Need advice on 2" budget boost

[Bnine]

I am not a fan of budget boosts. They have a tendency to over compress the coil springs, and quickly degrade back to no lift at all. Essentially they are a waste of time and money.

I build a lot of jeeps. What I try to recommend is that you do quality components in stages, so that you only buy one type of component once.

In your case, I would start with something like a savvy t-case tuck system, and a raised gas tank skid.

This will add almost 3 inches of clearence at the belly, 1" to the gas tank skid,  and enough clearence to run 33" tires,. Going from a stock mtr to a 33 inch tire would make for a total clearence gain of almost 4 inches at the belly, and almost 3 inches at the tank.

With all that said, you would still be left with good stock suspension road manners and offroad handling geometry.

Later down the road when you are ready to do a bit more, you can upgrade the suspension in stages.

The above armor/tuck/motor mount/body lift system is more money then a budget boost, but it is much better performing system then something as simple as a low tech budget boost.

Feel free to PM me if you want more info on the various options of building your rig.

You can find Savvy offroad here.

http://savvyoffroad.com/

[Slewfoot]

Your budget boost would help...and as hps4evr said, a high clearance belly pan would help too. But so would a winch...were you planning on replacing the shocks? and staying at 2" for now?

Yes. I'd planned on replacing the shocks as well (RE budget boost kit - comes with shocks) and staying at 2"...until this winter at least...adding other bolt-on mods (winch, bumpers, onboard air, etc.) in the mean time, and then come back to the lift height/tires.

I am not a fan of budget boosts. They have a tendency to over compress the coil springs, and quickly degrade back to no lift at all. Essentially they are a waste of time and money.

I never considered this .  I'd thought that I'd be able to revert back to stock...though I did pick up the kit already a couple days ago, I may not use it now , in light Bnine's of over-compressing the springs info.

Bnine, I will PM you in the next couple days - thanks for the offer, and the link.

[BlackAura]

This will add almost 3 inches of clearence at the belly, 1" to the gas tank skid,  and enough clearence to run 33" tires,. Going from a stock mtr to a 33 inch tire would make for a total clearence gain of almost 4 inches at the belly, and almost 3 inches at the tank.

Hmmm, I'm a little confused, I was under the impression that you couldn't run more than a 31" tire without some kind of a lift?  (I might be wrong as I'm still new to this, but I can find some citations if required)

[JackstandJohnny]

k i'm just giong to ask.

Bill, why does a spring spacer do that?

[parabs]

Hmmm, I'm a little confused, I was under the impression that you couldn't run more than a 31" tire without some kind of a lift?  (I might be wrong as I'm still new to this, but I can find some citations if required)

it depends on your application.

AEV has a kit that raises your fenders, and you can run a 34" tire on a stock jeep.

I have never tried this, but I think you could probably run a 32.5" (ish) tire on your jeep provided it isnt over 10" wide on your stock rims, but you may have problems as well depending on where you go and how you drive it...and not many like the look of pizza cutters on a jeep.  If you are handy with a utility knife, you could probably go wider.  This little statement is vague and up to interpretation, and can (and likely will) be argued successfully.

I currently have a set of 32x11.5's on my stock ride height tj (with 12x kms) without rubbing or any complications (sway bar connected), and I know I would be able to fit a 33x12.5 on and I wont have issues, however this is mainly due to the wheels, and the offset of those wheels and the flares I am running.  My net gain is 1" of ground clearance and my trade off is worse fuel economy then stock and a higher rotating mass which has a negative effect on component longevity.  

Bill is referenced on this site that the biggest tire you should run stock is the tire you have as seen here.  

I agree, however there are factors at play here as well.  For example, IMHO it is impossible to say that 31x10.5's will fit all jeeps because from stock not all jeeps had the same wheels or offsets.  Case in point, the "gambler" 15x8 wheels had a different offset then the Canyon and the Ravine 15x8's, however (off the top of my head) I believe the gambler has the same offset as your 16x8 rubi wheels...and so on...and that does not touch on the topic of the varieties of 15x7 wheels from stock.

but back to the OP, I made the same error, I wanted a small lift, bought a 2" BB, read, was alarmed, read some more, and sold what I bought.  99% of the time, cheap = poor quality junk.  

