Spacer lift drawbacks for 2WD

[cajunsuperduty]

I am just wanting to here the possible drawbacks to putting a spacer lift on my daughter's 2003 Liberty Limited 2WD. Just bought it for her. It's fire red and in absolute mint condition. Its time for new tires and she wants it to look a little tougher, LOL. I was thinking of a 2" or 2.5" spacer lift with some tires that are maybe an inch or so taller than stock. This is a road truck that will never hardly get off of the blacktop, LOL. Is there any harm in putting on a spacer lift in this application?

 

[tommudd]

My take on it
a 2003s springs and shocks are due for replacement being 7 years old.
So with a spacer lift it is only going to magnify the worn out springs/shocks
Going full spring and shock replacement will not only give you lift, but also will ride better and handle so much better than it did even stock.
Also when you look at the overall cost of spacer-vs- spring its not that much more to do a full spring.
Even if you do go spacer you need longer rear shocks, and also should be replacing the front shocks as well
So to go full spring you're only actually paying maybe 160-170 more
So why not go all the way and that way you know your daughter will be safe and the ride will be great. Plus on a 2WD, or even a 4WD, the suspension will be good for another 80-100,000 miles, where as the spacer will be needing updated in a year or less
Spacer lift say 175 plus front shocks 182 and rear shocks 160 equals 517, Full OME kit with springs and shock 750 or buy springs from JeepinByAl for 320, front and rear shocks from shockwarehouse for 342 so 662 total

 

[long_tall_texan]

Tom is right on the money here. I have a 2WD and went the spacer lift initially. 2 years later, and I have OME springs now. Ride is much improved.

 

[boebr1]

I agree whole heartedly. It's your daughter, don't put her at risk with sloppy front end parts with low budget add-ons. Do it right and sleep well at night. I'm more likely to do something sketchy for myself just because I have experience dealing with awful things happening while driving. No way I'd risk my kids knowing what to do if the rig suddenly had a strange handling situation occur.

 

[cajunsuperduty]

So what's the best place to get a good decent quality spring kit for a 2wd that would include everthing like a package deal?

 

[tommudd]

Any of the below can sell you a complete OME spring/shock kit
AllJs - www.boulderbars.com West Coast
www.jeepinbyal.com East Coast
ok4wd-www.ok4wd.com east coast
shipping will depend on where you live
I have bought from all of the above and they all will treat you great
or you can buy springs from any of the above
and then check shockwarehouse for F4-BE5-D916-HO front shocks and F4-BE5-6458-H7 rear shocks free shipping from them so makes it a little cheaper like I priced above
Same lift for 2 wheel drive as it is for a 4 wheel drive
OME springs 927 front 948 rear
also you can lift a little more if you want, if so we can fill you in on what you'll need
the above setup will give you 2.25 or so over "new stock height "
You'll be able to run 245-75-16 tires with the above

 

[cajunsuperduty]

My daughter likes her stock limited 17" chrome rims so I was looking at a Nitto terra grappler 265/65 17 tire. 30.55 high 10.63 overall width. Would these fit without rubbing?

 

[tommudd]

Should be OK
many run the 245-75-16 which would be about the same height as those you mentioned
May have to pound over the pinch weld

 

[cajunsuperduty]

"pound over the pinch weld" Hmmm, LOL that sounds pretty easy and low tech, but yet it is beyond my recognition of technical jargon.

 

[tommudd]

If you look at the rear of the front wheel well you see a part that sticks out a little bit. What I do is heat that plastic up, and cut a upside down V starting wider at the bottom and going up, fold this up, you'll see the metal part that you have to bend ( pound over) After that heat the plastic and flatten it back over

 

[Uncle Krusty]

I have $.02 to add, and off course it may be worth all of that...

For the springs, you may find the OME 927 HD fronts a little much for a pavement pounder. Even with 4X4, I went with the 926 "Mediums" which were a great improvement over stock, yet still not as stiff as the 927s would be. Even the "Light" duty springs have a stiffer rate than the stock ones, and would be an improvement.

Also, the 265's may be a bit wide, and rub some when turning. I have 265's on my full size Dodge, and have looked it over once or twice to see if I could get that much tire under the Liberty - it would be tight. But then I don't want to have to bend over the pinch weld either...

I would say go for it with the Nitto's though. I had a set of Toyo (Very similay "Sister" brand) Open Countrys on my 17's that were great. Ride was quite, and firm. The only complaint I had was I only got 40K out of the 50K tires. Might be my driving style... In the whole time of running them down to almost nothing, I never had any problems with any of them going out of balance or wearing funny.