But really is it worth lifting your jeep? Isn’t it causing any problems?
Short answer is lifting a jeep wrangler will be worth it ,if you do it in the proper way. There are pros like increasing the off roading capability. As well as cons like decreasing the riding quality and being more prone to rollover.
Let’s talk about all of these facts in depth. This guide will be very helpful for your research before lifting your jeep.
Contents
What are the benefits of lifting a jeep?
With lifting a jeep you will get exactly extra space for fitting bigger tires. With bigger tires and/ or with the lift kit, you will get extra ground clearance. This ground clearance is very useful for off roading purposes.
Larger tires will increase the traction in off roading trails. Reduce the bogging in mud or sand trails than a normal tire.
Next thing is you will get more space for wheel travel. With this extra flexing ability jeep gets more capable of beating uneven off road terrains easily.
Can improve the handling of the jeep. (with extra costs.)
Last but not least it will give a rugged look to the jeep among other vehicles on the road.
According to the above facts, you can see that most of the benefits of a lift kit are taken by off-roaders. Yah, that’s true.
With the increase of ground clearance off roaders can easily drive over rocks, logs or roots of large trees and humps easily.
Probability of damaging vulnerable parts under the jeep is also reduced than a jeep without a lift kit.
Off roaders can drive through much deep water crossings without hydrolocking the engine or damaging the electronics with lifting the jeep.
Even if the off roaders can get a lot of benefits with lifting their jeeps there are also many downsides of lifting.
Let’s see what they are.
Are lift kits bad for jeeps? problems caused by lifting
Yes actually there are some problems caused with lifting jeeps.
With lift kits the center of gravity of the jeep goes up. With that jeeps can roll over more easily than a stock jeep. You may have to set up anti roll bars.
Angles of driving shafts can change with the lifting. That can cause wear and tear problems more easily than a stock jeep.
Larger tires put high strains on axles, steering and drive trains. Because of that they can easily break or cause wear and tear problems easily.
With larger tires, you have to replace the brake system for better stopping. The stock brake lines and brake pads may not be able to stop your jeep safely or they will wear out faster.
If you fit larger tires after lifting the jeep the speedometer indications also change. They will not show the correct speed. You have replace or modify them also.
Gear shifting points can be changed with larger tires. So you have to set them up again correctly.
With lift kits and larger tires you may not feel comfortable when driving on highways or tarmac roads.
Handling also can be reduced with lifting. Death wobble is a common issue with improper liftings.
But handling can improve with adding extras. Problem is these things can cost you a lot of time and money.
With huge lift kits and tires it may be hard to get in and out of the jeep. Specially for ladies and children.
Does lifting a jeep affect gas mileage?
Yes reduction of gas mileage is one of the main downsides of lifting and putting larger tires.
These larger tires create huge extra friction force when rolling. These huge wheels add extra weight to the overall jeep weight.
So that engine has to produce extra power to compensate above needs.
With that gas mileage reduced. If you are a daily commuter this extra gas cost can be much higher rather than using stock tires.
Do lift kits and large wheels always cause the wobble in jeeps?
No, properly installed lift kits and well balanced larger tires don’t cause death wobble in jeeps, due to the lift kits. But worn out steering components or any other defect can cause death wobble.
Death wobble is the shaking of the steering wheel back and forth after hitting an imperfect point on the road at high speeds.
This can be caused due to many reasons even in a jeep without lift kits.
Unbalanced wheels, not properly aligning steering components, worn out or loose steering components and problems in suspension components.
Death wobble is not solely caused by lift kits or larger tires. It relates with jeep’s solid front axle system.
Things to consider before lifting your jeep
Above mentioned things are the main pain points associated with jeep lifting and larger tires.
From those things handling, speedometer and gear shifting problems can easily re correct with consulting an expert on this field.
But the major downside will be the higher cost. To lift a jeep properly, put larger tires and re correct gear ratios like things can cost you a lot of money.
With the larger tires and lift, mechanical parts of the jeep will wear and tear quickly. So you may have to replace parts frequently.
So my advice is it’s better to think whether you can afford these costs without debts, before lifting.
That’s one of the main fact.
What amount of lift will work better for your jeep?
To decide the amount of lifting height you have to go through below facts.
Think about the sole purpose of lifting your jeep.
Sometimes it may be just for the look in your case.
Or else you have to deal with off-roading terrains frequently or you are going to do a lot of off-roading.
After thinking about the purpose you can plan what kind of lift I actually needed for my jeep.
If it’s just for the look or looking for doing an small amount of off-roading, it’s better to stay in the limit of 2 – 3 inch lifts.
If you are going for much higher lifts like 4inch or more then you have to spend more money to correct the geometry problems and other maintenances.
Can I put bigger tires on my jeep without a lift?
Yes technically you can put larger tires up to 33″ without any lift kits or modifications in your jeep wrangler. Stock jeeps have enough spacing for this size of tires.
But this is not good for off road flexing. With these large tires they can easily rub with fenders while off roading.
This will work just fine for highway ridings. Not for off-roading.
is a 2″ lift worth it for a jeep?
Yes 2″ lift worth for a jeep which is used mostly for day today works and off roading to some extent.
Most important thing is that with a 2″ lift you may not need to re-correct the geometry and drivelines of the jeep.
With a 2″ lift you can go for a maximum of 32″ tire size without any major problems. If you are going to put all terrain tires 32″ is also works fine.
But the best tire size will be 31″ for a 2″ lift. Especially if they are mud tires 31″ will be best.
With this lift you will get more loading capacity, more ground clearance and increased entry,departure angles than a stock jeep.
You can improve handling of the jeep. So you can go for a 2″ lift without breaking the bank while getting more benefits.
If you want to put bigger tires than 32 without any issues, then you have to lift your jeep for about 3.5″ to 4″
How long does it take to lift a jeep?
Well this depends on many things. But maximum in 8 hours you can install a lift kit.
But if you have the proper tools, equipment and also if you don’t have to deal with lots of rust, lifting can be done in about 4 to 5 hours.
How long does a lift kit lasts
A good aftermarket lift kit can last the same as or more longer than a stock suspension. This highly depends on the way you use your jeep and the quality of aftermarket products you use.
Final word..
I hope this guide may be helpful for you in your way of deciding to lift your jeep or not.
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