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Lift kit or no kit?


Benjamin

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Good evening @Carnity I’ve been doing some research around the topic of lift kits and the extra capability with the added bonus of some extra room when ridge-riding or crossing 

for some background I drive a jeep wrangler 2018 JL 3.6 liter with a long wheel base for this same reason I often hit the belly when driving over crests (which usually Isn’t an issue due to the stock skid plates + the added investment of a front metal skid plate which was much needed) 

still I think that it would be good to have that little extra room for higher dunes or when I progress to fewbie+ and intermediate it also adds a lot more off-road capability function for what I want to do.

However I’m really writing this to ask more experienced off-roaders if this is something I should look more into as I inspire to build my way up to the top of carnity. 
 

for reference I’ve been looking at off-road zone and dwindled it down to a BDS 2 inch lift kit that comes with fox shocks giving some ride height and more suspension travel + more comfortable ride for 7000 aed. I’m not really looking for ridiculously high or super expensive but from the research I’ve been doing it seems like the best deal for quality. 
 

but please as I’m new here and quite young I would be happy with any feedback or advice. Thanks everyone! 
 

@Gary F

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Hey @Benjaminthis is a bit of a controversial topic, but a good one to bring up of course.

There are two different things at play:

1. Upgrading your stock suspension, with or without lift. The OEM suspension is designed to have a good balance of offroad capabilities and on-road manners.  Upgraded suspension might perform better offroad but there will be a price to pay in on-road driving.

2. More ground clearance. My personal opinion, looking at the existing clearance of a Jeep Wrangler would be that there is no need for more ground clearance. With your 4x4 you can easily reach intermediate level without any sort of mods.

Take note if you lift your 4x4 but want to keep the same COG  (center of gravity) you will need to have a wider stance as well (can be obtained by wheel spacers or aftermarket rims with more negative offset).

In some way it's opening a can of worms, and might lead to many other modifications later to make better use of the lift kit (different control arms, etc...)

All in all, long story short, here is my mantra:

Your 4x4 should be as low as possible to have great handling, but high enough to have the clearance to manage all drive levels. You will notice that many IM members and trip leads are still on stock suspension and no lift. Again it depends on the vehicle and your own expectations.

 

 

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"Go as far as you can see; once you get there, you'll be able to see further."

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6 minutes ago, Frederic said:

Hey @Benjaminthis is a bit of a controversial topic, but a good one to bring up of course.

There are two different things at play:

1. Upgrading your stock suspension, with or without lift. The OEM suspension is designed to have a good balance of offroad capabilities and on-road manners.  Upgraded suspension might perform better offroad but there will be a price to pay in on-road driving.

2. More ground clearance. My personal opinion, looking at the existing clearance of a Jeep Wrangler would be that there is no need for more ground clearance. With your 4x4 you can easily reach intermediate level without any sort of doubt.

Take note if you lift your 4x4 but want to keep the same COG  (center of gravity) you will need to have a wider stance as well (can be obtained by wheel spacers or aftermarket rims with more negative offset).

In some way it's opening a can of worms, and might lead to many other modifications later to make better use of the lift kit (different control arms, etc...)

All in all, long story short, here is my mantra:

Your 4x4 should be as low as possible to have great handling, but high enough to have the clearance to manage all drive levels. You will notice that many IM members and trip leads are still on stock suspension and no lift. Again it depends on the vehicle and your own expectations.

 

 

@Fredericthank you for your detailed explanation. 

im about to install lift of around 2.5 or 3 inches for my Xterra. you saved my money 👍

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5 minutes ago, Abdul Basit Khan said:

@Fredericthank you for your detailed explanation. 

im about to install lift of around 2.5 or 3 inches for my Xterra. you saved my money 👍

With the money you saved, book yourself a nice little trip to a resort with the family :) 

5 minutes ago, Abdul Basit Khan said:

@Fredericthank you for your detailed explanation. 

im about to install lift of around 2.5 or 3 inches for my Xterra. you saved my money 👍

 

image.png.718d64687b2fdb20990ea72f21404f67.png

Stock Xterra-Stock Wheels-HT Tyres 

Leading Extreme drives in any terrain of the UAE....

As you can see, it's always about the driver and his skills.

 

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"Go as far as you can see; once you get there, you'll be able to see further."

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Reminds me of the new Top Gun movie, quote “It's Not The Plane, It's The Pilot.”

Edited by Gary F
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47 minutes ago, Frederic said:

Hey @Benjaminthis is a bit of a controversial topic, but a good one to bring up of course.

