Hello from Central Florida

Hi folks! Living in Bartow for now. Got introduced to KJs when I rented one in 2003 while living in OH. I later worked for WVDOH when I was assigned another KJ as a field car. Took that state Jeep places that made a County Supervisor weep. Later moved to Bartow, and needed a second vehicle as my Grand Am was becoming unreliable.

Bought a 2002 KJ Limited in 2017, and got baptized into the Rescue Jeep Club (read pouring money into replacing worn parts, most things sorted out & I have a cash reserve in case some component that has many parts flying in close formation grenades). Son wants to install a Frankenlift, and it's tempting.

Welcome Randy
Lots of things you can do to a KJ
as far as lifts, just go OME 927/948 combo on springs then either bilstein or OME shocks ( of course longer shocks for the rear depending...........
Frankenlift is a great kit but will put you 4 inches or better and will need JBA UCAs as well then have some spring/UCA contact until very well broken in then you'll want to get larger tires, then you need to regear , then,........LOL
927/948 combo will give you a solid 2.5 inches of lift over new stock

Doesn't sound like it had been very well taken care of if you are needing to replace a lot of parts

tommudd said:

Doesn't sound like it had been very well taken care of if you are needing to replace a lot of parts

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Thanks for the welcome, Tom!

A little about my Red Rocket: bought it with 127,053 miles May 2017. So far, I had fluids replaced in both pumpkins, transfer case, and transmission at 128,074; tires replaced at 128,449; water pump and hoses replaced at 130,594; heater manifold at 130,814; headlamps & fog lights at 134,416; throttle body harness replaced 136,849; rear window regulators replaced 146,848; upper and lower control arms/ball joints 148,356; blower motor resistor replaced 151,304; A/C compressor, accumulator, hoses replaced 156,968; and outer tie rod end replaced 157,436. Oh yest, the paint was mostly flaked off, so I had it repainted. Nearly everything listed here would be considered normal replacement on a vehicle with more than 100,000 miles on it. From everything I've read, it appears that there isn't much more left to do on it (but I see a rear upper control arm ball joint replacement in the near future).

Although it came from Virginia, it spent most of its life in Florida, and the body and K member are pretty rust-free. The skid plates don't have any wear showing on them, either. I know it experienced some minor front end collision damage, b/c the paint on the bumper cover was cracked like the previous owner hit a parking lot bollard.

I'll keep the OME setup in mind, although I don't see much of a cost savings using theirs. Also, Frankenlift can be bought preassembled, and that could be of benefit to me.

I'm a little surprised that the Frankenlift gets you 4". I thought it was only 2.5-3 inches. I'm more interested in a mild lift and leveling. The state Jeep I drove did a pretty good job with stock suspension; my interest in doing a lift is to increase the max fording depth to something above the stock 19". In either case, I'm more concerned with CV joint stressing than I am about spring/UCA contact (I understand that a grinder on the rub points of the UCA can relieve that, somewhat).

I have installed over 60 KJ lifts up to this point including Frankenlifts, BDS, etc and yes a Franky although advertised at 2.5 gives you 4 or over when new and then for a while
Getting a Franky compared to just the OME and Bilsteins etc is nowhere close in price really when figuring all in
And a HUGE NO on using a grinder on UCAs , huge NO, that is the stupid Fakebook kids way of doing it ! Been doing suspension work, building 4x4s, since 1973, and believe in doing it right
One of mine ( the 04 pictured in my sig, has over 235,000 miles ) has ran over 135,000 miles at over 4 inches of JBA coilover lift, he ( JBA) used smaller diameter springs so no contact with JBA UCAs but only disadvantage was the folds in the boots on the CVs wore through about every 50-60,000 miles on the right side

On to what you replaced , between my 3 I haven't had to replace half that amount, of course the 04 I bought new and always kept maintenance up, 03 and 05 were both one owner, all records from Jeep Dealership , at 75-80,000 miles

Welcome to the forum.

tommudd said:

I have installed over 60 KJ lifts up to this point including Frankenlifts, BDS, etc and yes a Franky although advertised at 2.5 gives you 4 or over when new and then for a while
Getting a Franky compared to just the OME and Bilsteins etc is nowhere close in price really when figuring all in
And a HUGE NO on using a grinder on UCAs , huge NO, that is the stupid Fakebook kids way of doing it ! Been doing suspension work, building 4x4s, since 1973, and believe in doing it right
One of mine ( the 04 pictured in my sig, has over 235,000 miles ) has ran over 135,000 miles at over 4 inches of JBA coilover lift, he ( JBA) used smaller diameter springs so no contact with JBA UCAs but only disadvantage was the folds in the boots on the CVs wore through about every 50-60,000 miles on the right side

On to what you replaced , between my 3 I haven't had to replace half that amount, of course the 04 I bought new and always kept maintenance up, 03 and 05 were both one owner, all records from Jeep Dealership , at 75-80,000 miles

Click to expand...

