Suspension sagging due to added weight - spacer lift or.....?

[SlickRickMotoADV]

I have a 2019 Sahara with Rubicon suspension, wheels and tires, as well as the longer control arms from the Mopar lift kit. When I first installed the suspension, it was a nice upgrade and was noticeably taller than before. I started doing a bunch of modifications to the Jeep that added weight in various areas and it's started to look a bit low lately. I looked up how much fender clearance a Rubicon fender has on it's 33" tire, and it's about 7.5". With my lower fenders, I expected about 5.5", but would like as close to 7.5" as I can get.

I just recently installed Apex sway bar endlinks and am pretty certain that when unlocked, the front will contact. I am also concerned that the rear is going to contact something with as little clearance as you see below.

How it currently sits:

Driver rear sitting at about 4.5" clearance

Driver front sitting at about 5" clearance.

It's a little hard to tell, but I also think the passenger rear is about 4.25" clearance, maybe because I currently have a full tank of gas? The front passenger side is about on par with the 5" that I see on the front driver side.

I want to have as little lift via spacers or lift kit as possible. I would like to retain the OEM suspension feel if possible. Most of my use case is overlanding, so a bit of highway and some easier trails with a few OHV trails and harder areas thrown in.

Do I need 7.5" of clearance on top of the tire to full utilize 33" tires? I know this is a bit loaded of a question as my vehicle weighs more than most on stock suspension.
If I do need that much clearance, is the preferred route to go with something like a 2" spacer in the front and a 2.5-3" spacer in the rear? From the numbers I've seen in spacer discussions on this forum, that seems excessive. I'm also unsure of how this would impact the handling from the way it is now.
If spacers aren't the option, is something like the Dynatrac 2" Lift suitable?
Almost everyone I know who overlands in a jeep who has put a "real" lift kit on regrets how stiff it is for most use cases. I'm trying to avoid that, keep center of gravity low, and maintain the OEM feeling it has.

Let me know what you guys think.

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[rcadden]

I think if you're just overlanding and doing mild off-roading, a spacer lift is just fine.

I have the Teraflex 2" spacer lift on my Sahara and it's perfect- ride is fine, it sits at a perfect height (for me) and I can still do as extreme of trails as I'm likely to do while I'm still making payments on this thing anyways.

Most of the trails that I do are probably accurately classed as "easy medium trails"

 

[Adv_aw8s]

I would recommend an AEV lift. It's set up for exactly what you are doing. Their springs are designed for overland gear and the on road ride is just as good if not better than stock. The wife actually said our jeep rides and feels better on road with the AEV lift and 37's than it did stock. I'lf you add alot of weight AEV just came out with their heavy weight springs to accommodate more gear.

 

[SlickRickMotoADV]

I think if you're just overlanding and doing mild off-roading, a spacer lift is just fine.

I have the Teraflex 2" spacer lift on my Sahara and it's perfect- ride is fine, it sits at a perfect height (for me) and I can still do as extreme of trails as I'm likely to do while I'm still making payments on this thing anyways.

Most of the trails that I do are probably accurately classed as "easy medium trails"

How much clearance do you have top of tire to fender, front and back?

The way it sits in the picture is with it currently unloaded too. No camping gear, no fridge, no food, no propane tanks, etc. I'm seriously concerned that spacers aren't going to be "safe" or "proper" or whatever, when trying to jack the rear up 3 inches.

I'm hoping to find someone else that has a heavily loaded Jeep, who doesn't rock crawl or just drive to the mall, that's done some level of suspension mods.

After just unlocking the front just while parked unevenly (while fully loaded the other day), it definitely came close enough to the fender to cause concern.

 

[SlickRickMotoADV]

I would recommend an AEV lift. It's set up for exactly what you are doing. Their springs are designed for overland gear and the on road ride is just as good if not better than stock. The wife actually said our jeep rides and feels better on road with the AEV lift and 37's than it did stock.

If that lift is suitable for 37s, are you sure it is suitable for my use? That's 4" more tire than I'm running. I'm not sure how much my weight will compensate against that, but that seems like it would likely be a pretty large lift yeah?

 

[rcadden]

How much clearance do you have top of tire to fender, front and back?

The way it sits in the picture is with it currently unloaded too. No camping gear, no fridge, no food, no propane tanks, etc. I'm seriously concerned that spacers aren't going to be "safe" or "proper" or whatever, when trying to jack the rear up 3 inches.

