I installed the 2.5RC spacer lift today.

Onlyone

Member
So the spacers are good pieces along with the shock extensions. Rear bump stops are metal and a good product. The fronts are plastic crap. They work. Will they last? Probably. The kit was $179. I also installed their spare tire relocation bracket. Nice heavy duty piece. All in all, the install was about the same as the JK. Took me about 3-4 hours total including relocation bracket and cleanup. The sway bar links are junk but they will work for a while. Basically bought the kit for 37”s. Took it for a ride and it’s about the same. Don’t have may pics but I will try for more tommorow.

5-37s fit just fine in the back. Lol. More pics Friday when the tires are installed. I’m getting old and it really hurts installing this crap on concrete but for all those that are on the fence about installing this, go ahead. It’s really easy. No need to pull driveshaft or even loosen the track bar or control arms (unless you’re replacing them). Springs come out easy and a little pressure on each end of the axle they go right back in with no fuss.

My advice? Buy the EVO kit. It’s a bit more but the quality is much higher I’m sure. That’s the route I probably should have went. Because let’s face it. I’ll probably only keep the spacers. Lol

Ok, here are a couple of really crappy pics.

Before, during and after. And one with all 5 37s in it. Lol
 

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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Awesome! Thanks for posting up the pics (looks great) and for giving some initial feedback as well :thumb:
 

NFRs2000NYC

Member
I got nervous when I saw the end pics and thought....."those are the Ko2 37s!?" lol, then I saw the pic of the real 37s in your cargo bay. Phew. Stance looks good. I will be going with the EVO stage 1 with the drop brackets, they will serve my needs very well.

Technical question, I assume that if you use shock extensions instead of getting new longer shocks, you can't utilize the full potential articulation your rig is capable of, right?
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I got nervous when I saw the end pics and thought....."those are the Ko2 37s!?" lol, then I saw the pic of the real 37s in your cargo bay. Phew. Stance looks good. I will be going with the EVO stage 1 with the drop brackets, they will serve my needs very well.

Technical question, I assume that if you use shock extensions instead of getting new longer shocks, you can't utilize the full potential articulation your rig is capable of, right?

Not sure what you mean by "full potential". You should still have the exact same amount of articulation as you did stock. If you want "more", you will need new coils AND shocks. Of course, with drop brackets, I wouldn't expect to being too much flexing or at least, not without destroying your brackets.
 

NFRs2000NYC

Member
Not sure what you mean by "full potential". You should still have the exact same amount of articulation as you did stock. If you want "more", you will need new coils AND shocks. Of course, with drop brackets, I wouldn't expect to being too much flexing or at least, not without destroying your brackets.

I guess I worded the question poorly.....if you lift your JL 2.5" the shock doesn't have 2.5" of extra extra travel in it, so you do you lose 2.5" of movement, or are you lifting the entire shock body upwards 2.5" by changing the mounting position of the shock and still allowing the shock to fully extend so the tire can reach the ground?

On my JKU I have a 2.5" lift so I got longer shocks, that's why Im a little confused how you can these budget lifts work.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I guess I worded the question poorly.....if you lift your JL 2.5" the shock doesn't have 2.5" of extra extra travel in it, so you do you lose 2.5" of movement, or are you lifting the entire shock body upwards 2.5" by changing the mounting position of the shock and still allowing the shock to fully extend so the tire can reach the ground?

On my JKU I have a 2.5" lift so I got longer shocks, that's why Im a little confused how you can these budget lifts work.

The kit just uses spacers and extensions brackets to give you 2.5" of lift using all your factory components. Nothing is "lost" in terms of travel but nothing is "gained" either. Because the kit still retains the factory coils, it is important to limit up travel through bump stop extensions that are at least the same height as the coil spacers. This not only protects the shocks from bottoming out, it also helps prevent the over compression of your coils. In other words, you'd still want the extensions EVEN IF you were to run new and longer shocks. The only real way around this is to run new coils that do not require as much bump stop extensions. I should note that more droop can be had with longer shocks.
 

NFRs2000NYC

Member
The kit just uses spacers and extensions brackets to give you 2.5" of lift using all your factory components. Nothing is "lost" in terms of travel but nothing is "gained" either. Because the kit still retains the factory coils, it is important to limit up travel through bump stop extensions that are at least the same height as the coil spacers. This not only protects the shocks from bottoming out, it also helps prevent the over compression of your coils. In other words, you'd still want the extensions EVEN IF you were to run new and longer shocks. The only real way around this is to run new coils that do not require as much bump stop extensions. I should note that more droop can be had with longer shocks.

