Spacers vs Springs

[Foster_WV]

Great site, good info, I’ve been doing some homework and have come up with some questions hopefully you guys can help me wrap my head around before I order anything.

It seems the wandering issues these Jeeps have after a lift comes from caster and tire pressure mostly.

Spacer Lift like Teraflex you keep stock lower arms so that doesn’t help, so that’s out.

Mopar lift has some good quality parts, warranty and is fairly complete for a DD-Moderate Weekend Warrior which covers 90% of the owners. The issue I keep seeing w this lift is installation issues and lack of adjustable track bars.

Tell me if I’m wrong but for a family wagon w limited a dirt road future on 315/70 BFGs the Mopar lift $1103 and adjustable trackbars from Teraflex, JKS, MC would be a good combo.

What’s you guys thoughts on that combination compared to stock on road manners?

THANKS

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[offset_98]

I have the Teraflex Spacer lift that you ruled out. I have zero issues.

 

[Foster_WV]

I have the Teraflex Spacer lift that you ruled out. I have zero issues.

Do you have only the spacer lift? No wondering everyone talks about do to camber/stock lower arms?

This will be 99% for inroad looks and occasional dirt road until it’s out of warranty

 

[offset_98]

Do you have only the spacer lift? No wondering everyone talks about do to camber/stock lower arms?

This will be 99% for inroad looks and occasional dirt road until it’s out of warranty

I only have the spacers. I figured if there were drivability issues, I’d add what’s needed from there but I’ve had no problems. I’m also 99% on road and 60% highway.

 

[Foster_WV]

Also does the Steering Stabilizer need upgraded?? In the past I’ve always learned this just helps hide a bigger underlying issue?

 

[rustyshakelford]

My suggestion is to get a true dual rate lift from metalcloak. It’ll be right around your price point when you add in your trackbars. That lift comes with f/r track bars, 4 shocks and coils, adj upper control arms along with everything else to lift it what we consider the right way.

Brett

 

[Foster_WV]

Metal Cloak springs have a place but on a mild lifted JLU street use I’m not sure. The top few coils rest on each other and extend under flex and this is more than need for this particular build. My concern is the coils that will be working on the street are to soft and could give extra body roll.

With that said I love them on my TJ but it’s 3-Link / 4-Linked, LongArm w 14/16” travel shocks, twin sticked, built axles etc. The flex is unreal and I’ve ran Currie, RC, Clayton, Rubicon Express springs.

As far as the trackbars I’m not willing to cut/grind anything no matter how little yet, leaning towards Teraflex for the ability to adjust while installed.

Appreciate the input and do agree MC is a great package just think it’s more than I need

 

[rustyshakelford]

Metal Cloak springs have a place but on a mild lifted JLU street use I’m not sure. The top few coils rest on each other and extend under flex and this is more than need for this particular build. My concern is the coils that will be working on the street are to soft and could give extra body roll.

With that said I love them on my TJ but it’s 3-Link / 4-Linked, LongArm w 14/16” travel shocks, twin sticked, built axles etc. The flex is unreal and I’ve ran Currie, RC, Clayton, Rubicon Express springs.

As far as the trackbars I’m not willing to cut/grind anything no matter how little yet, leaning towards Teraflex for the ability to adjust while installed.

Appreciate the input and do agree MC is a great package just think it’s more than I need

Completely understand. If you were building a true pavement princess and wanted an excellent ride I’d still say MC though. Obviously they are excellent Offroad, but truthfully we nearly all spend 95-99% on pavement. The improvement in ride and handling is substantial. We have an MC JL and a Top or the line RK JL with Radflo resi shocks. My MC jeeps get consistently better reviews after taking folks for test drives on the road. The RK is just a little firmer as it has those huge 2.5” shocks. As for the not wanting to grind, that’s one of the things I don’t like doing. Strength is still there, it’s just a pain. I look at it as a trade off for the monster head on the TB. I’d suggest sticking with MC (which you’re not looking for) or go RK. On the x-factor you have to grind a little on the LCA mount, not sure on the adventure series though. I personally don’t care for teraflex lifts (mainly shocks) but their alpine Arms are nice. Haven’t had their track bar in yet to check it out. RK has a monster TB that’s excellent as well.

A great resource for parts is Marcus Rose @River City Offroad, he’s the king of RK and a ton of other lines also a forum sponsor.

Brett

 

[jmcdtucson]

Spacer Lift like Teraflex you keep stock lower arms so that doesn’t help, so that’s out.
THANKS

Why not just buy adjustable arms? You can get the longer lower control arm from the Mopar lift for $60 online and increase caster. Or go for an adjustable set.

