Lift Straight Talk

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I'm looking for solid guidance on my lift. Please comment if you can.

There seems to be a lot of incomplete, conflicting, confusing and inaccurate information on the web, and in vendor lift kit instructions, regarding what to do and not do when lifting a Jeep. :mad:

I bought a 2002 Jeep TJ X last year. It was in great shape with only 54K miles on it. It was stock with no accident history and has 31 inch BF Goodrich TA radials on it. It ran great. No vibrations or other issues. Alignment was perfect and tire wear reflected that. My only issue was it looked like a "Barbie Jeep". I wanted to make it more manly looking and more suited for off-road capability. So I researched lift kits, etc. After a lot of studying and leveraging my decades of mechanical experience (some professional and some not) I decide on a 2 inch lift kit from Teraflex. The primary reasons for only 2 inches was to avoid getting too radical, and keep the center of gravity lower than what a higher lift would cause. I had read and heard that if you don't go higher than 2 inches you don't need to replace the stock track bars with adjustable ones, and you don't need to get a SYE and a replacement drive shaft. This is where things began to get wacky/wrong. :naw:

The Teraflex kit I bought only included springs, bump stop extensions and a bracket to reposition/remount the original rear track bar so that it would (hopefully) be in the right location after the lift was installed. The advertising and instructions stated that the kit "includes everything you need" for the lift. After measuring and contemplating the 2 inch lift (not installed yet) I realized that it was definitely going to shift the tracking of the axles off center and that I should consider installing adjustable track bars front and rear in order to adjust the suspension so that both axles could be properly and truly centered. So I ordered JKS adjustable track bars for front and rear. I also order Bilstein shocks all the way around and a robust steering stabilizer from Rough Country. Then I went to install everything. :cool:

First, I found that the Teraflex instructions are grossly incomplete. For example, they fail to tell you to disconnect the front anti-sway bar links so that you can drop the axle low enough to remove and replace the springs. Even if you use a spring compressor, you can't remove and replace the springs unless you disconnect the anti-sway bar links. The taller replacement springs, which are effectively the lift itself, are especially impossible to install if you don't drop the axle like this. Oddly, they do tell you to disconnect the rear anti-sway bar links. Then the Teraflex instructions tell you to drill a hole in the front track bar mount that is welded to the axle. If you follow their instructions you will wind up with a very nasty hole that partially overlaps the original hole resulting in an almost elliptical shaped, largely wobbled out hole which is a horrible situation to mount the track bar in. No wonder people report death wobble. Thankfully I had bought the adjustable track bars and could mount everything in the original holes without having to compromise the frame or axle mount points by drilling or removing metal. I got everything put together, centered both axles within 1/16th of an inch, made sure everything was lined up, lubed the chassis and took the Jeep for a test drive. The steering wheel is no longer centered/true, but I expected this due to the lift and change in angles. It needs an alignment as Teraflex indicates in their less than acceptable instructions. They are at least able to state the obvious. The Jeep tracks properly and does not pull to either side. However, it now has a noticeable vibration. :eek:

I'm thinking the vibration is due to the increased drive shaft angle and that I need to get a SYE and longer/better drive shaft. Many posts state this is not necessary while others state it is, all for the exact same Jeep year and model. How can that be? It's not like every individual Jeep of the exact same year and model were made differently. Jeep made them exactly the same way, same measurements, same parts, same manufacture process. Therefore you either need a replacement drive shaft and SYE, or you do not. This cannot possibly be ambiguous. This is all based on simple measurements and simple mechanics. The aggregate of statements on forums and other web media make this all sound otherwise, like everything is based on variable opinions, black magic and voodoo. But that can't be right. If you have a stock 2002 Jeep TJ X model and you put a 2 inch suspension lift on it you either need a new rear drive link, or you do not. This is a basic fact and basic logic. It is not based on throwing down chicken bones and bat toes to see what happens. So which is it? :thinking:

Thanks for any comments.
 
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Companies to trust:

JKS, Synergy, Offroad Evolution, Rancho, Superlift, Daystar, Dynatrac

Companies to stay away from:
Teraflex, Metalcloak, Rough Country, Steer Smarts, etc


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Thanks very much. I just found the RECOMMENDED Jeep Parts & Accessories threads. Wish I had signed up on WAYALIFE before I bought Teraflex. Any ideas on the drive line topic?
 
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Thanks very much. I just found the RECOMMENDED Jeep Parts & Accessories threads. Wish I had signed up on WAYALIFE before I bought Teraflex. Any ideas on the drive line topic?

Many people run Adams driveshaft and haven’t had any issues, but Eddie also recently had issues with his driveshaft from them. He then found it way cheaper to use his local driveline shop, which I would investigate next time I need a new one.
 
you can do a transfer case drop until you get the slip yoke eliminator kit.
you can lower your transfer case 1/2 to 1 inch and get rid of most of the vibrations.
 
you can do a transfer case drop until you get the slip yoke eliminator kit.
you can lower your transfer case 1/2 to 1 inch and get rid of most of the vibrations.

The cost of that in most cases is about the same as a SYE. Not sure why anybody would ever want to drop their transfercase down. All that does is eat up any ground clearance they gained by lifting it.