Thanks, Tom. I agree that the Red Rocket was pretty well used up, when I got it.

What do you measure height wise ??
( from middle of left front wheel to bottom of the flare on level ground )
After April 12, 2002 they were 19 inches new

tommudd said:

I have installed over 60 KJ lifts up to this point including Frankenlifts, BDS, etc and yes a Franky although advertised at 2.5 gives you 4 or over when new and then for a while
Getting a Franky compared to just the OME and Bilsteins etc is nowhere close in price really when figuring all in
And a HUGE NO on using a grinder on UCAs , huge NO, that is the stupid Fakebook kids way of doing it ! Been doing suspension work, building 4x4s, since 1973, and believe in doing it right
One of mine ( the 04 pictured in my sig, has over 235,000 miles ) has ran over 135,000 miles at over 4 inches of JBA coilover lift, he ( JBA) used smaller diameter springs so no contact with JBA UCAs but only disadvantage was the folds in the boots on the CVs wore through about every 50-60,000 miles on the right side

On to what you replaced , between my 3 I haven't had to replace half that amount, of course the 04 I bought new and always kept maintenance up, 03 and 05 were both one owner, all records from Jeep Dealership , at 75-80,000 miles

Click to expand...

Wanted to separate the reply. Thanks for the additional input, a bit to think about. I need to find someone down here who is trustworthy to install whatever I decide to do - apartment living isn't conducive to shade tree mechanics. For what I'm planning, 4 in is way too much. 2-2.5 would suffice i I'm not planning to take on Moab

I was seeing OME springs with OME shocks at 950 or thereabouts requiring assembly (and no snubbers), and Franky was 1350 assembled with everything but the kitchen sink included.

If I were in OH I would talk to you about helping (or doing) the installation. I know a Jeep whisperer in Wilmington who works on my daughter's XJ, but that's a 1000 mile haul from where I am.

It doesn't take but 40-50 bucks ( if that ) to have someone put the front coilovers together

tommudd said:

What do you measure height wise ??
( from middle of left front wheel to bottom of the flare on level ground )
After April 12, 2002 they were 19 inches new

Click to expand...

Hi Tom - Sorry for taking so long to respond, but life got in the way
To answer your question:
18-3/4 front
19-1/2 rear

tommudd said:

Welcome Randy
Lots of things you can do to a KJ
as far as lifts, just go OME 927/948 combo on springs then either bilstein or OME shocks ( of course longer shocks for the rear depending...........
Frankenlift is a great kit but will put you 4 inches or better and will need JBA UCAs as well then have some spring/UCA contact until very well broken in then you'll want to get larger tires, then you need to regear , then,........LOL
927/948 combo will give you a solid 2.5 inches of lift over new stock

Doesn't sound like it had been very well taken care of if you are needing to replace a lot of parts

Click to expand...

Hi Tom -
No longer in FL, moved back to western WV in 2024. Brought the Libby up with me and started collecting parts. Took much of your advice, installed JBA front UCAs, Moog problem solver front LBJs, OME 2927/2948, KYB KYB331017 front, Rocky Road (Doche Tech) DT3265 rear, Iron Rock Off Road rear UCA & LCAs. Got about 2 or so inches of lift, now driving it to settle everything in. I really like the ride and the stance.

Before leaving FL, I took it to a newly built mechanic chain near where I was staying, who racked up about $3,000 worth of estimate. Since it was a week before the move, I put off any of the listed repairs.

So far, I replaced the power steering pressure hose, overflow tank, and radiator, which got rid of the leaks - for now.

The front prop shaft joints were identified (torn boot), and this afternoon they finally went out, so that's next. It wasn't a matter of it, it was a matter of when.

Got a few more (cosmetic) mods I want to do and will as funding become available.

Having spent most of its time in FL, haven't found any cancer to speak of, so I should be able to get a few more years out of it before retiring it.

Randy

Randy just wanted to let you know this is an older thread now & Tom was last seen (or participated) on Apr 17, 2023.