For about 4 months now, Cindy and I have been running a 2.5" coil spacer lift on JET Li, our 2018 Jeep JL Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited and while we were happy that it got us running a set of 37" tires, I can't say that we've been overly thrilled with the quality of its ride. To be clear, the ride wasn't exactly terrible but compared to stock, something we thought was awesome, it just felt "okay" to us at best.
From what we could tell, most of what we were feeling was coming from the factory shocking having a hard time keeping up with the added unsprung weight of our bigger tires and heavy beadlock wheels. In an effort to smooth things out, we did installed a brand new set of Rancho RS5000X JL shocks which now come with DRS (dynamic rebound spring) technology and they did help out quite a bit - but we still felt that our ride could be better. I should also note that thanks to the added weight of an aftermarket, heavy duty steel bumper and a winch, the front end of our JL sagged a lot and enough so that we were left with maybe 1.5" of lift. Also, with the weight of all our gear loaded in the back, our rear end sagged a whole 2" - as in, we were left with only .5" of lift on our longer trail runs and that had us bottoming out on just about ever rut, bump and rock we hit. In other words, there's only so much a factory coil can do.
While we've been more than happy testing out a budget boost on our JL Wrangler and for as long as we had, it was time for us to move on to the next stage of JET Li's build. Being that we had EVO adjustable control arms installed and were already running a set of longer Rancho shocks, all we were really needing was a set of replacement lift coils to make that happen. As luck would have it, the all new Rancho 2" Sport Lift for a Rubicon came with what we were needing and after making a couple of calls, JET was ready to get a new spring or should I say, "springs" in his step.
Here's a shot of everything that comes with the Rancho 2" Sport Lift. As you can see, it comes complete with new, progressive rate corner specific coils, longer RS5000X shock absorbers, 2" front and rear bump stop extensions, rear sway bar links, front sway bar link relocation brackets and an emergency brake cables relocation bracket.
Here's a shot of what the front springs look like. I should note that these look like they are made out of a thicker wire, are about .5" wider in diameter and have 5 more winds than the factory coils.
As mentioned, the progressive rate springs that Rancho provides with this kit is corner specific and each one is labeled accordingly. After each part number, there is an "LF" or "RF" as in, left front or right front.
Just like factory, the passenger side front spring is measurably taller than the driver side spring.
This is what the rear springs look like. Just like the front set, these are made out of a thicker wire, are about .5" wider in diameter and have 1 additional wind than factory.
Again, the rear coils are labeled with part numbers that end with an "LR" or "RR" to help identify where they go.
The difference in height between the 2 sides is even greater on the rear coils.
On the rack and ready for a well needed upgrade!
Being that we spent most of our time filming this install for a future JL JOURNAL, we didn't take a whole lot of pics but here are a few of what JET Li looks like with his new springs installed.
If you see a slight lean to the driver side, it's not your imagination. I should note that we could see it from the day we brought JET Li home and as we would later come to find, it was because of the passenger side factory coils were physically taller than the driver side. Well, the same is true with the Rancho coils and our best guess for why they've done this is to help eliminate the passenger side lean that all JK's had.
Overall, JET Li's stance didn't change much at all and if anything, his rear end was now sitting about .5" higher up.
Here are a few shots of what the new Rancho springs and shocks look like installed.
From what we could tell, most of what we were feeling was coming from the factory shocking having a hard time keeping up with the added unsprung weight of our bigger tires and heavy beadlock wheels. In an effort to smooth things out, we did installed a brand new set of Rancho RS5000X JL shocks which now come with DRS (dynamic rebound spring) technology and they did help out quite a bit - but we still felt that our ride could be better. I should also note that thanks to the added weight of an aftermarket, heavy duty steel bumper and a winch, the front end of our JL sagged a lot and enough so that we were left with maybe 1.5" of lift. Also, with the weight of all our gear loaded in the back, our rear end sagged a whole 2" - as in, we were left with only .5" of lift on our longer trail runs and that had us bottoming out on just about ever rut, bump and rock we hit. In other words, there's only so much a factory coil can do.
While we've been more than happy testing out a budget boost on our JL Wrangler and for as long as we had, it was time for us to move on to the next stage of JET Li's build. Being that we had EVO adjustable control arms installed and were already running a set of longer Rancho shocks, all we were really needing was a set of replacement lift coils to make that happen. As luck would have it, the all new Rancho 2" Sport Lift for a Rubicon came with what we were needing and after making a couple of calls, JET was ready to get a new spring or should I say, "springs" in his step.
Here's a shot of everything that comes with the Rancho 2" Sport Lift. As you can see, it comes complete with new, progressive rate corner specific coils, longer RS5000X shock absorbers, 2" front and rear bump stop extensions, rear sway bar links, front sway bar link relocation brackets and an emergency brake cables relocation bracket.
Here's a shot of what the front springs look like. I should note that these look like they are made out of a thicker wire, are about .5" wider in diameter and have 5 more winds than the factory coils.
As mentioned, the progressive rate springs that Rancho provides with this kit is corner specific and each one is labeled accordingly. After each part number, there is an "LF" or "RF" as in, left front or right front.
Just like factory, the passenger side front spring is measurably taller than the driver side spring.
This is what the rear springs look like. Just like the front set, these are made out of a thicker wire, are about .5" wider in diameter and have 1 additional wind than factory.
Again, the rear coils are labeled with part numbers that end with an "LR" or "RR" to help identify where they go.
The difference in height between the 2 sides is even greater on the rear coils.
On the rack and ready for a well needed upgrade!
Being that we spent most of our time filming this install for a future JL JOURNAL, we didn't take a whole lot of pics but here are a few of what JET Li looks like with his new springs installed.
If you see a slight lean to the driver side, it's not your imagination. I should note that we could see it from the day we brought JET Li home and as we would later come to find, it was because of the passenger side factory coils were physically taller than the driver side. Well, the same is true with the Rancho coils and our best guess for why they've done this is to help eliminate the passenger side lean that all JK's had.
Overall, JET Li's stance didn't change much at all and if anything, his rear end was now sitting about .5" higher up.
Here are a few shots of what the new Rancho springs and shocks look like installed.
