My buddy has an 04 WJ. It rides like a Cadillac. He's on 1" blocks and 32" AT's.

I'm on 3" rustys lift with adj lower control arms. 31" AT's. rides like a dump truck on train tracks. End of this month it's getting U joints, ball joints and hubs. Doubt it will deal with expansion joints and rough city streets any better though.

Could my lift contribute to the harshness? CA angle? It's not a huge deal to me just curious why they ride so completely different.

 

Extra weight. Spring rates, Weight distribution. Shocks

 

Didn't the WJ have coil springs in the back as opposed to leafs? Coils tend to ride a bit smoother from my experience.

 

All grands have coil springs front and rear,How does he have lift blocks when he has coil springs?Do you mean coil spacers?

 

I'm thinking it's coil spacers aka budget boost. The grand is riding on stock springs. Most after market lift spring give a higher rate spring to compensate for extra 4x gear. Bumpers, winches roof racks etc.

 

Yeah he's on spacers.

The higher spring rate makes sense. I suppose better ride quality is a great excuse for a winch bumper haha

 

everything said plus ifs

 

He's on a Dana 30 front axle if I'm not mistaken

 

Should be, IFS didn't arrive until '05 with the WK. Reasons for reduced ride quality are the things like spring rate, vehicle weight, tire size and inflation, shock valving and travel and wheelbase. For the latter, WJ enjoys a 4.5" longer wheelbase which makes a pretty big difference in ride quality. Wranglers sit at ~93.5" which is why they are notoriously uncomfortable on pavement. The closer the two ends of your vehicle are together the more they act in unison, this has a tendency to amplify the transmission of harsh suspension movement into the cabin.

 

Yeah the zj and wj both have solid axles front and rear.To me the grands ride better because of the rear coils and the seats are more comfy then a xjs seats.F1 does have a point the grands are a little bigger and heavier then a xj also.

 

I have 3 cars/suv's to compare the OP question with an 04 GC "Overland". 99 XJ with 3" Rustys lift increased to 4 1/2" now loaded out, with a 33x12:50x15 tire and a 2013 Lincoln Town Car also on 17's.


The TC does ride a bit better than my WJ because of the WB on it being longer and more seating room overall. That said the 04 WJ rides almost as well and has all the options that the TC has plus a few more in fact. Mine came with a D30/D44 with Var-Lok Progressive differentials in both. Mine is completely stock and rides on 235/65R/17's from factory.


The XJ rides ok but I used a good set of shocks Bilstein 5100's and my extra weight helps a bit also on/off road not all that bad at all. But wouldn't count as a DD like I do my GC for longer trips the way its built for mostly off road.

 

One of the reasons i posted about ride quality is my jeep is gonna be a baby toting daily driver in a few months. I've looked into some sound deadening and sound isolation products and will probably go down that route soon.

I've read about long arms riding really soft due to their flatter angles and long travel. But I haven't seen a long arm setup any lower that 4.5" and I'd like to stay at 3" for as long as possible. 5100's are on the short list of mods. Hopefully they help out a lot.

 

You'll find that heavier vehicles ride better.

That's why when you ride in your grandfather's heavy Cadillac, and you drive over a railroad track, you don't even feel it.

 

Can't say I totally agree with this my 1980 cutlass rides like a land yacht with a curb weight of 3900 pounds!! My Fathers 1976 cutlass s weighs around 5100 curb weight and rides a lot stiffer still nice but stiffer and the 76 is a non rust belt all new suspension all bushings replaced while my 80 has new springs new shocks and is from the great lakes area. I will say this isn't completely false but not totally true.

 

The quality of your 3" lifts ride will depend a lot on the leafs and coil quality of the kit. This was another reason I went with the Rustys 3" lift the length of the leafs and 2 different coil rates for the front in addition to being made in NA, aside from the cost full kit $438 complete.