John's 1" Lift

[jjt250]

Yesterday and today I installed Bilsteins front and rear, Rusty's 1/2 inch strut spacers, Matt's 1/2 inch rear coils spacers, and also Matt's XK rear coils with my dad. The rear was incredibly easy, the front, not so much. Took the majority of Saturday afternoon and this morning to get those done. Also took it to Firestone and bought the lifetime alignment. Stupidly, I forgot to take before measurements, but I think I gained almost exactly an inch over all which was my goal. I'm at about 20.5 center of hub to fender in the front and I think 21.5 in the rear...I'll have to recheck that. I'll have a good picture tomorrow, but it does look more aggressive and I love the look. Hopefully new tires are in my near future.

Surprisingly, my WK CRD coils are actually a bit longer than the XK coils, but the XK coils were noticeably thicker. Definitely added some height and stiffness. Exactly what I was looking for and they should help with towing I think.
WK Driver, WK Passenger, XK Driver, XK Passenger:


On the driver side, I could not get the axle to drop low enough because the upper control arm was hitting the gas tank skid. So I jacked up the passenger side and then I had enough room to get the driver side coil in with little effort. I'm a bit confused, though, because I have the plastic skids up front, why do I have the gas tank skid? I know Matt said there are two, 1 ply vs 2 ply skids, but I thought those with the 1 ply version didn't have any problems with the control arm hitting it? Maybe someone can clear that up. You can kind of see what I'm talking about here:


With Matt's 1/2 inch coil spacers installed:


Rear in progress:


Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the front in progress as we were more focused and I forgot to take them as we went. Took a short ride and I can already tell it's way better. I'll have more pictures of the finished result and driving impressions tomorrow. And thanks again to Matt for the spacers and coils and also for taking the time to answer all of my questions. Overall I'm very glad that I attempted this on my own. I now understand my Jeep better and could probably cut the time in half if I were to do it again. Not to mention that I probably saved a good $300 or so.

[Matt]

Very cool man glad it worked out!

All of the gas tank cradles have the issue with the control arm hitting it, not just the upgraded skid plate version. If you ever decide to put OME springs or an upper spacer in, you'll want to trim that section so the suspension drops down further..... makes installation much easier and provides more flex for wheeling; win-win!

[scottso699]

When I installed my rear OME springs I cut the fuel tank - it was really spontaneous too! That side wouldn't go down enough... I was thinking of all the threads I had read about that mod... and how pissed i'd be at myself if I didn't take the time to do it now and have to come back some other day to do it. It was right there in front of me so I grabbed my reciprocating saw and in no time took care of that!

John - I assume you got "Matt's Spacers" from Matt? Or did you make them yourself from the stuff Matt gets?

And if you got them from Matt...

Matt - Will you be making more of these spacers (you had mentioned you were making uppers)? I'd be very interested in getting a pair for my rear...

[Matt]

Hey Scott, I made him a set. I have enough material for 3 more sets.... I promised a set to another member here, I need another set for my xk, so if you want I can make you a set to; I charge $40.

[jjt250]

Very cool man glad it worked out!

All of the gas tank cradles have the issue with the control arm hitting it, not just the upgraded skid plate version. If you ever decide to put OME springs or an upper spacer in, you'll want to trim that section so the suspension drops down further..... makes installation much easier and provides more flex for wheeling; win-win!

I may add another rear spacer in the future but I'm not sure if the rear will then be too higher compared to the front. When I do, I'll for sure trim the gas tank skid. So if I were to buy the improved gas tank skid, do you get rid of the current one? If so, I'll just wait to trim it until I get the better one. Anyways, doesn't the shock fully extend before the control arm hits the skid?

When I installed my rear OME springs I cut the fuel tank - it was really spontaneous too! That side wouldn't go down enough... I was thinking of all the threads I had read about that mod... and how pissed i'd be at myself if I didn't take the time to do it now and have to come back some other day to do it. It was right there in front of me so I grabbed my reciprocating saw and in no time took care of that!

John - I assume you got "Matt's Spacers" from Matt? Or did you make them yourself from the stuff Matt gets?

And if you got them from Matt...

Matt - Will you be making more of these spacers (you had mentioned you were making uppers)? I'd be very interested in getting a pair for my rear...

Scott, like Matt said, I did get the 1/2 inch rear coil spacers from him. They work great and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. Also a good price and super easy to install.

[jjt250]

Snagged a few more pictures on my way in...





Might be hard to tell, but it definitely has a more aggressive stance now. The ride with the Bilsteins is way better. Firmer, but so much more controlled. It makes driving it much more enjoyable. I'll see if I can find a stock WK in a parking lot this weekend.

[Matt]

I may add another rear spacer in the future but I'm not sure if the rear will then be too higher compared to the front. When I do, I'll for sure trim the gas tank skid. So if I were to buy the improved gas tank skid, do you get rid of the current one? If so, I'll just wait to trim it until I get the better one. Anyways, doesn't the shock fully extend before the control arm hits the skid?

Yeah the new gas tank skid replaced the whole unit. Check out the "how to" section; Sal and I both have threads that show R&R of the gas tank skids. Mine shows how to trim for control arm clearance.

As for shocks- most of us run extended length shocks for better articulation offroad. You can gain A LOT of down travel in the rear with a good shock setup.

[paroxysym]

awesome post... looking forward to seeing a comparison next to another WK.

interested in doing this. matt are you not making spacers anymore after this last batch? if replace my MLLs with bilsteins id like to keep alittle bit of a boost in the rear.

i need to get me some XK HEMI/TOW coils.

[Matt]

Thats actually the reason I decided to make the spacers.... want to keep the height when I swap out the MLLs with some nicer shocks.

I'll never rule out making another set for one of my TUJ buddies.
I just dont want random people I dont know finding me via google and asking for spacers because they're really not fun to make lol.

[cabledog25]

hey matt whenever you get around to making another set of the spacers add me to that list. thanks