Jeep so everything is a learning process. Awhile back, I knew I was going to have to mod the tires eventually so I looked around for a lift kit that was decent quality and reasonably priced. After alot of research I chose the company that's been making them for about 40 years - the Rough Country 2.5" lift kit for just $399 made for the JL Wrangler that comes with springs, sway bar links, bump stop extentions and N3 shocks. I went ahead and added an RC adjustable track bar just in case I needed to recenter the front axle from the drop down, and also from Rough Country I purchased and installed the Dual Shock Steering Stabilizer kit too, mainly because my steering seemed kinda "touchy" to me right from day one, with the 245/75/R12 stock tires it came with. I managed to put it all on myself over a week end with a floor jack and stands (6-ton for safey). Did the front axle on Saturday, taking my time and a lot of breaks in the hot July heat, and then did the easier rear axle on Sunday. Man did it set it up nice! I think I got slightly more than 2.5". Fun fun fun and you really get to know your jeep! Only tools needed were metric sockets and wrenches, and impact air wrench, torque wrench and some crescent wrenches. I learned how to install it not from the paper instructions which unfortunately were not that good and the pictures are hard to see - so went to youtube and watched every DIY how to video I could find from other adventurous Jeep owners and Jeep parts websites. One in particular that was very helpful to me was actually the MOPAR 2" Lift install video from CJPonyparts.com. It's almost Identical to the Rough Country kit, but has lower control arms and a $1400 price tag. Can't say enough about the Rough Country kit's quality - this stuff is BEEFY! I mean everything was thicker and heavier than the stock counter parts and it actually gives a good feeling knowing I'm driving around with all that improved hardware under the front end. Two things I noticed on the lift kit install was that the paper instructions tell you to disconnect the driveshafts, I found I was able to do the install with NOT doing that. The other thing was actually a challenging problem that I did run into during the install and that was the install of the bump stop riser on the PASSENGER front side. It was challenging in that you have to put on a nut on the retaining bolt from underneath the lower coil spring mount and there is finger room only from the front of it not really any clearance for a tool or wrench even and it's recessed upwards, so I was trying to hold this nut in place with 2 fingers to install the bump stop and it was impossible... kept dropping it, and even if I had got it on, how was I going to tighten it? So what I finally figured out is that all you need to do (and this is not on any video or in the instructions) is remove the bracket piece that routes/holds some brake line components located on the REAR of the coil spring mount and wallah! The back side has room to get under the coil spring base mount. Once you take that lose and let it hang, you can see that there is a port behind this piece that gets you underneath the coil spring mount where you can actually use a very small Ratchet and socket to get that nut screwed on to secure the bump stop piece. That was to me, the hardest part of installing the RC kit. Hope this info helps someone.

So once I got the lift installed, about a week later, I started my journey of figuring out what tires to put on. Started doing the research and reading the forums to make a decision. And boy was it a journey... so much information and mis-information! Most of it carried over from JK owners because the JL is so new, with not as much good info yet. I knew I wanted BIG tires, but I also knew that I did not want the headaches I read about associated with running 37" meats - just too many things you have to do before, and/or after like re-gearing front and rear, changing axles, possibly drive shafts or installing a larger lift that can possibly void your warranty, and so on and so on - so I started looking for a good compromise between looks, size and function. I almost got the BFGoodrich KO2's in 285/70/R17 which is a 33" tire - mainly because I had stopped by the dealership and looked at some of the upscale lot offerrings and that was what he was installing on some of the high end JL's that he had, but then I learned you may not even need a lift to run those... so I started looking at 35" inch tires and possibly using my 7.5 17" stock rims. Not recommended according to some and some saying you could do it. I decided not to do this and started looking at aftermarket wheels. Entered the swamp of backspace and offset which I new little about! Uggghhh. After going to chool on that, ended up choosing a 9" x 17 since you could run several different sizes on that, and even run a 35 x 12.50. Wasn't still really sure about offset, rim width and back space and that was really confusing.... decided to trust the experts at Quadratec.com and took their advice on what to look for for a JL and went with a FUEL wheel, called the "Beast". Has a 4.5 backspace and -12 offset. Original factory rim has a 6.25 BS and +44 offset. So was nervous about the wheels, but trusted the professional advice I got from Quadratec's guys. So these wheels show up on the doorstep and I pick up a box, and man was it heavy! one rim probably weighs as much as my factory wheel and tire together. (slight exaggeration) Weighed 35 pounds on the label but felt more like 50, and I'm thinking oh crap, I'm adding alot of weight here!!!! Took one out jacked up jeep and pulled off the front tire and hung this new "BEAST" on the studs and then I really freaked out - because it's poking way out the side of the fender flares, and I'm thinking to myself man when you put the tire on this, it's going to poke out even further and I'm thinking no way am I going to do this...


