Please help!!!!! 3.5" rough country M1R lift. With metal steering system and AEV drop brackets...

[rhaigh08]

What else do I need to add to this to get proper angles? I do not do a lot of off reading at all, mostly just love the look of jeeps and it's my daily driver. I'm going from a 6" rough country to a 3.5" because of family reasons, and just wondering what I need to add to this?

I didn't do the 6" lift so I don't know what's on it. But included picture from the day I picked it up.

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[Stan H]

Shocks to match the new height

 

[GuzziMoto]

To go from a 6" lift to a 3.5" lift you should need springs, shocks, bumpstop extensions, all shorter. Those three items need to work as a team, the springs set the lower height, the shocks need to have their travel range centered around that new ride height, and the bumpstop extensions need to be the appropriate length so that they stop suspension uptravel right before the shocks were going to bottom.
Then you will need to be able to re-adjust caster. How that is done would mainly depend on how caster was added for the 6" lift. The same caster correction method for 6" of lift should also work for 3.5" of lift, you just need less of it. But how adjustable your caster correction is I don't know. A safe option could be going with the AEV geometry brackets. But without knowing the deal with what you have now for caster correction I can't say.
Also, at 6" of lift you may have a flipped draglink, if so, that would likely be what you are trying to deal with using the MetalCloak steering setup. My main concern there would be if there is a flipped draglink, was anything drilled out to install it. Also, at 3.5" of lift I would think you can still run a flipped draglink, as long as you have at least 3" of bumpstop extension. But that I am not sure of. I am more experienced with the JK/JKU, where that is true.

 

[rhaigh08]

To go from a 6" lift to a 3.5" lift you should need springs, shocks, bumpstop extensions, all shorter. Those three items need to work as a team, the springs set the lower height, the shocks need to have their travel range centered around that new ride height, and the bumpstop extensions need to be the appropriate length so that they stop suspension uptravel right before the shocks were going to bottom.
Then you will need to be able to re-adjust caster. How that is done would mainly depend on how caster was added for the 6" lift. The same caster correction method for 6" of lift should also work for 3.5" of lift, you just need less of it. But how adjustable your caster correction is I don't know. A safe option could be going with the AEV geometry brackets. But without knowing the deal with what you have now for caster correction I can't say.
Also, at 6" of lift you may have a flipped draglink, if so, that would likely be what you are trying to deal with using the MetalCloak steering setup. My main concern there would be if there is a flipped draglink, was anything drilled out to install it. Also, at 3.5" of lift I would think you can still run a flipped draglink, as long as you have at least 3" of bumpstop extension. But that I am not sure of. I am more experienced with the JK/JKU, where that is true.

thank you so much for the information! I will look into the drag link being flipped and if anything is drilled

 

[heretic]

What was the part # for the MC steering components?
unless I'm something the price seems off.
Did you check the MC web site?

 

[GuzziMoto]

I have bought MetalCloak parts from third party vendors, but usually I buy their stuff directly from them. I will say I have seen both lower prices at third party vendors and higher prices vs buying directly from MC.

I wonder if that is adding in the FAD skid.
Either way, unless you are trying to undo a draglink flip you should not need that steering setup. Want it is another matter, but it should not be required. Although I do recommend the FAD skid.

Also, me personally I would take this opportunity to upgrade to a better quality lift (shocks / springs). I would look at higher quality brands like MetalCloak, Clayton, or AEV.

 

[rhaigh08]

What was the part # for the MC steering components?
unless I'm something the price seems off.
Did you check the MC web site?

It's in Canadian dollars which may be the difference

 

[heretic]

Ok makes more sense now.

 

[BlueScapegoat]

I'll start by saying ultimately my suggestion wouldn't be to buy another Rough Country product but assuming that's what you're doing for the sake of the conversation:

As somebody who has unfucked rough country lifted Jeeps/Trucks in the past and am working on doing exactly that to a coworker's F150 now, it's kind of a tough question to answer without looking at it. They generally package their kits with the bare minimum necessary, and that means over the years they may add or subtract parts along the way. In addition to that, the previous owner may have installed other parts to assist the lift.

Based on what they list on their site currently, their 6" lift doesn't come with control arms, steering, or track bars. It's all spacers and brackets, which is pretty questionable. The 3.5" comes with new shocks, coils, and sway links. So you'll be good there. The bump stops are maybe work maybe not, depends on your tires and other clearances and what you want out of it.

But some real hangups I'd be aware of. The 6" lift comes with a drop pitman arm, so you'll need to source a factory pitman arm to unfuck that. Otherwise when you remove the front trackbar bracket and install the 3.5" lift track bar you're going to have bump steer. You could keep the drop pitman arm and track bar bracket but you might not be able to adjust the new track bar short enough to center the axle and the track bar you have might not center it either. And I can tell you from experience you never need a drop pitman arm on a lifted Jeep under any realistic height. (like 6") It's just a bandaid for not doing other stuff right. So you'll have to feel it out but my recommendation would be a stock pitman arm.

