Rubicon to Sport S suspension swap

[Jack'D]

Shocks do not provide any lift.

Every JT you run across could have different springs - that "LE" may have a totally different set of springs because of the OPTIONS, NOT BECAUSE IT'S A LE.

Yeah, I posted the same thing about different spring rates a few pages back, was told I didnt get the lift I got (everyone's an expert!)lol . When I shopped for mine I went after a hard top w/ steel bumpers in Hope's of getting maximum lift..

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[ShadowsPapa]

Yeah, I posted the same thing about different spring rates a few pages back, was told I didnt get the lift I got (everyone's an expert!)lol . When I shopped for mine I went after a hard top w/ steel bumpers in Hope's of getting maximum lift..

I do happen to be a college trained and factory trained expert on suspension and steering and worked as a mechanic for decades doing this very sort of thing, even racing and performance suspension.

The typical lift is 1/2" to 1", depending on the springs being replaced and those being put in.

Quite often the truck will settle about 1/8-1/4" after a few trips because the springs will settle in, and because far too often people torque things back to spec with the suspension hanging down!

The parts with bushing should only be tightened with the truck on the ground, never with the wheels hanging down or supported by jacks. Few know to lower the truck to the ground, THEN tighten the bolts. They get false lift by the stress on the bushings which eventually settles out of it (messing up the bushings in the process.)

 

[Jack'D]

Yeah... okay.

 

[HzrInAz]

I bought Rubicon take offs to put on my sport S. The front Rubicon springs are 68341339AC and 68341340Ac. I cant find anywhere online that says which is left or right. When I look at OEM sites, they list every spring as left in the title, and right in the description. I called the dealer parts counter, and he eventually said there was no difference even tho the part numbers are. Any truth to that? TIA

 

[Jack'D]

I bought Rubicon take offs to put on my sport S. The front Rubicon springs are 68341339AC and 68341340Ac. I cant find anywhere online that says which is left or right. When I look at OEM sites, they list every spring as left in the title, and right in the description. I called the dealer parts counter, and he eventually said there was no difference even tho the part numbers are. Any truth to that? TIA

The short answer..
The 339AC is your passenger side, and the 340AC is your driver side.
Go look under your truck, your Sport springs have the same tag. Unless there is a model year change which I doubt, your sport springs should also be numbered odd on the passenger side and even on the driver side.
Your parts guy sounds like hes having a bad day, he should know there is a difference due to the weight distribution of the gas tank.
I'm no expert, but it sounds like he's not the guy you want to use in the future lol
You're gonna love this set up, the ride is night and day, great choice!

 

[HzrInAz]

The short answer..
The 339AC is your passenger side, and the 340AC is your driver side.
Go look under your truck, your Sport springs have the same tag. Unless there is a model year change which I doubt, your sport springs should also be numbered odd on the passenger side and even on the driver side.
Your parts guy sounds like hes having a bad day, he should know there is a difference due to the weight distribution of the gas tank.
I'm no expert, but it sounds like he's not the guy you want to use in the future lol
You're gonna love this set up, the ride is night and day, great choice!

 

[HzrInAz]

Thanks for that info. He did initially say 340 was the drivers side, but he said it listed 339 as drivers side too. Is that info listed anywhere? or something you just know from experience? seems odd I couldnt find a conclusive answer anywhere else.
Thank you

 

[Jack'D]

Thanks for that info. He did initially say 340 was the drivers side, but he said it listed 339 as drivers side too. Is that info listed anywhere? or something you just know from experience? seems odd I couldnt find a conclusive answer anywhere else.
Thank you

A little bit of both lol.. this forum does lack a lot of info..for basics, as there are some obvious differences, the Jeep JL forum has tons of info (and a bit more friendly lol)..
Similar to our JT the JL has (if i remember correctly) seven different springs for different optioned out rigs, and how the swap effects your rig will be determined by which set up you get. This is very well documented in the JL forum. But for now, like I said above, go and take a peak under your truck and confirm your odd and even #'s on the driver and passenger side, match them up when you do the swap and you should be golden.
Are you doing the swap yourself?

 

[HzrInAz]

I did do it myself. I swapped out the stock shocks for the Rubicon shocks, swapped the front coil springs but kept my max tow rear springs. I put a rough country 2 1/2" leveling kit on the front and 3/4" spacers in the rear to keep some of the rake for payload. I also swapped out the factory rims and tires for a set of Mojave takeoffs.

 

[Jack'D]

I did do it myself. I swapped out the stock shocks for the Rubicon shocks, swapped the front coil springs but kept my max tow rear springs. I put a rough country 2 1/2" leveling kit on the front and 3/4" spacers in the rear to keep some of the rake for payload. I also swapped out the factory rims and tires for a set of Mojave takeoffs.

Looks great, nice work!

 

[93civej1]

is there a guide or instructions to follow when swapping out the parts, or is it pretty much just common sense? Unbolt stuff, lower axle body down , reverse.

 

[93civej1]

The short answer..
The 339AC is your passenger side, and the 340AC is your driver side.
Go look under your truck, your Sport springs have the same tag. Unless there is a model year change which I doubt, your sport springs should also be numbered odd on the passenger side and even on the driver side.
Your parts guy sounds like hes having a bad day, he should know there is a difference due to the weight distribution of the gas tank.
I'm no expert, but it sounds like he's not the guy you want to use in the future lol
You're gonna love this set up, the ride is night and day, great choice!

Isn’t this wrong? I’ve seen everyone say the higher number goes on the passenger side due to it being the heavier spring.

 

[Jack'D]

Isn’t this wrong? I’ve seen everyone say the higher number goes on the passenger side due to it being the heavier spring.

.. not on my truck, but hey, it's easy enough to figure out, if you go take a peak under your truck you'll know for sure

 

[93civej1]

.. not on my truck, but hey, it's easy enough to figure out, if you go take a peak under your truck you'll know for sure

interesting yours was different.
looked under mine and higher number was indeed on passenger side and lower on driver side. So I put the new springs in the same exact way.

 

[jebiruph]

Those shocks are super stiff and very hard to compress by hand, I'd highly recommend jacking your Jeep up and putting jack stands under the frame so the suspension will droop. I should have done that from the beginning. The back two kicked my butt doing it with the Jeep on the ground. The front was way easier to do when I did it the correct way. I couldn't get a jack under it to compress the shocks by hand and I had to manually compress them and needed a second set of hands to slide the bolt through while it was compressed. I was able to do the first one myself. My arms were too tired to do it on my own for the second rear shock.

I can relate to the struggle. The back two kicked my butt too, twice because I realized I had them upside down the first time (I did not do any research prior to the installation). I did find that after manually compressing the bottom of the shock into the mount, I was able to use a flat blade screw driver to get it lined up with the bolt hole.

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