And beside the POKE to the outside, it was looking like it was only about half the way into the fender well. Didn't like that poke at all that much.... but did like the overall outside appearance of the Beast Wheel.... so talked to Quadratec about it and they assured me it was going to be fine, but if I didn't like it I could certainly send it back and they even offered to pay the shipping for me... but something told me to hold off on that, and the next day my tires showed up. I had decided on 315/70/R17's from BFGoodrich and chose the KM3 new Mud tire. 65 pounds each, so now I was up to around a weight of 100+ pounds times 5! The reason for my choice of the KM3 was that it had the look I wanted and was just under a 35" height at 34.4 so since most jeepers are putting on 35's and up I figured I should have no issues with it, and it's made from a new type of rubber that is supposed to be able to last longer if you use it on the street, which is 3/4 of where it's going to be used and it was almost as wide as a true 35 or 37" measuring in at over 12" across. I figured if I was going to do all this modding I was gonna have that fat tire look as my reward - but man I gotta tell ya when these things showed up - they looked sooooo HUGE!!! Actually, the visual appearance of them unmounted/uninflated totally freaked me out - they looked wider than 12", more like MONSTERS and made me totally second guess myself once again thinking how in the heck is that going to FIT?? LOL... So I went back to the forums and youtube to double check all my info, and re-read everything I had read or anything new I could find about JL Jeeps and tires as to what you can actually put on and all the offsets to use and yada yada and decided - heck there is only one way to truly know! - just do it! So I took them all down to my local tire shop in my pickup truck to get them mounted and balanced. They took all my info down and analyzed the numbers themselves to give me a real professional opinion about it, and they said the most I might have to do is trim a little of the front air dam, so I said go ahead and mount 'em up! Here is what it looked like:
71442-bbb7378d852fded435a553b8a8423be0.jpg

So I get them home, jack up the JL and nervously set about installing one on the front axle. I was thinking all the time man if I am wrong this is going to cost me big time - but it cleared just fine and when I did the wheel lock turns - IT DID NOT RUB and actually had tons of clearance all the way around!

71443-657be03e29777c53c57f19592873f453.jpg

71444-49432477b49e3e495ecd672fc1478302.jpg

71446-761a3ec2505b69d46e1ce5f96777dc64.jpg


and the "Poke" didn't look as bad as I initially thought it would either:
71453-657be03e29777c53c57f19592873f453.jpg

71475-68cb3ac6bcd46bea9b1c8e5230519b15.jpg


Back view:
71455-0e994ae605b8b2a0b613f942dc727be4.jpg

Actually I think it looks pretty darn good!

So I guess I better end this book now and go put the Spare tire on - I did get a Rough Country tire relocation bracket just in case it would not fit on my yet to be replaced stock rear bumper, and that's getting done later today and not ready for pics etc. Here is the finished product, it's way better in real life than these pics which really do not do it justice! Very happy with the final outcome, and happy to find out I have no shifting issues with my 8-speed auto, and no noticeable acceleration loss either! Only thing is that I need to recal the Speedo and I was expecting that. JL Tazer on the way, but that's a whole 'nother story.

71464-b1020e48c465f796b40d9e180bfcca73.jpg


I like the way the sun made a glare in the grill that makes it look like it has TEETH. It really has some now, LOL.
71465-793b6533c21f0b6ddf7efee64233d96f.jpg

:devil:

Side of Wheel.jpg


More Front Poke.jpg


Front Clearance.jpg


Rear Clearance.jpg


More Front Poke.jpg


Rear Poke.jpg


Side JL with KM3's.jpg


Finished Product.jpg


Front Poke.jpg
I chose the same wheels and tires, but in 37!

View attachment 116894

20181014_121815.jpg
 

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lagunajim

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Hey what exactly (make and model) are those rims - they look awesome! I like more "industrial" rims like these with no bling (e.g. chrome studs)!

Rear Clearance.jpg
 
 



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