Topic: I finally got my lift, tires, gears installed!!!

[BOOGIE444]

My TJ has never looked so cool, and the little 2.5L does awesome at highway speeds 70mph is a breeze.  I have a 4" rough country lift, 1/2" coil spacers and 1-1/4" JKS body lift with 33 x 12.5 x R15 mud kings.  I also have 4.88 gears and detroit true trac limited slip front and rear.  I feel as gitty as a school girl

First off I have to say 4.88 and 33" tires is about perfect for the 2.5L MUCH better than with 4.10 and 30" x 9.5 tires.

The true trac limited slip differentials are 100% un-noticeable no under or over steer.  I am also really digging the ride its much firmer than my 6 year shocks were probably stiffer than it ever was.

One thing I didnt like though was in some situations when going fast and then hitting a bump hard or getting nailed by a wind gust say going 70mph it seemed like the back axel kind of had a wondering affect like it was swaying a little from side to side.  My alignment seemed decent but it did have a slight tendency to pull a little to the left.  The shop did a front end alignment, do I need front & rear adjustable sway bars or something or is this just a little something that us lifted wrangler guys have to live with???  Any suggestions to fix this???

Sorry I just had to share my happiness.
Pics to come

[cmc1]

I also have a tj and my jeep felt like that it had a little wonder in it also.It was my rear track bar mount that was loose.(bracket extension).The best thing i did for my jeep was getting rid of the front and rear trackbar brackets and bought after market trackbars.When you do this if you have a dropped pitman arm you will need to put the stock one back on.It keeps the draglink and track bar close to parrallel or you will have bump steer.chris

[might4banger]

Hmmm -

I like'd the 30x9.5 and 4.10 (ford 8.8 rear) combo the best... had great power, I was only limited by the lack of ground clearance.

35's + 4.88s and all that look better, but it's much harder to find decent places to wheel. Plus - I had 0 worries about breakage or flopping over.

Glad you are happy with it... get those pix up !

[BOOGIE444]

Well I should have drove the jeep a little more before I posted duh

Its defiantly not pulling to one side it was just the wind as I did alot of highway driving over thanksgiving weekend.  And the 4.88 & 33" combo is so much better at 70mph than my old setup of 4.10 & 30" it aint even funny, I cant believe I was missing all this avaiable power for 6 years.  Also I think the swaying back & forth problem when I hit a bumb hard at fast speeds might be due to the large squishy tires.  I checked air pressure on them and they were like 25psi in the back and 23psi in the front, so I think that is the problem instead of a suspension issue, I hope at least.  Anyways I did alot of driving on the thing now, and so did my wife and its not that bad I can defiantly live with it, I hardly notice it now that I am used to it.  I am just waiting for my springs to settle down a little because it sure is bouncy now, its like driving a stock YJ or a CJ.

Also there is a little driveline hum when I accelerate hard, even though I have the T-case drop kit installed, I think I will install a SYE & new drive shaft around Christmas.  Does anyone know if I can leave the T-case drop kit on and still install the SYE & new drive shaft and not have any problems???

I did get a chance to wheel the thing on my land for a few minutes on Friday, even though I dont have any sway bar disconnects yet I was able to clear some scarry shit it felt like I was going to flip over, I cant wait to see what it will do with disconnects.  And I was able to climb a steep muddy & snowy hill in 2wd drive thanks to my new true trac differentials, I know my previous setup would have stuggled with that hill in those coniditions in the 4wd.  The true trac is pretty cool you can litteraly "feel" it working when you first start spinning out.

[cmgorman94]

You could leave the t-case drop on there when you put on the SYE, but why would you?  Keeping the t-case drop on there lowers your belly pan, which would give you less ground clearance. Almost 6" of lift with 33s makes me think you like that ground clearance. Since you are going to be getting the new drive shaft, why wouldn't you want to get one to get rid of the drop?  Also, if you don't mind me asking, why are you running almost so much lift for 33s?  5 3/4" is a LOT of lift for 33s.  You could easily run 35s with that much lift.  Is there a reason for the BL and the coil spacers?  You mentioned that the Jeep felt like it wanted to roll, it could have something to do with all that lift. The lower you can keep that thing the more stable you will be. My brother runs 35s on 5", and I must say LCG wins every time.  I've got 6 1/2" with 35's and I'm looking to drop it at least an inch.  Why not take off the spacers, and if possible the BL too?

[BOOGIE444]

You could leave the t-case drop on there when you put on the SYE, but why would you?  Keeping the t-case drop on there lowers your belly pan, which would give you less ground clearance. Almost 6" of lift with 33s makes me think you like that ground clearance. Since you are going to be getting the new drive shaft, why wouldn't you want to get one to get rid of the drop?  Also, if you don't mind me asking, why are you running almost so much lift for 33s?  5 3/4" is a LOT of lift for 33s.  You could easily run 35s with that much lift.  Is there a reason for the BL and the coil spacers?  You mentioned that the Jeep felt like it wanted to roll, it could have something to do with all that lift. The lower you can keep that thing the more stable you will be. My brother runs 35s on 5", and I must say LCG wins every time.  I've got 6 1/2" with 35's and I'm looking to drop it at least an inch.  Why not take off the spacers, and if possible the BL too?

My reason for keeping the T-case drop kit in there is because I have a body lift kit on it and then they would have to reconnect the transfer case linkage again???   I guess I was just trying to save on labor, oh well might as well do it right.

The jeep doesnt feel like it wants to roll, I just wasnt used to the handling at first, its no less stable than it used to be the only thing I dont like about it know after driving it for a week is that the ride is a little too stiff at times.  And why did I go so big, check out my pic of my jeep in the poseur section because I like the look of it BIG

Besides a extra 1/2" of suspension travel might come in handy offroad.  My tires were really squishy at first and that was the problem with my handling, now that the tires have settled down it rides really stable now I really like it.  Keep in mine that the body lift doesnt affect the center of gravity nearly as much as a suspension lift.  Besides if I ever wanted to buy some 35" tires for it just for offroad they would still fit nice with no rubbing, and then keep the 33" for around town & in the highway.