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Rubicon suspension question

Jeeperjamie

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I'm trying to make a decision on what to do with the Rubicon take offs I just bought. I'm definitely adding the shocks and more than likely the front springs. I'm wondering how much towing capacity I would lose if I had the rears also. If I can tow 5500lbs then I may just put it all on. My current setup is a Max Tow with 2.5" ReadyLift SST lift kit and I'm planning on keeping it on with the Rubicon suspension, even if I only add the front springs. What kind of advice you got for me. Also some before and after Rubicon take off pictures would be nice and if you could provide some before and after measurements that would be great to. Just trying to gauge how I want to go about this. I really just bought it for the shocks but now I may go another route
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kelkolb

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Considering the Rubicon is only rated for 650 pounds less than your Max Tow and that’s known to largely be because of the added weight on the Rubicon, I’d say you’re more than ok.
 
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Jeeperjamie

Jeeperjamie

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Considering the Rubicon is only rated for 650 pounds less than your Max Tow and that’s known to largely be because of the added weight on the Rubicon, I’d say you’re more than ok.
That's what I was thinking. I am just wondering how it would ride with just the front springs on. It would level it almost out if I only did the fronts. I keep going in circles with it
 

kelkolb

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That's what I was thinking. I am just wondering how it would ride with just the front springs on. It would level it almost out if I only did the fronts. I keep going in circles with it
I’ve heard that the Rubicon springs won’t lift the front of a max tow. Only on a sport and overland.
 
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Jeeperjamie

Jeeperjamie

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I’ve heard that the Rubicon springs won’t lift the front of a max tow. Only on a sport and overland.
I wish I could get some validation on that, it wouldsave me from doing it and wasting my time. Shocks definitely are going on Saturday. I was under the impression the Rubicon was a 1" taller than other models other than a Mojave
 

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I’ve heard that the Rubicon springs won’t lift the front of a max tow. Only on a sport and overland.
There have been guys on here with a MT that swapped in Rubi front springs and said they got 3/4" to 1" lift, just like the other models.
 
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I wish I could get some validation on that, it wouldsave me from doing it and wasting my time. Shocks definitely are going on Saturday. I was under the impression the Rubicon was a 1" taller than other models other than a Mojave
Everything I have seen, and read, this is correct.
 

kelkolb

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@Jeeperjamie I guess you’ll have to do it and end this “I’ve heard” once and for all!
 

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Sport S Max Tow here...presently running the Rubi shocks and front springs with the 1.0" spacer installed from the 1.5" Teraflex level. My truck (others may vary) is running almost dead level (within about 1/4" or so. The front Rubi springs brought the nose of the truck up about 3/4". So with the spacer, I'm up about 1-3/4" in the front, and no change to the back.

After doing a lot of reading on here, I only put the Rubi springs in the front as the Max Tow has, in my opinion, better rear springs for hauling/load management. With the factory Max Tow suspension, the truck was a little bouncy/stiff when running at speed on rough roads. After the Rubi shocks and front springs, the truck handles the same rough roads much better, it's a smoother/softer ride - while still having a dual rate spring in the back for when I hook up to a "heavy" trailer (heavy for a Jeep, not a full-size truck).

Great thing about Jeeps, especially when "new", is they are very easy to work on to try running one set-up and then swapping out to something else...like only the front springs, front and rear, back to front only, etc.
 

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Jeeperjamie

Jeeperjamie

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Sport S Max Tow here...presently running the Rubi shocks and front springs with the 1.0" spacer installed from the 1.5" Teraflex level. My truck (others may vary) is running almost dead level (within about 1/4" or so. The front Rubi springs brought the nose of the truck up about 3/4". So with the spacer, I'm up about 1-3/4" in the front, and no change to the back.

After doing a lot of reading on here, I only put the Rubi springs in the front as the Max Tow has, in my opinion, better rear springs for hauling/load management. With the factory Max Tow suspension, the truck was a little bouncy/stiff when running at speed on rough roads. After the Rubi shocks and front springs, the truck handles the same rough roads much better, it's a smoother/softer ride - while still having a dual rate spring in the back for when I hook up to a "heavy" trailer (heavy for a Jeep, not a full-size truck).

Great thing about Jeeps, especially when "new", is they are very easy to work on to try running one set-up and then swapping out to something else...like only the front springs, front and rear, back to front only, etc.
I appreciate that feedback. I'm going to try to tackle this tomorrow or Sunday hopefully. I have never tried to install springs by myself or remove them. On my JKU I had a buddy help me out who knew way more about it than I did. Unfortunately he moved to Charleston SC for work so I'm going to try to wing it myself. You got any tips?
 
