Best SA 4-5" Lift For Weekend Warrior / DD

Hello Naxja people,

I have about completed my repairs and mods to the drivetrain and body of my XJ and am finally ready to purchase a lift kit for running 33's. I have the JCR front bumper and bushwhacker flat style fender flares. A 4-5" lift is what I'm after (my woods shaft and SYE are sitting in the garage) for a no-rub 33's lift.

With all the mixed reviews of RE I have narrowed my choice now to Iron Rock Off Road or BDS Suspension - both seem to offer well engineered, Complete Kits with a good DD ride, yet capable offroad. Unless you can suggest others?

My usage is Daily drive up a winding, sometimes snowy/icy road to work 5 days a week, rarely exceeding 55mph due to tight &/ steep corners. Then do some trails and rocks on the weekend. I have read, looked and read more, and to be honest, I feel Less sure about what to go with now than when I began! Help?! Thank you.

Iron Rock doesn't even compare to BDS.

I'd go with BDS as a very well rounded, strong, and well built kit. Also has a great warranty.

sunburned said:

Iron Rock doesn't even compare to BDS.

I'd go with BDS as a very well rounded, strong, and well built kit. Also has a great warranty.

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It seems like a better kit, I'm tempted by the IRO stuff also because it looks well designed without the high price. I mean I could go long arm for the price of BDS short arm - Do you have BDS on your rig?

Thanks.

I've ran Rusty's and Rough Country short arm kits on several rigs now and liked the spring rates on the Rusty's leafpacks better. In my current rig I've got a mix of parts. RC lower arms and front springs from their 4.5" short arm kit, RE adjustable trac-bar w/ heim, RE 3.5" leaf springs, JKS boomerang rear shackles, bilstein 5150's all the way around, daystar extended front and rear bump stops, plus hockey pucks up front for additional bump stops. I'm running 35" tires and DD my rig plus wheel it almost every weekend. The only thing I want to change on the suspension is to go to adjustable uppers and lowers so I can push my axle forward. With non adjustable arms you tend to lose some WB.

Get a kit with all adjustable arms, but really I don't think the brand makes much of a difference on these short arm kits.

If you're going with short arms, get drop brackets. I ran 4.5" and 6" on short arms and it sucked. Now I'm at 5.5" on long arms, much better. As far as going Iron Rock long arm for the price of BDS short arm...search IRO on the mod tech forum. There's been a few threads debating the worth of their long arms. My only experience with IRO is my steering setup and I love it.

Oh, I thought you were talking BDS longarms. You didn't specify short-arms anywhere.

I agree, just plain shortarms with 4.5-5" of lift sucked. Longarms are way better, even for on-road ride.

I recently changed to the Haden fan clutch and it made a big difference.

As for your post I have long arms similar to the clayton kit and the ride is way way way better on and off road. I have a budget lift at 4.5"s and drove it for a year with short arms, it is my daily driver. The flex is much better with the long arms as well. In my opinion long arms are the way to go.

Alright then

Yea I have been reading until my eyes bleed hehe, it appears I should just STFU and go with a BDS Long Arm system right?

Their Long Arm is a true 4 link system which can flex to the moon with no binding like setups which tie Upper/Lower mounts on the axle together which equals major bind. IRO is on the right track with the 3 point linkage but I like the BDS 4 link even more. It is going to set me back a few more bucks but you get what you pay for right?



I have to admit, the warranty on BDS is great, any sag or broken parts to the original buyer and there is a No Fine Print warranty - free parts forever.

Should I just go for the BDS 6.5" Long Arm and never worry about rubs on the 33's? Thanks again to all for your replies - it is awesome to have such a choice in lift kits, but whoa what a maze! :looney:

Why are you gunning for a short arm lift?

I think it would just be easier to get a long arm now, so you don't have to go back and buy one later. Not unless you are really on a budget... If that's the case you can always get the springs/tracbar/steering/short arms and then later upgrade just the control arms.

EDIT: I would get closer to a 5" lift over a 6.5" lift... 6.5" seems a tad too big for 33s. Then again, I'm not a fan of huge lift kits.

I'm running 33s on 5.5 and trimmed fenders. I have room for 35s easy and could squeeze 37s without much work.

I love my Old Man Emu hybrid Setup From DPG off road
it was the 4" super Ultimate setup except he switched out the springs for G.C. ones to accommodate my bumper/winch weight and i added rear adj. bumps
( i think its listed as a 4-4.5" these days)

Dirk has GREAT service and despite what anyone says my S.A. Lift Rides Freaking Awesome . (yes ive ridden in a L.A. setup)
If i wanted to go any taller id go with a Long arm But to say that any S.A. kit will ride like trash is:bs:

I DD and Wheel mine and have had it for almost 2 years id say and I have Zero complaints
My rigs setup and geared for 33's but im currently running 31's until i need tires . ( i have trimmed the fenders a bit for the 33's and fitted and flexed a borrowed set of 33's)

Teufel Hunden said:

Why are you gunning for a short arm lift?

I think it would just be easier to get a long arm now, so you don't have to go back and buy one later. Not unless you are really on a budget... If that's the case you can always get the springs/tracbar/steering/short arms and then later upgrade just the control arms.

EDIT: I would get closer to a 5" lift over a 6.5" lift... 6.5" seems a tad too big for 33s. Then again, I'm not a fan of huge lift kits.

