Jeep TJ Lift Kit

Cary&Angela

New member
I looked, and wasn't able to find any threads on lift kits for the TJ s. I was planning on using the Old Man EMU 3", but after talking to the folks at my local 4x4 shop, they suggest the Rough Country "X" series kit. The salesman felt that the RC would work better for my TJ considering the added load of the heavier bumpers, frig., blue thumper and such. Can anyone comment that has had personal experience with either of these?
 

Beowulf

Expedition Leader
Do not listen to them. You will not find anything better than that OME stuff. I have researched this many times and talked to many people. What kind of load do you want to handle? With the OME stuff you can completely customize what you want. I run the ZJ OME front coils and the LJ rear coils. This is for an LJ, but if you were running a really heavy rear bumper and the hard top it would work perfectly for the TJ. If not just use the ZJ coils up front and the TJ HD coils in the rear. The shocks are all the same. You do not need the long travel shocks. Just the normal ones.

If you are wondering why the ZJ coils, it is because those were designed for the heavier V8 Grand Cherokees and are the same height as the TJ coils.

I have put over 120k on this setup and it has worked perfectly. Far better than stock. It will let you run 33's depending on your backspacing. I am running 255's on AEV wheels with 4.63" backspacing. Stock Moab rims are 5".
 

redveloce

Adventurer
Agreed that they don't know what they're talking about. The X-Series springs are progressive and have a very soft ride. The shocks are stiff as hell though, so if they try to tell you the lift is firm, that's why.
 

Dools

Wanderer
I have OME in my 03 Rubi for about 4 years now, rides great and never had an issue. Offroad it is like a cadillac! Worth the money and if I had your choice, OME all the way!
 

KellyM

Adventurer
I have an OME 2.5" lift (OME coils, shocks and SS, and JKS track bars and discos) on my 06 TJ and it handles the loads for multiday expo trips very well. My loads include a heavy bumper and tire carrier with two jerry cans, camping and other gear and a Garvin Wilderness roof rack. I have the HD coils in the rear and regular in the front since I have a stock front bumper and no winch. If I had to do it over again, I would have gone with HD in the front as well, mostly for future mods and to level the Jeep. It has been a great set up for me. It rides well on the road and is fantastic on the dirt. Currently running 31s on the stock Moab wheels. It is a great set up with 33s, but I am going to switch to a JKUR in the next year, so I will live with the 31s. Let us know what you choose.
 

1stDeuce

Explorer
My limited experience with the X kit (from 4x4 club members in MI that were running it a few years ago) is that the springs are WAY soft and the shocks are pretty stiff. Good combination for flexing well, and riding good on the trail, but I think OME has them beat for handling loads and remaining well behaved on the highway. (Soft springs = handling not so sweet when loaded, even if the shocks are on the stiff side...) I have NEVER heard anyone badmouthing OME suspension, excepting people who wanted more lift and were disappointed that OME doesn't offer a 4" kit. I would consider the OME kits more suspension enhancement than just "lift kit". They understand vehicle dynamics, load distribution, ride frequency, etc.

For comparison, I'm running the second stiffest TJL rear springs with Nth Degree (now AEV) coil re-locators and what amounts to a ZJ V8 front spring with an extra rubber isolator for an XJ, which stacks well with the TJ isolator. (For some reason the XJ isolators stack and the TJ ones don't.) I'm running factory gas shocks, but I'm bucking up for OME's this summer because I'm sick of the ones I have. (Too stiff!) My rates are very comparable to the HD OME rates, and load is not a problem, nor is flex!

Chris
 

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