Test drove Mopar lifted Rubicon with 35 Wildpeaks

[Mulewhisperer]

Can anyone shed some light?

I test drove a stock Overland. Tight steering and floated over bumps, railroad tracks and so on. Hopped out and immediately drove a new Rubicon with 2in Mopar lift and 35 Wildpeaks. I currently drive a JKU with TF LA on 37 MTR’s. My JKU is more smooth. I felt every bump, crack and shook over the railroad tracks in the Rubicon. I left the dealership without the Rubicon.

Can anyone shed some light. Was it the wildpeaks (they were not overinflated, I checked). Anyone else with the mopar lift confirm that the lift is stiff and reduces from stock ride quality?

Thank you in advance!

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[fitchottie]

I run the Mopar lift with 37' Nitto PSI around 35 and it feels very bouncy to me. My wife has a JLU stock Rubi and feels much firmer

 

[MPFit]

So your Mopar lift feels more plush than your wife’s rubi? I have overland and want the 2” lift for some 35’s; Cooper AT3 XLTs.

 

[Sorbs]

Can anyone shed some light?

I test drove a stock Overland. Tight steering and floated over bumps, railroad tracks and so on. Hopped out and immediately drove a new Rubicon with 2in Mopar lift and 35 Wildpeaks. I currently drive a JKU with TF LA on 37 MTR’s. My JKU is more smooth. I felt every bump, crack and shook over the railroad tracks in the Rubicon. I left the dealership without the Rubicon.

Can anyone shed some light. Was it the wildpeaks (they were not overinflated, I checked). Anyone else with the mopar lift confirm that the lift is stiff and reduces from stock ride quality?

Thank you in advance!

Tire pressure. I’d bet they had those tires at 45 psi. I’m running 2” Mopar lift with the stock tires at 35 psi and no issues. I’ve also a 2018 JLR with stock BFGs at 35 psi and smooth as butter.

 

[MPFit]

Tire pressure. I’d bet they had those tires at 45 psi. I’m running 2” Mopar lift with the stock tires at 35 psi and no issues. I’ve also a 2018 JLR with stock BFGs at 35 psi and smooth as butter.

So you’re happy with the Mopar lift on highway (hitting bumps at highway speed doesn’t feel bumpy or loose?)

 

[fitchottie]

So your Mopar lift feels more plush than your wife’s rubi? I have overland and want the 2” lift for some 35’s; Cooper AT3 XLTs.

Mine feels Bumpy is what I was trying to say. I keep playing with my tire pressure as well to see if that will make a difference.

 

[Sorbs]

So you’re happy with the Mopar lift on highway (hitting bumps at highway speed doesn’t feel bumpy or loose?)

Been awesome so far. Put nearly 2k miles on since picking up in Idaho. It is tight and feels confident on the highway and the roads around Colorado Springs are pretty terrible.

 

[WildJD]

Can anyone shed some light?

I test drove a stock Overland. Tight steering and floated over bumps, railroad tracks and so on. Hopped out and immediately drove a new Rubicon with 2in Mopar lift and 35 Wildpeaks. I currently drive a JKU with TF LA on 37 MTR’s. My JKU is more smooth. I felt every bump, crack and shook over the railroad tracks in the Rubicon. I left the dealership without the Rubicon.

Can anyone shed some light. Was it the wildpeaks (they were not overinflated, I checked). Anyone else with the mopar lift confirm that the lift is stiff and reduces from stock ride quality?

Thank you in advance!

Nearly every lift reduces stock ride quality! ;{

 

[Wbee]

Makes me wonder if the lift was installed correctly?

 

[Mulewhisperer]

Makes me wonder if the lift was installed correctly?

That’s what I was wondering, but it would be hard to screw that up given the simplicity of that lift. Ride was very bad compared to the car like characteristics of the overland.

 

[TennesseePA]

I never drove my LE with the stock suspension so I cannot give you a before and after assessment. I picked it up with 12 miles on it and the 37 KO2s on stock LE rims were way overinflated and it drove like crap, not to mention that all four tires had a different pressure in them. As soon as possible I pulled over and lowered the pressure to 27.0 PSI and it rides and drives like a $63k truck should. Before anyone says 27 PSI is too low find the thread where I posted the load inflation chart in wheels and tires. If you have your front end aligned properly, tires at proper psi and it still drives and rides bad then it is time to consider geometry correction brackets. My JK drove and rode OK after the lift and tires but installing the Rancho geometry correction brackets made a huge difference. So much so that the wife started letting me take it instead of her van for family vacations.

 

[smess]

Mule-

In another thread I was reading about complaints after a 2" Mopar was installed and if you read between the lines it appeared that the Mopar is really more than a 2" lift. Remember when you lift up the front axle is rolling towards the back of the vehicle which means that you are decreasing or going negative with the caster. You have to correct this as too much negative or positive caster causes the ride quality to decrease,

Gladiators call for 4.8 positive caster or more but not less than 4 according to a TSB that was addressing the steering issue. When caster gets to 0 the steering wheel will not recoil when you make a turn. SO, your Mopar lift is causing the caster number to drop, if it goes out of spec you have a problem. If you increase the caster back positive the Jeep will be happy again.

Tennessee mentions his geometry correction brackets, the reason his wife likes them is because they are bringing the caster back positive. Geometry correction brackets are really caster correcting brackets.

I am starting to see the pattern that the Mopar 2 is probably a larger than 2 lift but it is probably changing the caster enough to effect the ride. So, when doing a Mopar 2 it is probably important to do a good alignment with toe, caster, and camber immediately after.

In JK's too little caster cause the steering wheel not to recoil but drives straight as an arrow, Too much caster created death wobble. I am guessing that Gladiators have a sweet spot also and too much neg or pos probably upset it and cause the ride to suffer. The wheels are turning left and right and when caster is calculated by the alignment machine remember they are leaning and turning, now throw the road and the bumps and the railroad tracks etc in to the mix.

If someone tells you that a its a solid front axle and only toe can be adjusted then they have no clue how to set up or align a Jeep with coil springs. That applies to an F350.

I had a 2.5 Mopar (it was made by Superlift and was barely 2 inches of lift) on a JK and it drove beautiful but I replaced it with a TF LA and now its like a Caddy. Cant compare a LA to anything we have seen available for a Gladiator yet.

 

[spazzyfry123]

Tire pressure. I’d bet they had those tires at 45 psi. I’m running 2” Mopar lift with the stock tires at 35 psi and no issues. I’ve also a 2018 JLR with stock BFGs at 35 psi and smooth as butter.

Do you have any pictures with OEM sizing on the 2” lift?

 

[Sorbs]

Do you have any pictures with OEM sizing on the 2” lift?

 

[spazzyfry123]

Looks good! Reminds me that I need to get back out west...

Happen to have any shots of it on level ground? I'm considering doing the same, but not wanting 35s just yet.

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