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Jeeperjamie

Jeeperjamie

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Off topic but how how much would stock suspension be worth to sell on base model? 4 springs and 4 shocks. Would anyone even want them ? LoL
I'm actually curious about this as well. If putting the front springs on gets mine where I want it, I may be parting ways with the rear Rubicon Springs and my front Max Tow Springs. Not sure what kind of price point I could for them. I know I sold my JKU Mountain Edition Springs for $100 to a guy who was going to put them on an older jeep, not sure who that compared though.
 

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I appreciate that feedback. I'm going to try to tackle this tomorrow or Sunday hopefully. I have never tried to install springs by myself or remove them. On my JKU I had a buddy help me out who knew way more about it than I did. Unfortunately he moved to Charleston SC for work so I'm going to try to wing it myself. You got any tips?
It is rather simple/straight forward, and once you jump into it you will likely realize it's nothing to be scared of...although with you running a 2.5" spacer up front, it might require a little extra force/prying.

The following is what I did:
  • Jack up the front end about as high as I could and put jack stands under the frame, near the control arm connection point (back of control arm).
  • Place the jack under the axle near the hub/casting.
  • Disconnect everything from the axle - start with one side (sway bar, brake line bracket from control arm, and completely remove the shock).
  • Using the jack allows a person to lift/lower the axle to help remove the disconnected bolts, then let the axle drop as low as it'll go on the one side.
  • This is where you might need to apply some extra pressure downward on the axle and might need the help of a pry bar as that 2.5" spacer might cause a little interference.
  • I was able to pull and rotate the factory spring out without any issues (even with the 1.0" spacer on it - I put the 1.0" spacer on within a couple hours of driving the JT off the dealer lot, so I had to pull it all back apart a couple weeks later when I found the Rubi take-offs for a decent price).
  • Grabbed the corresponding (numbering scheme) front spring from the Rubi take-offs and threw the factory isolator on with my 1.0" block and put some downward pressure on the axle while shoving and rotating the new spring in place.
  • Again, you might need a pry bar to help coax the spring back in place with the extra spacer height on it. I didn't look at what could be used on the JT, but previous vehicles I had to run a pry bar thru the spring, onto the spring seat and pry up on the spring...which would put a little compression on the spring and help it kind of slide along the pry bar onto the spring seat...once you get it over the seat, you should be able to rotate it into place while pushing down on the axle a bit.
  • Button everything back up and ensure everything is retightened/retorqued.
 
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Jeeperjamie

Jeeperjamie

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It is rather simple/straight forward, and once you jump into it you will likely realize it's nothing to be scared of...although with you running a 2.5" spacer up front, it might require a little extra force/prying.

The following is what I did:
  • Jack up the front end about as high as I could and put jack stands under the frame, near the control arm connection point (back of control arm).
  • Place the jack under the axle near the hub/casting.
  • Disconnect everything from the axle - start with one side (sway bar, brake line bracket from control arm, and completely remove the shock).
  • Using the jack allows a person to lift/lower the axle to help remove the disconnected bolts, then let the axle drop as low as it'll go on the one side.
  • This is where you might need to apply some extra pressure downward on the axle and might need the help of a pry bar as that 2.5" spacer might cause a little interference.
  • I was able to pull and rotate the factory spring out without any issues (even with the 1.0" spacer on it - I put the 1.0" spacer on within a couple hours of driving the JT off the dealer lot, so I had to pull it all back apart a couple weeks later when I found the Rubi take-offs for a decent price).
  • Grabbed the corresponding (numbering scheme) front spring from the Rubi take-offs and threw the factory isolator on with my 1.0" block and put some downward pressure on the axle while shoving and rotating the new spring in place.
  • Again, you might need a pry bar to help coax the spring back in place with the extra spacer height on it. I didn't look at what could be used on the JT, but previous vehicles I had to run a pry bar thru the spring, onto the spring seat and pry up on the spring...which would put a little compression on the spring and help it kind of slide along the pry bar onto the spring seat...once you get it over the seat, you should be able to rotate it into place while pushing down on the axle a bit.
  • Button everything back up and ensure everything is retightened/retorqued.
Shock will be coming off anyway to install the Rubicon shocks. Good points and I feel confident just by reading what you wrote I can get it done. Maybe I can get a extra set of hands out there with me and knock it out quicker. It seems pretty straightforward by reading your post
 

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Shock will be coming off anyway to install the Rubicon shocks. Good points and I feel confident just by reading what you wrote I can get it done. Maybe I can get a extra set of hands out there with me and knock it out quicker. It seems pretty straightforward by reading your post
Yea, if a person weren't replacing the shocks with the Rubi's (which is what I also did like you're planning to do), they would only need to disconnect the lower shock mount from the axle and leave the top alone.

Just take your time and give it a shot, I'm betting you'll be fine...but yes, an extra set of hands can be helpful.
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