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This is because i've read that RE are the best quality ( was looking at rough country / rustys at first but saw that many people complained bout the quality )
But the lift dosn't come with any shocks, and i gotta have some shocks
My ride is a DD, mostly on road but i do some offroading several times a month. I'd like a smooth ride with expension that soaks up bumbs and such.
Welcome buddy! I know few people here with quadratec and had no complain but most people here especially serious off roader prefer brands with high quality and complete set such as Skyjacker, Pro Comp and Tuff Country are few, compare their sets at Truck Shock Absorbers
The RE shocks you linked are supposed to be pretty good.
I don't know if Frank ships international, but check out www.Seriousoffroadproducts.com.
I bought the Bilstein 5100 set from him for about the same price and couldn't be happier.
I run the RE lift with the Bilstein 5100s and i can tell you its going to ride rougher than stock. I don't think there is a lift out there that will be a smooth as stock. If you want to smooth out your ride purchase a set of drop brackets for the lower control arms and install same time as your lift. I would also suggest an SYE and adjustable control arms to set your front pinion angle? Are all of these required to run the RE lift? No, but with out all of these things you will have some vibes.
Secondly, I'd like to commend your post. You seem to have a better grasp of English and its associated punctuation, syntax, and spelling than many native-born Americans do. I don't know if learning English is commonplace in Sweden, but you communicate very well, all things considered.
Now, on to your questions...
RE is indeed a terrific choice, and one of the highest rated "common" brands. There are smaller companies that make very good lift kits, but as far as major brands go, its hard to do better than Rubicon Express. I would also recommend Old Man Emu.
I'll also second the suggestion to contact Serious Offroad about the possibility of international shipping. With that kind of shipping involved, it may make a difference, but for those of us in the US, it is often found that Quadratec's prices are higher than other vendors.
I can't speak to the quality of RE shocks, but I know Bilstein 5100 series are very popular. You may also look at Doetsch shocks. Based on what I've read they are considered to be about 85%-90% as good as Bilsteins, but for less money.
Thank you all for the welcoming, i looks like i'll be hanging around with this much activity!
I've read that bilstein is supposed to be sweet, but since the xj is so lightweight the ride gets very stiff, just like you said beast.
I've also read that you should get a SYE/CV or atleast have a transfer case drop. But then i've read so many people that lifted like 5-6 inches without any problems at all, also that the 97 model of XJ and onward have a diffrent driveshaft ( i hope this is the right word xD ) then previous years, which makes it more sensetive.
Being a "ok" mechanic but with zero experience with jeep and modding them, i thought that i'll just lift and see, maybe i'll be OK maybe i'll have to do some more stuff.
Thank you macgyver, yeah we had english when i was in school, dunno how much attention i paid tho xD
I've read that OME is supposed to be nice, but havent found any liftkits from them that goes more then 2-3".
So if i shouldn't but from quad, where should i buy from? 4wd.com? 4wheelparts?
I was typing on my tablet last night so sorry for the poorly written response! I wish I could have talked to a Jeep "expert" who had lifted their Jeep so that they could tell me what I was getting into when I purchased my RE 3.5 SuperRide lift in April. To lay it down for you this is how I did it - if I could do it again, I definitely would have planned it out better and simply installed the parts at once.
>Purchased complete RE 3.5 SuperRide kit, with Bilstein 5100s all around, and installed that with basic 1" transfer case drop. I had rear drivershaft vibes with the TC drop. Not terrible, but definitely vibrations that would cause damage over time.
Cost: $585 for the RE kit, $72/per for the Bilstein shocks (so $288 roughly), $20 for Rockstar TC Drop. I researched extensively for an OEM type shock that I could purchase from Advance Auto or otherwise, but didn't have much luck. I think you can purchase Monroe SensaTrac shocks in the right length for the RE 3.5 lift (a budget stock shock sold at many auto parts stores that other Jeepers have mixed reviews about, some say soft as stock, some say crap, especially if you wheel hard) and modify the ends to fit the XJ but I decided I didn't want to bother with that.
>Bit the bullet and purchased and installed an Adam's CV rear Driveshaft w/Advanced Adapters SYE kit for my np231, and 4* shims for the rear axle from Iron Rock Off Road. This cured my rear vibrations, but threw off my front pinion angle enough were I was getting minor vibrations from the front driveshaft. Again, the vibes were not terrible and I think most people might have left it alone, but it drove me nuts.
Cost: $430 for driveshaft and SYE kit from Adam's, and $38 for the shims (these prices include shipping)
>The fixed short lower control arms that come with RE 3.5 kit make for a bone jarring ride due to the poor angles. I didn't understand this when I lifted my Jeep, but basically as you lift the frame, the control arms that attach to the axle, become more angled. What this does is force the axle back/up into the frame when you hit bumps in the road, instead of pushing the axle directly up into the shocks to absorb bumps. Additionally, my steering was very squirrely after the lift, the control arm brackets can fix this by returning your control arms back to stock angles. I installed control arm drop brackets from Rough Country that I purchased used from another forum member local to me, they SIGNIFICANTLY improved the harshness of the ride up front, and improved handling. IF YOU BUY DROP BRACKETS, PLAN ON BUYING ADJUSTABLE CONTROL ARMS AS WELL (See below).
Cost: $120 aftermarket (new these brackets run about $190)
>The drop brackets made my front pinion angle even worse (it was already bad) which was causing me even more vibes than when I first lifted the Jeep. I recently finally sucked it up and purchased adjustable upper and lower control arms from Iron Rock Off Road which I will be installing soon. This should fix my pinion angle because I will be able to manually adjust the lengths of the arms until my front driveshaft angle is correct (versus with fixed arms you are stuck with one length) and I really hope I will be done with this lift after that!
Cost: $330
Long story short - I wish I had spent more time truly figuring out what I was getting into before I lifted my Jeep. I am certain that I still would have lifted it. I just would have much rather had all the knowledge I do now so that I could have better budgeted and collected all of the parts first so I could install at once. My lift has been a trial-and-error process and I have learned a lot, but I also spent countless hours having to redo things I could have done just once!
If I could do it again, as another person said, unless you are planning to run a winch, aftermarket bumpers, etc., I would purchase separate springs with a lower spring rate to go with your lift. I have also heard Old Man Emu shocks are the smoothest, but they are hard to find anymore since they have discontinued selling a lot of OME products (as far as I could tell). I think Rocky Off Road still sells OME stuff. The RE springs and Bilstein shocks will be fine (they definitely are heavy duty) but will not be a smooth ride.
Hope this helps you!
Just adding some pictures for fun!
Pre-lift and paint job (was a craiglist special jeep):
Post-lift and paint job:
Last edited by beasticles; 09-12-2014 at 08:50 AM.
09-11-2014, 12:25 PM
Which shocks to go with my 4.5 RE lift?
