Lift guidance.

[Linx]

I’m hoping to get some opinions on lift options to help push me in the right direction.

I purchased a Mopar 2” lift, adjustable track bar, and geometry correction brackets for the front. I’m paying to have these installed at the end of the week but I’m second guessing my decision as I don’t want to regret not going with a bigger/better lift.

For context I own a Rubicon and this is my daily driver. I currently have 35s and am thinking about moving up to 37s (which I regret not doing in the first place).

98% of my driving is on the road but I want to take it out to MOAB and trails in Colorado this year so I felt a lift would be needed.

Here is the dilemma. Should I sell my Mopar kit and spend the extra for a metal cloak or Rock Krawler full lift now? (The 2 I was contemplating before buying the Mopar lift).
Or will I really be gaining much for the limited amount of time I will really be “off road”?
Thanks in advance!

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[tysongladiator]

I will probably get a lot of heat for this comment, but here goes.

I have tthe 2" MOPAR kit. Sitting on 295/70-18 (34"). I run them around 32psi. This is my daily driver. I also drive it over the road when I go back home about 3 states away and travel to other states. I go offroad just about every other weekend. Trails, ORV/OHV Parks, and wherever I can find it.

For this setup, it rides good and handles good on road. Trust me, my wife would let me know. Haha! I tow my boat and ATVs with no issues. It handles off road good. No need for an enormous lift with enormous tires (unless for looks) because it does what I need it to do. If I were planning on doing really serious climbing, I'd build an older rig for that.

I've owned and/or built everything from lowriders to racecars to riceburners to off road rigs. Fords, Toyota, Ram, and JEEP! Had 38"s on my Ram with 6" suspension/3"body lift and downgrading to 35"s was the best thing that I did. Night and day.

I apologize for writing so much!!! But the bottom line is look at what your needs are. For what you are planning, the MOPAR lift would be fine. Fit your needs and not your wants. Been there, done that. In the end, you'll be much happier!

BTW, You have a nice clean rig! Love it!

 

[Linx]

I will probably get a lot of heat for this comment, but here goes.

I have tthe 2" MOPAR kit. Sitting on 295/70-18 (34"). I run them around 32psi. This is my daily driver. I also drive it over the road when I go back home about 3 states away and travel to other states. I go offroad just about every other weekend. Trails, ORV/OHV Parks, and wherever I can find it.

For this setup, it rides good and handles good on road. Trust me, my wife would let me know. Haha! I tow my boat and ATVs with no issues. It handles off road good. No need for an enormous lift with enormous tires (unless for looks) because it does what I need it to do. If I were planning on doing really serious climbing, I'd build an older rig for that.

I've owned and/or built everything from lowriders to racecars to riceburners to off road rigs. Fords, Toyota, Ram, and JEEP! Had 38"s on my Ram with 6" suspension/3"body lift and downgrading to 35"s was the best thing that I did. Night and day.

I apologize for writing so much!!! But the bottom line is look at what your needs are. For what you are planning, the MOPAR lift would be fine. Fit your needs and not your wants. Been there, done that. In the end, you'll be much happier!

BTW, You have a nice clean rig! Love it!

Thank you for posting. It’s been quite lonely in here!

I went ahead with the Mopar lift.

 

[Dainbramaged]

I will probably get a lot of heat for this comment, but here goes.

I have tthe 2" MOPAR kit. Sitting on 295/70-18 (34"). I run them around 32psi. This is my daily driver. I also drive it over the road when I go back home about 3 states away and travel to other states. I go offroad just about every other weekend. Trails, ORV/OHV Parks, and wherever I can find it.

For this setup, it rides good and handles good on road. Trust me, my wife would let me know. Haha! I tow my boat and ATVs with no issues. It handles off road good. No need for an enormous lift with enormous tires (unless for looks) because it does what I need it to do. If I were planning on doing really serious climbing, I'd build an older rig for that.

I've owned and/or built everything from lowriders to racecars to riceburners to off road rigs. Fords, Toyota, Ram, and JEEP! Had 38"s on my Ram with 6" suspension/3"body lift and downgrading to 35"s was the best thing that I did. Night and day.

I apologize for writing so much!!! But the bottom line is look at what your needs are. For what you are planning, the MOPAR lift would be fine. Fit your needs and not your wants. Been there, done that. In the end, you'll be much happier!

BTW, You have a nice clean rig! Love it!

I appreciate the honest advice, I'm new to Jeeps and have been trying to decide about how much to lift my Overland and what size tires would be reasonable. I'm not just looking to go big, but I didn't want to regret later "unbuying" and then having to upgrade to get decent off road capabilities.

One question, the Mopar lift is a pretty significant chunk of change, are there major drawbacks to something like the RC 2.5 suspension lift? I plan to go offroad as often as I can, but anything fun (Rauch Park) is a couple hours away so it won't be every weekend.

 

[tysongladiator]

I appreciate the honest advice, I'm new to Jeeps and have been trying to decide about how much to lift my Overland and what size tires would be reasonable. I'm not just looking to go big, but I didn't want to regret later "unbuying" and then having to upgrade to get decent off road capabilities.

One question, the Mopar lift is a pretty significant chunk of change, are there major drawbacks to something like the RC 2.5 suspension lift? I plan to go offroad as often as I can, but anything fun (Rauch Park) is a couple hours away so it won't be every weekend.

