Level or lift - wear and tear on stock components

[Jenneraj]

Looking for advice.

Should I level or lift my 23’ Sport S w/max tow 4:10’s?

I am wanting to shoot for 1.5” – 2.5” of additional clearance for 33’s or 35’s. I do not do any rock crawling or serious off roading.

One of my main concerns is additional wear and tear/stress on stock components. Is a lift going to suit me better in the long run or a leveling kit?

Much appreciated and thank you all in advance!

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[Cburd61]

If affordable, I’d get a Mopar lift on it, and let it go. I’ve got 35’s on mine, with the Mopar lift. (Got it thrown in as part of my trade-in). Some say the Mopar isn’t a “complete” kit, but I find it adequate for a little more clearance. I’m too old for rock crawl in’ and mud bogging, although, I’ve done my share back in the day. I just wanted something with a little more clearance than stock to be able to clear the occasional rut in a dirt road, or ruts in the snow, when we get it. All said, it sits about the same as my Big Horn did, and it was factory. I haven’t seen any noticeable extra wear on anything.

 

[Silversport23]

Second gladiator with the 2.5” rough country lift and very happy with it. 35” kenda klever on 17x8.5 vision. Mostly overlanding and road use but haven’t seen any wear issues on my last truck. This one only has 500 miles , added the bumpers and winch since this pic

 

[River2016]

Been running the terraflex for 67k no issues.

 

[MrClortho]

I ran a Skyjacker spacer level for a while with the stock shock brackets and it worked fine and rode like stock. With a sport, 35's will relocate your rear fender flairs if you wheel at all, so I suggest sticking to 33's or so unless you want to add longer rear bump stops. Also, the larger and heavier the tire, the more wear on the steering and brakes.

If you lift, I suggest keeping it 2.5" or under or a level to maximize stock components if you want to keep it as 'dependable' as you can. Consider if you use inferior aftermarket lifts like Rough Country, Skyjacker, Pro Comp, etc you are replacing stock parts with possibly lower quality ones that could fail or wear over time and introduce alignment and suspension geometry considerations.

A high quality kit like Clayton, Metalcloak or Terraflex spring kits will cost much more, but you get what you pay for from a quality, performance and geometry stand point. For example, I netted about 4.5-5" of lift on 37s but can run 80mph on the highway with three fingers on the steering wheel. I also tow a travel trailer twice a month comfortably. However, it cost me a stack of green to do it right.

 

[Jefe1018]

If affordable, I’d get a Mopar lift on it, and let it go. I’ve got 35’s on mine, with the Mopar lift. (Got it thrown in as part of my trade-in). Some say the Mopar isn’t a “complete” kit, but I find it adequate for a little more clearance. I’m too old for rock crawl in’ and mud bogging, although, I’ve done my share back in the day. I just wanted something with a little more clearance than stock to be able to clear the occasional rut in a dirt road, or ruts in the snow, when we get it. All said, it sits about the same as my Big Horn did, and it was factory. I haven’t seen any noticeable extra wear on anything.

This kit has bloated in price over the last few years but I absolutely agree with this sentiment.

I’ve got 22,000 miles on mine and no issues. I off road, but not every single day of my life. I don’t do “crawling” but I do find myself on terrain as diverse as the southwest. I find it amply comfortable and have yet to break anything. Once stuff starts to wear or break I’ll look into upgrading but I felt that going into it dropping $6,000 on a lift kit is a little much.

I still do stuff like this:

 

[ChrisNLA]

Put the Teraflex 1.5" leveling kit in it and call it a day if you don't do any serious off-roading. I've had it in my truck for a year now (a '22 Max Tow) with 33's from a Rubicon. Took if off-roading and camping in Texas at Merus Adventure Park a few months ago. Did fine.

Did you buy your Max Tow specifically for the payload capacity, or was it just the right color and price? I bought mine specifically because I wanted the 4.10s and I wanted the higher payload capacity over the Rubicon or Mojave, and I like how the truck handles weight - so I didn't want to mess that up by pulling out all of the stock suspension.