Doh, that's the word I was looking for....droop....that's basically what my dumb ass meant to ask, is if you get 2.5" more droop with a longer shock, so thank you for answering that. Basically I wanted to know if you are on an obstacle where one of your tires has to droop to make contact with the ground, and it does, just, at OEM height, with the new 2.5" boost the setup will now not allow that same tire to droop far enough to make contact with the ground because the rig is 2.5" higher...without a longer shock.....but at that point, dont you risk the OEM coil from falling out?
 

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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Doh, that's the word I was looking for....droop....that's basically what my dumb ass meant to ask, is if you get 2.5" more droop with a longer shock, so thank you for answering that. Basically I wanted to know if you are on an obstacle where one of your tires has to droop to make contact with the ground, and it does, just, at OEM height, with the new 2.5" boost the setup will now not allow that same tire to droop far enough to make contact with the ground because the rig is 2.5" higher...without a longer shock.....but at that point, dont you risk the OEM coil from falling out?

LOL!! Sounds to me like you're way over thinking this. A 2.5" budget boost with shock extensions will ride, cycle and behave exactly like your Jeep did stock, only with your frame sitting 2.5" higher. In other words, if your tires made contact with the ground clearance before, it will STILL make contact with the budget boost. If anything, BETTER being that you'll most likely be running bigger tires with it. The only way you might be at risk of having an OE coil separate from the spring perches is if you run a longer shock that allows for MORE droop. The coil wouldn't be able to fall out due to the bump stop tower.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
You know, I just gave the EVO kit a closer look today in preparation to install it and that got me thinking about what you were saying more. Unlike the JK days where a lot of shock extensions were designed to go on top of the shocks and get secured to the frame, the EVO JL shock extensions mount below on the axle. That being said, what I was saying regarding droop should still be correct - a 2.5" budget boost with shock extensions will ride, cycle and behave exactly like your Jeep did stock, only with your frame sitting 2.5" higher. You just don't get anything more than what you had stock the way new coils and longer shocks will.
 

Onlyone

Member
You know, I just gave the EVO kit a closer look today in preparation to install it and that got me thinking about what you were saying more. Unlike the JK days where a lot of shock extensions were designed to go on top of the shocks and get secured to the frame, the EVO JL shock extensions mount below on the axle. That being said, what I was saying regarding droop should still be correct - a 2.5" budget boost with shock extensions will ride, cycle and behave exactly like your Jeep did stock, only with your frame sitting 2.5" higher. You just don't get anything more than what you had stock the way new coils and longer shocks will.

Here’s an example on mine.
 

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BillArnett

New member
So with extensions you just get lift but no extra articulation. Makes sense. So do you get more articulation with the Mopar kit which comes with new springs and shocks? If so, for someone like me who doesn’t intend to go any further with suspension mods that would seem to make the Mopar kit a better choice.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
So with extensions you just get lift but no extra articulation. Makes sense. So do you get more articulation with the Mopar kit which comes with new springs and shocks? If so, for someone like me who doesn’t intend to go any further with suspension mods that would seem to make the Mopar kit a better choice.

Being that I haven't run the Mopar kit nor have I see it in action or taken any measurements, it's hard to say for sure but I would assume that it offers more articulations. If 35's are your end game, yeah, I'd say it's a good kit to go with.
 

OverlanderJL

Resident Smartass
So with extensions you just get lift but no extra articulation. Makes sense. So do you get more articulation with the Mopar kit which comes with new springs and shocks? If so, for someone like me who doesn’t intend to go any further with suspension mods that would seem to make the Mopar kit a better choice.

I would rather do the evo kit and get a stout adjustable control arm instead of the Mopar kit with factory control arms. Price is a wash really.


Sent from my iPhone using JL Wrangler Jeep Forum mobile app
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I would rather do the evo kit and get a stout adjustable control arm instead of the Mopar kit with factory control arms. Price is a wash really.

It definitely makes more sense to go EVO if you're planning to upgrade in the future and/or run 37's.
 

Onlyone

Member
Here a couple of finally clean pics.
 

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BillArnett

New member
Why?

It definitely makes more sense to go EVO if you're planning to upgrade in the future and/or run 37's.

Sorry if I'm being too newbie-ish but can you explain the reasoning behind that statement, please? I always like to keep my options open for the future (since I seem to change my mind a lot :) What are you planning for the future that makes a difference here?
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Sorry if I'm being too newbie-ish but can you explain the reasoning behind that statement, please? I always like to keep my options open for the future (since I seem to change my mind a lot :) What are you planning for the future that makes a difference here?

The EVO kit can be bought with some or all 8 adjustable control arms. This will help you to position your axles, set your caster and pinion angle as well. This is helpful especially if you plan on running taller lift coils in the future and/or run aftermarket u-joint style drive shafts. Also, the EVO control arms have Johnny Joints on both ends and that will allow you to have a greater degree of bind free flex. Of course, the strength of the EVO arms will be considerably stronger than stock.
 

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