I'm not a fan of control arm drop brackets, I don't think the arms are short enough on the JT to justify them. Shit they were half the length on the TJ and you didn't need them. If you've still got factory control arms all around anyway, I'd consider losing the 6" kit's control arm drop brackets and replacing the front lower arms with the extended mopar arms for cheap. I ran 3.5" lift for years with just those and it drove great. Then if it doesn't work you can consider the AEV drop brackets or, better yet, adjustable arms from somebody like Core4x4. It's a slight gamble because every Jeep is different but I think less parts between the suspension and the frame is better. And better clearance, but I know you said you don't offroad. Ultimately this is up to preference. This is the part number for the mopar extended arms if you want to go that route and save $400, you'd need two: 68322798AA

And my last concern is probably not an issue, but the 6" lift came with a new front driveshaft and yokes. So ideally when you install the 3.5" lift you'll want to run it up to full compression to ensure there's enough slip on the driveshaft and it doesn't bottom out.

Also in regards to the steering, the MetalCloak is fine, but the CavFab is an absolute beast at $840. You'd still need to figure out the stabilizer, although I imagine you already have one so why pay for another.

::edit::
missed the CAD thing, so my quoted numbers are going to need conversion

 

[rhaigh08]

I'll start by saying ultimately my suggestion wouldn't be to buy another Rough Country product but assuming that's what you're doing for the sake of the conversation:

As somebody who has unfucked rough country lifted Jeeps/Trucks in the past and am working on doing exactly that to a coworker's F150 now, it's kind of a tough question to answer without looking at it. They generally package their kits with the bare minimum necessary, and that means over the years they may add or subtract parts along the way. In addition to that, the previous owner may have installed other parts to assist the lift.

Based on what they list on their site currently, their 6" lift doesn't come with control arms, steering, or track bars. It's all spacers and brackets, which is pretty questionable. The 3.5" comes with new shocks, coils, and sway links. So you'll be good there. The bump stops are maybe work maybe not, depends on your tires and other clearances and what you want out of it.

But some real hangups I'd be aware of. The 6" lift comes with a drop pitman arm, so you'll need to source a factory drop pitman arm to unfuck that. Otherwise when you remove the front trackbar bracket and install the 3.5" lift track bar you're going to have bump steer. You can keep the drop pitman arm and track bar bracket but you might not be able to adjust the new track bar short enough to center the axle and the track bar you have might not center it either. And I can tell you from experience you never need a drop pitman arm on a lifted Jeep under any realistic height. (like 6") It's just a bandaid for not doing other stuff right. So you'll have to feel it out but my recommendation would be a stock pitman arm.

I'm not a fan of control arm drop brackets, I don't think the arms are short enough on the JT to justify them. Shit they were half the length on the TJ and you didn't need them. If you've still got factory control arms all around anyway, I'd consider losing the 6" kit's control arm drop brackets and replacing the front lower arms with the extended mopar arms for cheap. I ran 3.5" lift for years with just those and it drove great. Then if it doesn't work you can consider the AEV drop brackets or, better yet, adjustable arms from somebody like Core4x4. It's a slight gamble because every Jeep is different but I think less parts between the suspension and the frame is better. And better clearance, but I know you said you don't offroad. Ultimately this is up to preference. This is the part number for the mopar extended arms if you want to go that route and save $400, you'd need two: 68322798AA

And my last concern is probably not an issue, but the 6" lift came with a new front driveshaft and yokes. So ideally when you install the 3.5" lift you'll want to run it up to full compression to ensure there's enough slip on the driveshaft and it doesn't bottom out.

Also in regards to the steering, the MetalCloak is fine, but the CavFab is an absolute beast at $840. You'd still need to figure out the stabilizer, although I imagine you already have one so why pay for another.

::edit::
missed the CAD thing, so my quoted numbers are going to need conversion

Thank you so much!

It does have a dual steering stabilizer already! So Just the pitman stuff to worry about

 

[Stan H]

Thank you so much!

It does have a dual steering stabilizer already! So Just the pitman stuff to worry about

OP some people experience very rough rides with rough country , I do not belive they are inow to be dual rate or triple rate springs. Unless they just started selling them like that.

 

[BlueScapegoat]

OP some people experience very rough rides with rough country , I do not belive they are inow to be dual rate or triple rate springs. Unless they just started selling them like that.

Rough Country coils are fine, although maybe not ideal. Their shocks have historically been garbage. They might be better now, I don't know.

Shocks are 90% of the ride anyway.

Their bushings, geometry, and lack of proper parts in a supposed "complete" kit is the largest part of why they fall short. And those shocks.

 

[FLY-DOG]

Don't forget to check your brake lines (often overlooked) as the length may need to be changed to fit correctly with the lift you end up going with.

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