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The cost of that in most cases is about the same as a SYE. Not sure why anybody would ever want to drop their transfercase down. All that does is eat up any ground clearance they gained by lifting it.


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T-case drop is much cheaper than SYE and CV driveshaft. Especially if you make your own. They’re not that complicated. It’s just to get by until it can be done the right way.

Ground clearance losses are negligible because until he does a tummy tuck that cross member is hanging low anyway.



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I have a 2002 TJ X just like you OP, 3 inch zone suspension lift and transfer case drop installed by previous owner, zero vibrations or issues other than a somewhat bumpy ride.
 
I didn’t read your whole book but a budget lift and shocks don’t need anything. No tcase drop no trackbars no sye. If you’re having issues adjust your front caster cam bolts and align toe in a bit. I ran a 4” rough country lift without a sye with no vibrations. If you’re getting rotational vibes inspect your u joints for stiffness and tire balance.


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myself personally , I like the Skyjacker budget kits for the TJ's . has control arms, springs, shocks, relocation bracket and the t-case drop.... all for probably less then the paid for the teraflex kit. but I do always add a front adjustable track bar on top of this kit.
 
What you really NEED is to install an SYE and adjustable rear upper control arms to set your pinion angle. Here's a write-up I did for this years ago:

http://4x4xplor.com/SYE-CV.html

While you can get by with a t-case drop, I would NOT recommend it. Depending on how much lift you actually got (TeraFlex coils tend to yield WAY MORE than is advertised), the drop may not be enough to mitigate driveline vibes. You could install a 1" motor mount lift to help but really, why pay so much money to lift your Jeep only to drop the one point you're trying to raise up right back to where you started from. Personally, the whole idea of a t-case drop is stupid. But then, that's just me.
 
What you really NEED is to install an SYE and adjustable rear upper control arms to set your pinion angle. Here's a write-up I did for this years ago:

http://4x4xplor.com/SYE-CV.html

While you can get by with a t-case drop, I would NOT recommend it. Depending on how much lift you actually got (TeraFlex coils tend to yield WAY MORE than is advertised), the drop may not be enough to mitigate driveline vibes. You could install a 1" motor mount lift to help but really, why pay so much money to lift your Jeep only to drop the one point you're trying to raise up right back to where you started from. Personally, the whole idea of a t-case drop is stupid. But then, that's just me.

My exact thoughts. It's like those stupid control arm drop brackets you can buy. It's like you're lifting your Jeep only to un-lift it at the same time :naw:
 
What you really NEED is to install an SYE and adjustable rear upper control arms to set your pinion angle. Here's a write-up I did for this years ago:

http://4x4xplor.com/SYE-CV.html

While you can get by with a t-case drop, I would NOT recommend it. Depending on how much lift you actually got (TeraFlex coils tend to yield WAY MORE than is advertised), the drop may not be enough to mitigate driveline vibes. You could install a 1" motor mount lift to help but really, why pay so much money to lift your Jeep only to drop the one point you're trying to raise up right back to where you started from. Personally, the whole idea of a t-case drop is stupid. But then, that's just me.

Thanks very much for your suggestion, and your web site, and your videos. Much appreciated.
 
Update

Here's an update with details so that other newbies may learn. This is the lift I bought: https://www.extremeterrain.com/teraflex-2-lift-kit-w-o-tj-1141200.html

The lift ended up being 2.75 inches after two weeks of settling in my case. I don't mind the extra 3/4 inch. The kit is sold as "everything you need" and that's not true. You can't get the axle alignment set properly unless you also buy adjustable track bars front and rear. Teraflex instructions tell you to drill a hole in your front axle bracket to reposition the OEM front track bar. This is a bad idea. In my case it would have resulted in an oblong hole widening the original hole and making a weak/dangerous mount point for the bar. The bracket they provide for the rear track bar does not allow for proper positioning and will result in misaligned axles. The rear bolt on bracket they provide also results in a much weaker attachment compared to the OEM welded bracket. Additionally, to get it right you have to buy adjustable rear upper control arms so that you can get the rear driveshaft pinion angle right. Teraflex instructions imply that the angle of the bolt on bracket they provide is sufficient to do what adjustable control arms will do. It is not. It puts all the stress on the wonky bracket they provide, off to one side of the axle while simultaneously being flimsy and weak. It creates a failure point that is weaker than stock and will miss-align the axle, while you are trying to raise and strengthen your Jeep. The instructions were also missing major steps like the fact that you have to disconnect the front anti sway bar links in order to have room to replace the springs. The lift also created a dangerous drive line vibration that requires a SYE and longer/better driveshaft to resolve. If you get this kit plan to buy the other parts I mention here and do it right so that you don't wind up with a death wobble machine. I have not driven it enough yet to comment on the springs but they appear to be slightly heavier duty than stock and the protective coating appears to be solid and thick.

As mentioned in the tread above, I would also/now stay away from Teraflex, and I did not find "Extreme Terrain" helpful. Your best help and guidance is going to be a few people on this form and others who have done all this before. Thanks to all who have provided meaningful comments.
 
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