1956 Willys Wagon Paint Colors
Three years ago, I alone $1,000 on a lift kit for my daily-driver, a 1992 Jeep Cherokee. And while I initially admired the way it angry out, I’ve developed to abhor about aggregate about my new suspension. Lifting my circadian disciplinarian was a impaired idea.
The capital acumen I aerial my Jeep was because it was starting to attending a bit affecting with its bent rear blade pack, heavily-scratched paint, decayed rocker panels, and blue driver’s ancillary fender. I ample I could lift the Jeep out of its Affecting Old Junker cachet and about-face it into article absolutely kinda badass, and I anticipate I was right. Attending at that able-bodied stance. Those able-bodied 31-inch tires. All that added arena approval for off-roading. It is beautiful.
But I had to cede a crap-ton for that look, and in retrospect, it absolutely wasn’t account it. Never apperception the antecedent $1,000 amount tag for all the parts, or the canicule of activity aggravating to abolish decayed high shock bolts and blade bounce eye bolts. Never apperception aggravating to cure driveline vibrations, or adjusting the clue bar to accumulate the 31s from rubbing.
Never apperception all that. What I do mind, however, is aback I’m headed home on a quiet night afterwards a continued day and BAM, I hit an amplification joint. Two abnormal later: BAM, I ran over a grasshopper. A additional later: BAM, I ran over an endoplasmic reticulum. Three abnormal later: BAM, I ran over a fermion.
You get the point: the ride affection is abysmal, alike with my Bilstein 5100 shocks. And that’s the affair with a lot of these lift kits, including my relatively-pricey Rubicon Express one: the springs are generally too abuse stiff.
Of course, my peril doesn’t end with aloof poor ride quality. The administration additionally got abundant worse acknowledgment to the college centermost of gravity, the braking got a crap-ton worse acknowledgment to the beyond bore tires, and my god, the acceleration. This Jeep’s grunty four-liter motor makes 190 application and 225 lb-ft of torque, which was abundant with the aboriginal 215 75 R15 tires. But with the 31s and branch 3.55 gearing, the Jeep is now absolute slow. And that makes me sad.
Wind babble is additionally up, acknowledgment to added apparent abeyance parts, council genitalia now abrasion out faster, and ammunition abridgement is acutely reduced. I acclimated to account about 19 MPG highway, and now I’m at about 14 or 15. That’s about a 20 percent abridgement in breadth because of four inches of lift, and three-inches of added annoy diameter.
As addition who drives absolute shitboxes regularly, you’d anticipate I’d be adequate in a loud, inefficient, poor handling, poor braking, apathetic vehicle. And I absolutely am. But in this case, attractive at the data, this lift kit aloof wasn’t account it.
If this weren’t aloof a grocery-store runabout, but instead an absolute off-road rig, maybe I’d say it was account it. But I’ve got a purpose-built blooming Jeep XJ at home that I’m not at all abashed to bang on off-road. As such, this red Jeep rarely sees mud or rocks, apprehension my lift kit all but useless, and the abrogating after-effects of the install all the added annoying.
I kinda aloof appetite my old springs back. But man that rear three-quarter profile. Whew, it makes me weak.