 

[word302]

Very happy with a Mopar lift and R.K.correction pads @ $1130. Install was easy. Front axle was offset 3/8" so I did add a frt. SteerSmart adj. Track Bar. Mopar kit frt. LCA gave a 5.5 Castor, good IMO but I wanted a H.D. and offset aftermarket LCA's. To date I've added frt. adj. Synergy L.C.A.'s and a rear re-location T.B bracket by SuperLift. I really don't understand the Mopar hate. Also Synergy steering linkage and a Fox 2.0 S.S.. FYI, my JLR got 3"'s of lift and clear 37x12.5r17 Cooper SST Pro's with AEV JL Pintle wheels.

So you weren't really happy with the mopar lift as you had to add a bunch of parts to it.

 

[mkunkel20]

I'm running the AEV 2" spacer lift with no issues. No need for longer control arms or drop brackets. Also ran the shock extensions that came with the lift on and off-road for 5 months with no issues. Removed the extensions and installed Bilsteins a couple weeks ago, amazing difference there. Huge reduction in body roll and stiffened the ride up just right.

 

[apb]

My suggestion is to get a true dual rate lift from metalcloak. It’ll be right around your price point when you add in your trackbars. That lift comes with f/r track bars, 4 shocks and coils, adj upper control arms along with everything else to lift it what we consider the right way.

Brett

Would you still need to replace the factory driveshaft with that kit? I know you install a bunch of MC stuff and I'm still going back and forth between MC and RK, appreciate your input and experience.

 

[Roky]

Would you still need to replace the factory driveshaft with that kit? I know you install a bunch of MC stuff and I'm still going back and forth between MC and RK, appreciate your input and experience.

Bretts definitely the man.. and he’s always gave me good advice. But I just wanted to give my .02 for rock krawler, I’ve got the 3.5” Xfactor kit with the rrd 2.25 shocks on my rig, and the on road ride is amazing. And it’s crazy flexible wheeling. I like mc and think they’re arguably one of the best kits out there. But what kinda rk fanboy would I be if I didn’t chime in...

 

[rustyshakelford]

Would you still need to replace the factory driveshaft with that kit? I know you install a bunch of MC stuff and I'm still going back and forth between MC and RK, appreciate your input and experience.

I would always suggest replacing the DS or atleast get it on the radar at a minimum. If you wheel with it, you’ll end up needing it.

See more below...

Bretts definitely the man.. and he’s always gave me good advice. But I just wanted to give my .02 for rock krawler, I’ve got the 3.5” Xfactor kit with the rrd 2.25 shocks on my rig, and the on road ride is amazing. And it’s crazy flexible wheeling. I like mc and think they’re arguably one of the best kits out there. But what kinda rk fanboy would I be if I didn’t chime in...

We have both as you know. They are both top tier lifts. I should start piecing my own kit together by using the best parts from each kit and make it a BnL special. I haven’t ever come across a kit that is perfect in every way but between these two companies they both have an excellent product the performs well and rides great.

Personally I really like the business model of MC more over RK just because they don’t sell it thru distributors. You buy it from MC direct it thru an authorized installer who has to prove their capabilities. RK is much more readily available which has its perks too. RK has a better option of in house shocks too. With MC it’s rocksport or 6paks

Brett

 

[scrape]

Most of the lift kits I see recommended are effectively spacer lifts. You have a group of coils at the top of the spring that block up under the weight of the jeep, giving you height, with the rest of the spring being similar to the stock spring rate.

Only difference between that and an actual spacer lift is the top coils will decompress when the jeep is unloaded, allowing for a much taller spring than stock + spacer, which allows you to run much longer shocks without limiting straps.

The problem with that is, you're going to run into front driveshaft issues once your front shocks are longer than 28-29" extended.

Stock front springs with 2" spacers can easily accommodate 28" long shocks without limiting straps and without coming unseated.

So if you don't want to replace your driveshaft, you will not gain anything by going with springs instead of spacers. And arguably, spacers would be better, because you'll get exactly the amount of lift that's advertised.

As far as track bars, I would be careful not to overstate their importance.

I have some numbers written down from when I went over my stock jeep and measured everything, so this is not "fresh" information and please correct me if I'm wrong. But the stock front track bar is 34" long, and the frame-side mount is 2" higher than the axle-side mount. So what happens when you lift your jeep 2"? The difference in the length of the BC measurement (Lbc) in the following image is how much your axle will shift to the driver's side after a 2" lift. It shifts just under 2 tenths of an inch.

You can decide for yourself if correcting that is worth hundreds of dollars.

Then as far as lower control arms and caster correction. I see a lot of people throwing out brands with little rhyme or reason to their recommendations besides "it's what I have, and I like it".

In my experience, from what I've seen, from what I've worked on, from what I've owned, the best joints in the industry are currie johhny joints, and the best adjustment mechanism is a simple threaded shank with a jam nut. These are more difficult to work on because one end of the control arm needs to be removed from the jeep in order for adjustments to be made. And jam nuts are more difficult to tighten than pinch bolts. But the effort is worth it.

So you should first decide what kind of joints you want, and how you want to be able to adjust/tighten the control arm. Then find a brand that fits your preferences.

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