Knowing how to lift a jeep is very important for everyone who owned it because most of the time, you needed to lift your Jeep when you are off-road or on any mountain road. The lifting procedure is not simple. You cannot do the regular car process because the tires, especially the larger tires, pulling power, and the steering system, are different and need more strength and more lifting kits than an average car.
It would help if you learned how to lift your Jeep before go to any tough place; otherwise, it can be a death wobble for you. If you are a beginner, you have to know the right jeep lift kit, lift height, lift types, and mods you will need to support when lifting.
Also, it would help if you considered a lot of factors when lifting a jeep. The budget is a significant fact here.
Guides and Tips on How to Lift Jeep
You should consult with a professional for the first time to know everything better, but if you want to lift the Jeep by yourself, avoid any unintentional damage and keep patience because you may not do the whole job correctly. This article is going to help you as your guide.
Why Do you Want to Lift Your Jeep?
A lifted jeep means its body and frame are raised, and they are apart from each other. So you can use larger wheels in your Jeep, and larger wheels increase the capability of off-roading. Your Jeep can crawl more in a challenging situation. So, you can lift your Jeep to improve off-road performance or change the looks.
But if you are not an off-road adventure lover, you do not need to lift your Jeep. You can install leveling kits in your Jeep to make it look more unique. It also won’t impact your steering. But raising a jeep is also depends on your driving habits.
Types of Jeep Lift Kits
For getting the ground clearance, there are some kinds of perfect jeep wrangler lift kits you can apply to lift your Jeep.
Leveling Kits:
These kits are used for a level of the Jeep. The equipment lifts the Jeep a little bit to be leveled and looks like the jeep wrangler is straight to your nose. It is a basic kit that does not provide much change in your Jeep.
Body Lift:
It is an inexpensive option. The kit helps lift your Jeep wrangler 1 to 3 inches, and also, you do not have to install new shocks. So, it may cost only a couple of hundred dollars. You will get more space between the wheels so that you can put 33 to 35-inch tires with taller spacers and bolts.
It won’t affect the driving experience or handling. Also, you can afford it and install it quickly rather than a suspension kit. It may cost you around $200.
Sometimes you may have to install a new radiator, fuel filler tube, or new extensions for those and other things. Extensions will save your jeep function from getting impaired. Lifting the body part means getting more ground clearance (which you will not get that much in here), but because of it, your radiator or any other function could change its place. So those should engage adequately.
All you can do is, install an engine mount kit so that your steering linkage, fuel filler tube, and other parts have stayed in the correct place. But all this is not that favorable option, and you won’t get many benefits in off-road capabilities, only it increases primarily aesthetic.
Suspension Kit
With these kits, you can add more than 3 inches to a body lift. The maximum lift is 6,” but you do not have to raise your jeep wrangler that much for increased off-road capabilities. You can raise your Jeep in some steps like,
Budget Boost
If you want to go one step ahead of a body lift, you can go for a budget boost or spare ride. You can call it a cosmetic upgrade and increase .75″ to 2.5″ inches by inserting thick polyurethane coil spacers. The coil spacer is at the top of the spring of your jeep wrangler.
You can add larger tires, up to 35 inches. But that does not mean it can enhance the off-road capabilities. Only you can go lighter off-road, but not extreme. Some kits come along with longer aftermarket shocks and extensions.
Budget boost mainly gives your Jeep more aggressive looks. All you can see a giant tire from outside. If you are confused about how much lift you will install to look at your Jeep like a giant, it is the best option for you. It would be better not to buy shock extension, install new trailer shocks for better results.
Although this will not add that much height to your Jeep, you can install it without doing much modification. All you can do is add a little higher tire to drive the light off-road. This is an overall better option than a body lift. But tire height options are limited here. But if you want to increase the tire height, go for the next opportunity.
Coil Spring Lift Kit
If you want better off-road performance, you should install a coil spring lift kit. It includes a stiffer and longer coil spring to lift your Jeep 1.5 to 3.5 inches which impacts the center of gravity.
Although you cannot apply this process in the yj model, it is best for the tj and jk models. However, you have to buy new extended shocks, extensions, brackets, etc.
In this part, the tires and lifting the body are finally visible. Also, it improves your off-roading capacity.
You can buy a complete kit package that includes long shocks, a track bar, and a sway bar so you can fit in your Jeep properly. Coil spring lift usually raised the center of gravity, increasing the articulation so you can drive off-road without getting many hazards.