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Exactly man, I should just go Long arm and do it one time with no regrets right?

The only reason I was thinking of going 6.5" BDS is because I was concerned the next step down, the 4.5", would not be tall enough for a "no problem" lock to lock no rub 33's fit with bushwhacker flats.

That is really where I need the advice of you good people. I'm pretty sure my suspension is pretty sacked out now - and when I was under there today I noticed I have a dropped pitman arm! Where those stock ever? It has like a 3" drop!

My exhaust pipe was hitting the cross-member so I swapped in a Daystar poly xmsn mount and prothane motor mounts - my xmsn mount was rotted and my motor mounts were in pieces! But I digress; I really want to buy one good lift once! Can I run 33's with flexiness at 4.5" lift and bushy flats?

I agree that higher is not better and I really care about cornering for my drive to work everyday. My thanks to all you who have replied, Your input is greatly appreciated! :cheers:

It was livable with short arms at 4.5", but it's definitely better now with long arms. Short arms with drop brackets work great as well.

I had a friend who was running 5" and 35s with the old school Bushwhackers. You should be fine at 4.5" and 33s.

If you have trimmed your fenders for bushwacker flares, you should be fine with 33's and a 4.5" lift. I had a 4.5" RE lift and 32s and could flex like crazy. Just bumpstop a tad if you rub, no problem.

If you are willing to put up the dough, the BDS kit is apparently really nice. TnT also makes a great radius arm kit that tons of people run.

rockkrawler longarm kit and claytons kit are better than BDS's kit

X E Ryder said:

Exactly man, I should just go Long arm and do it one time with no regrets right?

The only reason I was thinking of going 6.5" BDS is because I was concerned the next step down, the 4.5", would not be tall enough for a "no problem" lock to lock no rub 33's fit with bushwhacker flats.

That is really where I need the advice of you good people. I'm pretty sure my suspension is pretty sacked out now - and when I was under there today I noticed I have a dropped pitman arm! Where those stock ever? It has like a 3" drop!

My exhaust pipe was hitting the cross-member so I swapped in a Daystar poly xmsn mount and prothane motor mounts - my xmsn mount was rotted and my motor mounts were in pieces! But I digress; I really want to buy one good lift once! Can I run 33's with flexiness at 4.5" lift and bushy flats?

I agree that higher is not better and I really care about cornering for my drive to work everyday. My thanks to all you who have replied, Your input is greatly appreciated! :cheers:

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I don't think a dropped pitman arm was ever stock. Although the previous owner could have lifted it and taken off the lift before he/she sold it.

If its your daily driver, you might want to get a set of 33x10.50 mall terrains, and later invest in some beefer 33x12.50 mud tires. It kills me to see guys spend over $1000 on mud tires only to use them a couple of times per year off-road... Just get some all terrains, and they will last you years and years on-road, and get you 90% of the places mud tires will. Although its not cheap to have 2 sets of tires, you could always get the best of both worlds and run an aggressive all terrain in a 10.50 width. But tire choice is another topic to be honest. Alot of it has to do with where you live, and how you intend on using your Jeepers.

4.5" Long Arm should be fine with 33s, specially if you trim your fenders a little bit, and get different flares.

Also, I prefer stiffer springs over the soft and flexy ones, specially if you're going to run tire with a lot of sidewall (ie 35x12.50r15). It just handles better on road. Not saying that Jeeps are intended for hauling ass (sorry Jeepspeed guys) but I've driven my fathers rig (06 Rubi LJ with 33s) and it feels like a freggin boat on wheels compared to my cherokee (with 3.5 RE springs and 255/70r16 all terrains). Wranglers are heavier than cherokees, which could be whats going on. But I have no issues going 50mph through the corners, and its a scary thing to do that in the LJ Rubi. And a little bit stiffer springs makes for a rig that will handle the backroads at speed a little bit better.

Stiff shocks make a huge difference. I ran 4.5" RE coils on stock shocks (redneck modded...), and it wallowed all over the place. Switched to RE shocks and it got a lot better. When those blew out less than a year later, I switched to Bilstein 7100s valved 360/80 (stiffest available on them is 400/100) and suddenly it cornered like stock again! Now with Deaver coils, it's better than stock.

Don't wate your money on whackers either reuse the stockers or get tj flares I ran 3" and 33's and used up 10" travel shocks no problem

Yes good advice for sure, and I think it will fit ok with the 4.5 and I'll try to do LA now and not worry it again.

Teufel Hunden said:

...I've driven my fathers rig (06 Rubi LJ with 33s) and it feels like a freggin boat on wheels compared to my cherokee (with 3.5 RE springs and 255/70r16 all terrains). Wranglers are heavier than cherokees, which could be whats going on. But I have no issues going 50mph through the corners, and its a scary thing to do that in the LJ Rubi. And a little bit stiffer springs makes for a rig that will handle the back-roads at speed a little bit better.

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Hehe that made me laugh - only because I have experienced the Boat On Wheels effect before! I have seen some guys run the 16 or 17" wheels with 33's but it does start to make the wheels tire combos Very heavy!

Darky, aye on the shocks, BDS said that as well - if you just run Hydros it might be plush but could lean a good amount - Nitros should toughen it up.

I don't know if I will get it all right on the first go, but I'm going to try!