I'm hoping to find someone else that has a heavily loaded Jeep, who doesn't rock crawl or just drive to the mall, that's done some level of suspension mods.

After just unlocking the front just while parked unevenly (while fully loaded the other day), it definitely came close enough to the fender to cause concern.

I'm at ~40" from the ground to the top of the black fender trim, sitting on 33"s - I can go take different measurements this evening. That's with the 2" Teraflex spacers and a MOPAR steel front bumper (no winch).

Also, while replying to this thread, this was listed in the "Similar Threads"

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...-suspension-because-of-too-much-weight.37460/

 

[19 JLUR Bright Whit3]

I dont know if this will help you, but I installed an early version of the Mopar 2" lift on 2019 Rubi JLUR with hard top and tow package. I measured close to 3" and 3.75" in the rear. After 3 years, the front and passenger side rear has settled to point you can tell looking at it. I got a full .5 Teraflex leveling kit. I paired the two rears pads together to get and an inch in the passenger rear corner and put the .5" on each front corner. I am happy how it sits now with a full tank of gas. I'm at 3.25 up front and 3" in the rear.

 

[SlickRickMotoADV]

I'm at ~40" from the ground to the top of the black fender trim, sitting on 33"s - I can go take different measurements this evening. That's with the 2" Teraflex spacers and a MOPAR steel front bumper (no winch).

Also, while replying to this thread, this was listed in the "Similar Threads"

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...-suspension-because-of-too-much-weight.37460/

I mean from the top of your tire to the bottom of the inner fender. The measurements shown in my pictures in the top post.

 

[jhackathorne]

If you are wanting to keep factory suspension look into an airbag kit.

 

[SlickRickMotoADV]

If you are wanting to keep factory suspension look into an airbag kit.

Definitely not interested in airbags.

 

[jhackathorne]

Do not get the Dynatrac kit. It is known for sagging and not even under load. The spacer kit is likely your best bet. Changing springs you are looking at varying spring rates from each manufacturer. a 2" spacer is 2" lift regardless.

 

[SlickRickMotoADV]

Do not get the Dynatrac kit. It is known for sagging and not even under load. The spacer kit is likely your best bet. Changing springs you are looking at varying spring rates from each manufacturer. a 2" spacer is 2" lift regardless.

If that's the case, the AEV lift seems like it might be the better option. It just seriously concerns me when I see 99% of the customers of that kit are running 37s. Most are Rubicon owners, which means they have 2" more clearance than I do in the fenders. So I guess that would be similar to me running a 35" tire, which I'm not. I'm on 33s and have zero intention of going larger. I just really don't want to buy that AEV lift and find my vehicle jacked to the heavens.

All I want is to have a reasonable amount of clearance when loaded on my 33s.

Also, those geometry correction brackets irk me. More stuff hanging lower. But if this is the way, then so be it.

This is why I'm so caught up asking people how much space is on top of their tire to the bottom of the inner fender. I may still need a spacer with the AEV kit if the back is still .5" lower than the front without anything in it.

 

[Adv_aw8s]

If that lift is suitable for 37s, are you sure it is suitable for my use? That's 4" more tire than I'm running. I'm not sure how much my weight will compensate against that, but that seems like it would likely be a pretty large lift yeah?

The AEV lift is a 2.5" lift. I would go to prob 35's if you decide on the lift. If you have no interest in bigger tires then your only option is prob spacers or maybe source some springs from one of the many lift mfgs.

 

[SlickRickMotoADV]

The AEV lift is a 2.5" lift. I would go to prob 35's if you decide on the lift. If you have no interest in bigger tires then your only option is prob spacers or maybe source some springs from one of the many lift mfgs.

If I'm going to hypothetically put a 2.5" spacer in the back.....wouldn't the 2.5" of lift from the AEV be preferable? That would take my tire to bottom of inner fender measurement to the 7.5" that OEM Rubicons have.

I think the OEM Rubicons looks fine on 33s.

 

[jhackathorne]

I ran the 2.5" DualSport lift on my JK and it was great. I purposely got it to handle added weight of RTT and gear for camping. BUT it was a JK and not. JL nor highland fenders. Running 33's on the 2.5" lift loaded up will still give you more gap than you might want.

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