There are two different things at play:

1. Upgrading your stock suspension, with or without lift. The OEM suspension is designed to have a good balance of offroad capabilities and on-road manners.  Upgraded suspension might perform better offroad but there will be a price to pay in on-road driving.

2. More ground clearance. My personal opinion, looking at the existing clearance of a Jeep Wrangler would be that there is no need for more ground clearance. With your 4x4 you can easily reach intermediate level without any sort of mods.

Take note if you lift your 4x4 but want to keep the same COG  (center of gravity) you will need to have a wider stance as well (can be obtained by wheel spacers or aftermarket rims with more negative offset).

In some way it's opening a can of worms, and might lead to many other modifications later to make better use of the lift kit (different control arms, etc...)

All in all, long story short, here is my mantra:

Your 4x4 should be as low as possible to have great handling, but high enough to have the clearance to manage all drive levels. You will notice that many IM members and trip leads are still on stock suspension and no lift. Again it depends on the vehicle and your own expectations.

 

 

@Frederic thanks for the insight and I totally agree! 
 

if I do make the decision I definitely want the benefit of keeping the same center of gravity so I understand that this kit would lead to other modifications to better increase the stance of the jeep. 
 

I mostly want to optimize the jeep for off-road but for the moment OEM parts have been holding out quite well this has definitely influenced my decision in the end. Cheers! 
 

 

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24 minutes ago, Benjamin said:

Good evening @Carnity I’ve been doing some research around the topic of lift kits and the extra capability with the added bonus of some extra room when ridge-riding or crossing 

for some background I drive a jeep wrangler 2018 JL 3.6 liter with a long wheel base for this same reason I often hit the belly when driving over crests (which usually Isn’t an issue due to the stock skid plates + the added investment of a front metal skid plate which was much needed) 

still I think that it would be good to have that little extra room for higher dunes or when I progress to fewbie+ and intermediate it also adds a lot more off-road capability function for what I want to do.

However I’m really writing this to ask more experienced off-roaders if this is something I should look more into as I inspire to build my way up to the top of carnity. 
 

for reference I’ve been looking at off-road zone and dwindled it down to a BDS 2 inch lift kit that comes with fox shocks giving some ride height and more suspension travel + more comfortable ride for 7000 aed. I’m not really looking for ridiculously high or super expensive but from the research I’ve been doing it seems like the best deal for quality. 
 

but please as I’m new here and quite young I would be happy with any feedback or advice. Thanks everyone! 
 

@Gary F

if you need lift, you can try suspension spacers which cost you few hundred bucks max, simply brings your car level higher. but your clearance will remain the same because the solid axle's differential is at the same level of the wheel hub, and it wont help you with driving. 

if you need better suspension for higher level drive, you have to do your homework, learn about different types of suspension product, hear what other owners have to say, and decide what you want. I bet every single offroad orientated aftermarket supplier has products for wrangler. lucky to have many options and unlucky that you have to choose one from many.   you can read below thread, many interesting inputs from different wrangler owners

 

I had spacers before only for clearance purpose(Mine are live axle front and rear, spacers do lift differentials), and replaced them with better suspension kit later on. the better damping and extra stability from the shock and coil help me lots in higher level 

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Fully agree with @Frederic - I did go through same thoughts what @Benjamin is going through now, but thanks to conversations with few experienced folks, I remained with Stock, and I dont think I missed out on anything so far....might think of lift up if i end up doing off-roading in mountains to cross boulders :D , Untill then, I continue to book holidays with family ;)

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@DP1011 , Deepak wrangler in that case I will stick with the safe option and keep the stock suspension until it runs into problems which hopefully it won't anytime soon 😄 

I love how the jeep drives as it is, as I have mentioned before the only 'mods' I have done with my jeep is the front skid plate because the original one was plastic 😁 and I changed to a metal rear bumper because the original owner damaged the brackets on it somehow 😁 Thank you guys for the advice I appreciate it @DP1011 , Deepak wrangler @Frederic @Zixuan Huang - Charlie

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@Benjamin I did the most modification before joining carnity. If I would have joined carnity first I would not require. Even for intermediate drives. Wranglers are very capable cars. I have a 2.5 inch lift and I still get the belly rubbed. Once you start spending,there is no end. Even at intermediate we have stock cars like @Anoop Nairwho has been driving at high pace and bigger dunes without any worries. If you worried for stuck and refusal that can happen with a lift also. If lifted definitely you will require spacers or -offset rims. And may be some bigger tires. Suggestion I can give you is to get the axle reinforcement done . 

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