 

[Jenneraj]

Right price and it just happened to come with the max tow package which I wasn’t mad about. I’ve read that the max tow springs are actually pretty good. Last thing I want to do is rip those out and put in inferior springs.

 

[SpeedNeed]

Ok I’ll be the one to say the word: “warranty”.

 

[Silverator]

Yup. Warranty. That's an important thing for me. I've got a '22 Rubicon on stock 33's right now. When I lift I'll start with the Terraflex leveling kit (OK warranty wise) cause the Warn bumper and winch dropped the front about 1/2", and then move to the Mopar 2" lift when I do 35's.​

 

[Jenneraj]

Dumb question - will only the mopar lift keep the factory warranty? In am wondering is a leveling kit/spacers will void it…

 

[ChrisNLA]

Dumb question - will only the mopar lift keep the factory warranty? In am wondering is a leveling kit/spacers will void it…

I've read conflicting info. Some say the Mopar lift retains a full warranty regardless of who installs it, some say it must be done by the dealer.

A very small spacer in the front end does not void any warranty, unless they want to prove that the spacer caused any given problem you are having. Any modification you do to the truck could *potentially* cause problems at a dealer if they were inclined to make your life difficult - generally with parts that are connected or affected by the modification. Every dealer is different. However, if you put spacers in the front and the engine Amber Heard's the bed next week - they aren't gonna void an engine replacement over spacers.

My 2013 Camaro had lowering springs on it. I took it to the Chevrolet dealer because the struts were popping very loudly on certain bumps. It wasn't normal. Turns out - there was a Technical Service Bulletin on the struts - they were faulty from the factory. The service advisor told me that because my struts had lowering springs they could simply say no, but they agreed that the issue wasn't caused by being lowered, and that this particular TSB would cover it. Just an example of how they do things sometimes...

Really it just depends on how much money you want to throw away and what you really want. The Mopar lift isn't cheap, and neither are 35s to put under it (which the dealer could ALSO theoretically give you warranty hassles about tires).

I didn't personally have a few thousand dollars to spend on a lift and tires (that I didn't really need anyway) so I went with the spacer and 33" wheels and tires from a Rubicon that I got for $400.

You run the equal risk no matter what you do - so I'd base your choice on available finances and desired goals

 

[FRAWLZLINE]

I've read conflicting info. Some say the Mopar lift retains a full warranty regardless of who installs it, some say it must be done by the dealer.

A very small spacer in the front end does not void any warranty, unless they want to prove that the spacer caused any given problem you are having. Any modification you do to the truck could *potentially* cause problems at a dealer if they were inclined to make your life difficult - generally with parts that are connected or affected by the modification. Every dealer is different. However, if you put spacers in the front and the engine Amber Heard's the bed next week - they aren't gonna void an engine replacement over spacers.

My 2013 Camaro had lowering springs on it. I took it to the Chevrolet dealer because the struts were popping very loudly on certain bumps. It wasn't normal. Turns out - there was a Technical Service Bulletin on the struts - they were faulty from the factory. The service advisor told me that because my struts had lowering springs they could simply say no, but they agreed that the issue wasn't caused by being lowered, and that this particular TSB would cover it. Just an example of how they do things sometimes...

Really it just depends on how much money you want to throw away and what you really want. The Mopar lift isn't cheap, and neither are 35s to put under it (which the dealer could ALSO theoretically give you warranty hassles about tires).

I didn't personally have a few thousand dollars to spend on a lift and tires (that I didn't really need anyway) so I went with the spacer and 33" wheels and tires from a Rubicon that I got for $400.

You run the equal risk no matter what you do - so I'd base your choice on available finances and desired goals

The dealership won't give you hassle over the 35s. That is the tallest tire the vehicle is capable of having without modification. Any taller and they would have problems with it for your warranty.

 

[Free2roam]

No need for a lift on 33's. I have a 21 Sport S Ecodiesel on Rubicon take offs. Love it

 

[jjdustr340]

Nothing but an 1.5” Teraflex level kit running 34s (295/70R18). Yep, I split the difference between 33 and 35.

Admittedly, I do have the urge to go a bit bigger now, like the Clayton Ride Right 2.5

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