Lift kit on sport......worth it?

[joemussari]

Hey everyone. Long time jeep owner. I have a gladiator sport. It is not a max tow. I put 315s and a leveling kit on it. I have been debating putting a small lift on it. Maybe 2 inches. Years ago I put a lift on my 2 door JK and the thing rode so poorly so I am super hesitant to do another lift. I dont plan to do any extreme off roading. Some overlanding for camping and light trails is really all i will do.
Any help or insight is appreciated =)

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[It's Allgood]

Hey everyone. Long time jeep owner. I have a gladiator sport. It is not a max tow. I put 315s and a leveling kit on it. I have been debating putting a small lift on it. Maybe 2 inches. Years ago I put a lift on my 2 door JK and the thing rode so poorly so I am super hesitant to do another lift. I dont plan to do any extreme off roading. Some overlanding for camping and light trails is really all i will do.
Any help or insight is appreciated =)

Mopar 2 inch lift would be your best bet imo. Keep the same ride quality (if not better) and have Fox shocks all around. Go through the dealership and it's all under warranty too.

 

[joemussari]

Mopar 2 inch lift would be your best bet imo. Keep the same ride quality (if not better) and have Fox shocks all around. Go through the dealership and it's all under warranty too.

Would it be worth finding some rubicon take offs?

 

[CivilJeep]

Mopar 2 inch lift would be your best bet imo. Keep the same ride quality (if not better) and have Fox shocks all around. Go through the dealership and it's all under warranty too.

I agree with this, it's hard to go wrong with the Mopar kit if your offroad use is mild-moderate.

 

[RodRecket]

Would it be worth finding some rubicon take offs?

I started with Rubicon take off suspension, a teraflex 1" spacer and, 285 70 17 bfgs on my Sport S non max tow. I gained about 3/4" with just the rubicon suspension. I have ridden that for about a year and it worked great for me. I do a lot of camping and moderate trail riding (Imogene etc.). I just put on the MOPAR lift last week but added track bars and geometry relocation brackets in anticipation of 35s. I'm happy with the new set up but don't have many miles on it yet. Since I have a manual I'm planning on a regear after 35s as well.

Ultimately, Rubicon take off is your best bang for buck and there's no need to add any extra components like trackbars.

If you decide on the MOPAR 2" I doubt you'll have any regrets, it rides great as well but I would look into the cost of of the kit plus trackbars

 

[NYC-4X4]

I started with Rubicon take off suspension, a teraflex 1" spacer and, 285 70 17 bfgs on my Sport S non max tow. I gained about 3/4" with just the rubicon suspension. I have ridden that for about a year and it worked great for me. I do a lot of camping and moderate trail riding (Imogene etc.). I just put on the MOPAR lift last week but added track bars and geometry relocation brackets in anticipation of 35s. I'm happy with the new set up but don't have many miles on it yet. Since I have a manual I'm planning on a regear after 35s as well.

Ultimately, Rubicon take off is your best bang for buck and there's no need to add any extra components like trackbars.

If you decide on the MOPAR 2" I doubt you'll have any regrets, it rides great as well but I would look into the cost of of the kit plus trackbars

While a subject of discussion, do you or anybody know the actual lift you get with the Mopar lift on a Sport? I know it is a 2” lift for a Rubicon, so 3” on a Sport? Looking into this set-up with a front adjustable track bar on 35s and be done with it.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Would it be worth finding some rubicon take offs?