I appreciate the honest advice, I'm new to Jeeps and have been trying to decide about how much to lift my Overland and what size tires would be reasonable. I'm not just looking to go big, but I didn't want to regret later "unbuying" and then having to upgrade to get decent off road capabilities.

One question, the Mopar lift is a pretty significant chunk of change, are there major drawbacks to something like the RC 2.5 suspension lift? I plan to go offroad as often as I can, but anything fun (Rauch Park) is a couple hours away so it won't be every weekend.

Well, I'll tell ya this. My Rig is capable enough to go off road and have fun and get muddy if the situation arises. I can accomplish everything from light to medium offroad. If I were going to do anything really serious, this wouldn't be my daily driver. And like I said, I go off road just about every other weekend. Sometimes when my wife and I travel, we look for ORV parks or trail near where we are.

I downgraded from 38" to 35" tires on my Ram because there was no benefit from the bigger tires. The 35" tires rode better and my truck handled better. So, I decided to stick to the same analogy. If there is no benefit, then why sacrifice?

The are two reasons I went with the MOPAR. I've had my JT since June 2019 and at the time there weren't a lot of companies out and using the MOPAR also didn't void my warranty. The other reason I did is because the kit comes with springs, control arms, pretty much everything. I felt that if MOPAR designed a kit for a rig that they designed and built, all the necessary components would be there to make sure everything worked correctly. I've had the lift on since August of 2019 and no problems as of yet (knock on wood).

If the RC kit that you're looking at has all of the components of the suspension, you should be fine with no issues. You do have to take alignment, handling, and driveability on road into consideration. Don't just take everyone's opinion on RC because a lot of people hate them. Just look at what parts are used for the lift and what all parts are included.

 

[PJM86]

Sorry for asking, but do you need geometry correction brackets for the Mopar lift? If so, which brand did you go with? Thanks

 

[tysongladiator]

Sorry for asking, but do you need geometry correction brackets for the Mopar lift? If so, which brand did you go with? Thanks

No, I didn't. The only thing extra that I installed was a RC 3/4" spacer up front in addition to the kit. I did this because I knew the extra weight of the aftermarket bumper and the winch would be heavy and I didn't want the rake. But, nothing else was installed.

 

[PJM86]

Did you do an adjustable track bar?

 

[tysongladiator]

Did you do an adjustable track bar?

No. Didn't do that either

 

[PJM86]

Thanks

 

[Linx]

Thanks

I installed a SteerSmarts track bar and Rubicon Express geometry brackets. Technically I wanted the AEV geo brackets but after 2 weeks they still hadn’t shipped my order so I canceled it.
Neither part is critical, but I would recommend both.

 

[PJM86]

I’m thinking about the adjustable track bar, not sure on the geo brackets. I plan on installing the lift myself. Really wish AEV had their lift kit out, I had their 2.5” on my jk and it rode amazingly well and did pretty decent off-road for a small lift kit.

 

[Factoid]

I have a Rubicon with the Mopar lift, 37s and a Falcon 2.2 stabilizer. After the lift, the front axle was 1/2” to the left (offset by 1/4”). This weekend, I installed a Synergy brace and adjustable track bar. That centered the axle perfectly, but the steering wheel was off to the right by about 10 degrees. I adjusted the drag link to center the wheel and checked toe (perfect). After a chalk test, I set the 37/13.50-20 Nittos at 33psi.

This is my daily driver also and it drives perfectly. I don’t rock crawl (at least not intentionally), but I go off-road about once a month and challenged the set up in the mountain snow a couple of times this winter. I can’t imagine a better set up and absolutely love my JTR.

 

[Markpod7]

I will probably get a lot of heat for this comment, but here goes.

I have tthe 2" MOPAR kit. Sitting on 295/70-18 (34"). I run them around 32psi. This is my daily driver. I also drive it over the road when I go back home about 3 states away and travel to other states. I go offroad just about every other weekend. Trails, ORV/OHV Parks, and wherever I can find it.

For this setup, it rides good and handles good on road. Trust me, my wife would let me know. Haha! I tow my boat and ATVs with no issues. It handles off road good. No need for an enormous lift with enormous tires (unless for looks) because it does what I need it to do. If I were planning on doing really serious climbing, I'd build an older rig for that.

I've owned and/or built everything from lowriders to racecars to riceburners to off road rigs. Fords, Toyota, Ram, and JEEP! Had 38"s on my Ram with 6" suspension/3"body lift and downgrading to 35"s was the best thing that I did. Night and day.

I apologize for writing so much!!! But the bottom line is look at what your needs are. For what you are planning, the MOPAR lift would be fine. Fit your needs and not your wants. Been there, done that. In the end, you'll be much happier!

BTW, You have a nice clean rig! Love it!

Do you have a pic of your ride with the 295’s and stock fenders?

 

[kelkolb]

I installed a SteerSmarts track bar and Rubicon Express geometry brackets. Technically I wanted the AEV geo brackets but after 2 weeks they still hadn’t shipped my order so I canceled it.
Neither part is critical, but I would recommend both.

Where are you installing geometry correction brackets? The track bar I can understand, but where else? The Mopar kit comes with LCA's so no need there.

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