It is advisable not to install more than 2.5 inches coil spring lift kit because you will face problems in stock control arms, and the pinion angle could be changed.
Short Arm Lift Kit
Now you have to think about a serious lift kit. It includes everything like the coil spring lift kit, directly impacting the vehicle’s suspension and gravity. With this kit, you can raise your Jeep to 5 inches or more with the adjustable control arm.
It is expensive and complex, but it is more beneficial for off-roading like rock crawling, rugged of the road rather than coil spring lift kit. But it isn’t easy to drive on a regular road.
You will get more ground clearance, add larger wheels, and more suspension travel. You do not have to cut or weld to install it. Also, any modification is not needed. An adjustable control arm will do the best.
When you lift the vehicle, the center of the axle could be changed. But you can re-enter it with an adjustable track bar. You can buy a complete short arm kit so that it can be usable in other lift methods.
Long Arm Lift Kit for Jeep Wrangler and TJ
A long arm adjustable control arms kit is the most demanding and impressive kit, but it is also the most expensive, so not everyone can own it. The installation process is way more complex than a short arm lift kit, and you have to weld some parts for it.
You can lift your car 6.5 inches or more, so it requires extensive work and modification. This is not for only show-off. You really can-do serious off-roading.
This much lifting requires heavy control arm brakes and the stock brackets are unusable here. The crawling ability is impressive in the long arm lift kit using suspension lift.
Changing Tires and Brake Line Bending
The suspension lifts work with proper lift height will have better body lift giving the mechanic better access to the under-jeep areas. With a useful guide to lifting, you can change the longer tires, clean the upper and lower parts of the Jeep, and many other works.
It was sometimes changing the brake lines with brake line bender tools need long arm kit. With long arm kits, brake line banders, or fender flares, you can have an old car or jeep wrangler renovated perfectly for the rough country with improved ride quality.
Long Arm vs. Short Arm Lift
If you want serious off-roading but confused about the “arms,” which is better? Short or long arm? If you install a quick arm, you do not have to do much modification, and you can drive off-road smoothly. But if you want to go one step ahead for more smooth driving off-road, a long arm lift is not that simple.
Your short-arm suspension system will do best in off-roading rather than the long arm. Although most people think that the long arm works better than the short arm, it is completely wrong.
Long arms are mostly useful in extreme rock crawling, but some say shot arm is also good for this situation. On the other hand, a long cape will cost you lots of money which you do not have to spend that much because you can do all of this with a short arm. A short arm saves you both money and time.
Budget of Lifting Kits
It would be best to look after your budget because you will get a kit at $500 to $2000 with suspension lift features for the body lifting. The more you play, the more complete and longer-lasting kit you will get. It also depends on why you want to lift your jeep wrangler.
If it is only for changing the looks, you do not need to concern about such things as you have to do to increase off-road capacity.
You also have to decide the tire size because different size tires need different size body lifts. For off-road, 35″ tires are best. But if you want to add more equipment, you have to spend more cash.
Driving Habit
If you are a regular on-road driver and want to use your jeep wrangler regularly, you do not have to change your driving habit that much. But if you want to drive in a rock-crushing off-road, you seriously need to think about your driving habits.
Because mountain road or slippery road requires hard drive and energetic brake knowledge, so lifting a jeep is not the only thing you have to consider. There are many things to change and moderate.
Tire Size
Tire size was the most important part when you were lifting your Jeep. The more you lift your Jeep, the bigger tire you will need. Lifting means it makes more space for your tire.
Although you do not need to lift your Jeep all time to add a larger tire, if you lift your jeep 1″, the tire size recommendation is 30″. For 2″ lifting, the tire size recommendation is 31″. Just like that, the more you lift, the larger tire you can add.
What is the Best Lift?
Those so many lifts, which is the best lift for your Jeep where you can drive on and off-road? Analyzing the lifts, my opinion is short arm lift is the best of all. You can do it at a cheap rate, and all you have to do is replace the shocks and axle gears.
Changing gear
Adding a new tire means you have to change some gears as well. When you increase the tire size, the engine needs more power to ride the jeep wrangler. Also, this revolution changes the axle gears too.
If you do not change any gears, the engine will run slow, and it gets excess pressure which decreases the validity. So, the axle’s gear should be upgraded for your larger tire. Also, the tire size should be matched with other components too.
Correct the speedometer
When you upgrade the tire and axle gear, the computer program, which maintains the speedometer, should be upgraded. It should be done correctly; otherwise, the performance will not up to the mark.
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