Keep seeing that but people don't realize that all you gain are Fox shocks - and MAYBE lift of around 1" DEPENDING on the the options and weight of the Rubicon the Rubicon springs came from. There are at least 3 spring numbers it could be from what I've witnessed.
So if you get springs off a base Rubicon - you won't gain a lot. IF you get springs off a loaded Rubicon with the top springs, you'll gain more - an inch, perhaps a bit more.
So the answer is totally and always "it depends".
There is no one single "Rubicon take-offs" answer. Just like we don't know exactly what springs are under your truck now - your truck could have any of at least two, maybe more, spring sets.
For the money, if you want a real lift - don't mess with wasting money on Rubicon take-offs. Go right to the lift. But lay out your personal goals first. No one can tell you "is it worth it" - that's always personal and always opinion.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I started with Rubicon take off suspension, a teraflex 1" spacer and, 285 70 17 bfgs on my Sport S non max tow. I gained about 3/4" with just the rubicon suspension. I have ridden that for about a year and it worked great for me. I do a lot of camping and moderate trail riding (Imogene etc.). I just put on the MOPAR lift last week but added track bars and geometry relocation brackets in anticipation of 35s. I'm happy with the new set up but don't have many miles on it yet. Since I have a manual I'm planning on a regear after 35s as well.

Ultimately, Rubicon take off is your best bang for buck and there's no need to add any extra components like trackbars.

If you decide on the MOPAR 2" I doubt you'll have any regrets, it rides great as well but I would look into the cost of of the kit plus trackbars

Best bang for the buck - depends on the goal. If he wants a for sure more than 1-1.5" lift then the Rubicon stuff is money he'll spend and then later spend again.
If he's ok with a less than 2" lift, then go that way.
Rubicon springs vary - so he might get 3/4", he might get 1", perhaps 1.125".
All he'd be getting would be springs and shocks as the other Rubicon stuff would normally be the same as what he's got now - control arms, track bar, the same.

If he wants a LIFT - is he willing to buy Rubicon take-off springs and shocks and do that swap and then turn around and do it again later with a real lift? OR would he be happy with about 1" gain and be done with it? Maybe spacers, too?

I put on Rubicon front springs, gained just under 1" (about 7/8")
I then added steel bumper, winch and skid plate and dropped it .5"
That left me with 3/8" lift.
I then put 3/4" Daystar spacers up front and gained about 3/4" so in the end I'm up 1 1/8" with the Rubicon springs and 3/4" spacers.
That's good for me - I run Falken A/T tires from a Rubicon and with the Overland ratio that totally sucks, will likely never go larger tires as it can't hold higher gears as it is. I'll likely be sticking with the so-called 33" tires with that 3.73:1 ratio

 

[RodRecket]

Keep seeing that but people don't realize that all you gain are Fox shocks - and MAYBE lift of around 1" DEPENDING on the the options and weight of the Rubicon the Rubicon springs came from. There are at least 3 spring numbers it could be from what I've witnessed.
So if you get springs off a base Rubicon - you won't gain a lot. IF you get springs off a loaded Rubicon with the top springs, you'll gain more - an inch, perhaps a bit more.
So the answer is totally and always "it depends".
There is no one single "Rubicon take-offs" answer. Just like we don't know exactly what springs are under your truck now - your truck could have any of at least two, maybe more, spring sets.
For the money, if you want a real lift - don't mess with wasting money on Rubicon take-offs. Go right to the lift. But lay out your personal goals first. No one can tell you "is it worth it" - that's always personal and always opinion.

I somewhat disagree. Rubicon suspension (Fox Shocks) is a nice upgrade from the stock Sport S and you will gain a small amount of lift, lets say half to a full inch. I think OP is deciding whether they really want to go with a lift. The rubi suspension may be a good alternative. To put rubicon sized tires under my Sport that made sense to me, plus I liked the ride. At $300 take offs aren't meant to compare to an aftermarket lift kit. MOPAR is going to be $1250 before the addition of trackbars. So, if you don't plan on lifting I think the take offs are an affordable upgrade. If you want 2" or more than forgo the take offs and save for the lift you want.

 

[RodRecket]

Best bang for the buck - depends on the goal. If he wants a for sure more than 1-1.5" lift then the Rubicon stuff is money he'll spend and then later spend again.
If he's ok with a less than 2" lift, then go that way.
Rubicon springs vary - so he might get 3/4", he might get 1", perhaps 1.125".
All he'd be getting would be springs and shocks as the other Rubicon stuff would normally be the same as what he's got now - control arms, track bar, the same.