Buy this and buy some used tires in a 31 or 32" variety and you will be off to a good start......



-=edit=-

I re-read your original post, what do you mean by "progressive approach"?  what is your goal?  That 2" OME kit may not be worth it..I posted that thinking that you wanted to lift your LJ 2" total...but that was perhaps an incorrect assumption on my part..

[Bnine]

The belly kit I linked is a complete system including an honest 1.25 inch body lift and a 1 inch motor mount lift in conjunction with the tummy tuck, engine skid and crossmembers.

1.25 inch body lift is enough clearence gain to run a 33 inch tire with some bumpstoping.

Budget boosts don't usually adjust the bumpstops John. Betwen that and the fact that stock springs are such light duty it leads to almost immediate sag, negating the original gain from the bb.

I've done a 4 inch lift where I pulled 3 inches of spacer and at the end of the job the jeep went up an additional 3 inches!!!

[BlackAura]

Wow, parabs, you had some great information there, thanks for the post!  I think for now I'm going to stick with the 31" tires I have, and the stock suspension.  It does everything I need it to do, and I can save money for a full suspension lift, track bar, body lift, bigger tires, etc. all at once later on.
(first I have a few other things I want though, I'm thinking Brink's rock sliders (with nerf bars, aka tube steps) and some Bushwacker flat fenders would be nice)

The belly kit I linked is a complete system including an honest 1.25 inch body lift and a 1 inch motor mount lift in conjunction with the tummy tuck, engine skid and crossmembers.

1.25 inch body lift is enough clearence gain to run a 33 inch tire with some bumpstoping.

Thanks Bnine!  That makes a bit more sense, I didn't click into the link you had posted, and just thought the skid plate lifts you had mentioned were all that it did, not an actual body lift.


Sorry I hijacked your post, Slewfoot!

...now back to your original programming...

[Slewfoot]

but back to the OP, I made the same error, I wanted a small lift, bought a 2" BB, read, was alarmed, read some more, and sold what I bought.  99% of the time, cheap = poor quality junk. 

I'm at that same place now - I really don't want to put the BB in, be happy, then lose the lift and be disappointed.

I re-read your original post, what do you mean by "progressive approach"?  what is your goal?  That 2" OME kit may not be worth it..I posted that thinking that you wanted to lift your LJ 2" total...but that was perhaps an incorrect assumption on my part..

Honestly, I don't know how high I want to go - I figured that a BB would be a good 'temporary' lift to get a feel for my ultimate goal.  That's what I meant by progressive...kinda stick my toe in the water first before dropping thousands of $$$ (lift + tires + body lift, etc.)

Sorry I hijacked your post, Slewfoot!

You didn't hijack it BlackAura - it's all great information.

[Bnine]

As long as you are doing the labor yourself, its not going to hurt to throw that bb in for while. You just wouldnt want to pay to have it installed, because it will sag with time depending on how much you wheel.

[ornamental]

As long as you are doing the labor yourself, its not going to hurt to throw that bb in for while. You just wouldnt want to pay to have it installed, because it will sag with time depending on how much you wheel.

Bill   , can you clarify?  its not the BB that sags stock springs, its that the BB allows the springs to overcompress when wheeling.  if you didnt add extra bumb stop?

and to the OP,  OME makes a great little lift

[Slewfoot]

and to the OP,  OME makes a great little lift

I met with Bill last night - what a great discussion!  Thanks again Bill

I now have an progressive, long-term plan/path, which includes Old Man Emu   I believe I will need to take some pics to document the build.

[rosko]

Cool... you planning something interim or just saving up to go big?

There are some kits state-side (Skyjacker is one, I believe) that offer 2" shocks & longer springs (not spacers) for about the same price as the bb is here.

Again, I think the key is labor as mentioned. I certainly would have thought different if it wasn't my own sweat equity.

Good luck!

[Slewfoot]

Well, in a nut shell I am avoiding the budget boost and other interim components but rather going straight to long-term, permenant, components...not all at once, but in managable steps.  Lots of Savvy parts to take advantage of the lighter aluminum rather than heavy steel .  By all accounts I've read, the aluminum alloy Savvy uses is as tough as steel .

I don't wanna get too deep into the build when that belongs under build ups