If he wants a LIFT - is he willing to buy Rubicon take-off springs and shocks and do that swap and then turn around and do it again later with a real lift? OR would he be happy with about 1" gain and be done with it? Maybe spacers, too?

I put on Rubicon front springs, gained just under 1" (about 7/8")
I then added steel bumper, winch and skid plate and dropped it .5"
That left me with 3/8" lift.
I then put 3/4" Daystar spacers up front and gained about 3/4" so in the end I'm up 1 1/8" with the Rubicon springs and 3/4" spacers.
That's good for me - I run Falken A/T tires from a Rubicon and with the Overland ratio that totally sucks, will likely never go larger tires as it can't hold higher gears as it is. I'll likely be sticking with the so-called 33" tires with that 3.73:1 ratio

Kind of sounds like we are trying to say the dame thing. I put on take offs totally happy with staying on 33s and getting a little budget boost and some nice shocks. Eventually I was corrupted into putting on a 2" lift and 35s. I will also regear.

If OP wants to lift then go straight for the lift. If OP doesn't want to lift I still think the rubicon take off is a nice upgrade...no matter what springs you get.

And I know...the rest of the components are the same.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I somewhat disagree. Rubicon suspension (Fox Shocks) is a nice upgrade from the stock Sport S and you will gain a small amount of lift, lets say half to a full inch. I think OP is deciding whether they really want to go with a lift. The rubi suspension may be a good alternative. To put rubicon sized tires under my Sport that made sense to me, plus I liked the ride. At $300 take offs aren't meant to compare to an aftermarket lift kit. MOPAR is going to be $1250 before the addition of trackbars. So, if you don't plan on lifting I think the take offs are an affordable upgrade. If you want 2" or more than forgo the take offs and save for the lift you want.

I think we are thinking the same, really - he's got to define his goal, and his definition of "lift".
Does he WANT 2"? Does he NEED 2"? Is it for looks, or to clear bigger tires? What will the truck be used for?
I only wanted to gain about an inch - 1.5 would have been better, but 1.125 is about where I ended up and that's fine (my wife complains about getting in and out as it is).
So for me, not wanting to mess with geometry changes, I went with the Rubicon springs and spacers and absolutely wanted better shocks. The stock Overland shocks were just bouncy (the whole truck was really)

So if the goal is 3/4-1" - and that's all a person wants or needs based on their longer term goals, then the Rubicon stuff is fine.
But if the goal in the next 1 to 2 years is 2"..................
BUDGET may define what really happens.

 

[RodRecket]

While a subject of discussion, do you or anybody know the actual lift you get with the Mopar lift on a Sport? I know it is a 2” lift for a Rubicon, so 3” on a Sport? Looking into this set-up with a front adjustable track bar on 35s and be done with it.

I can't really tell you what I got from the sport to MOPAR lift because I had Rubicon take off suspension already on when I went to the lift. I do think you will get more than 2" when going from stock sport suspension to the MOPAR 2", I just don't know how much more.

 

[RodRecket]

I think we are thinking the same, really - he's got to define his goal, and his definition of "lift".
Does he WANT 2"? Does he NEED 2"? Is it for looks, or to clear bigger tires? What will the truck be used for?
I only wanted to gain about an inch - 1.5 would have been better, but 1.125 is about where I ended up and that's fine (my wife complains about getting in and out as it is).
So for me, not wanting to mess with geometry changes, I went with the Rubicon springs and spacers and absolutely wanted better shocks. The stock Overland shocks were just bouncy (the whole truck was really)

So if the goal is 3/4-1" - and that's all a person wants or needs based on their longer term goals, then the Rubicon stuff is fine.
But if the goal in the next 1 to 2 years is 2"..................
BUDGET may define what really happens.

Ha, yup. Just made a similar comment above.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Ha, yup. Just made a similar comment above.

Yep - good ol' internet. In the end things aren't always that different.

 

[joemussari]

lol appreciate all of the responses! i wouldnt mind a slight lift. My fear is it will ride like my 2 door JK and ill end up hating it.

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