Hi all, newbie here. I have owned Jeeps wrangler before, but this is my first Commander (bigger family - needed the 7 seats)...
Anyway, I got me a 2010 Jeep commander a couple of month ago, I'm pretty happy with it so far, already took it camping with the family. But I have to lift this car and put some bigger tires soon to fall in love with it completely.
So, I was simply gonna go with a RC lift kit, but I decided to do some research first, and now I'm pretty confused :|
Options:
Should I go with the 2" RC kit and replace the shocks at the same time?
Should I go with the 2" RC kit and replace the shocks later?
Do I need to replace the springs?
Should I go with the Old Man Emu kit (high price) but replace it all at once? is it worth it?
All I want is bigger tires, a leveled jeep, and a smooth ride... I don't want to feel every bump in the road.
I got the Sports version with the smaller engine. 120K miles on it. It runs strong, but I can feel every bump in the road.
If I have to replace the shocks and/or the springs eventually, I was wondering if I should just go ahead and bite the bullet and install the OME kit that comes with all the parts? Old Man Emu Jeep Commander XK Medium Load Suspension Kit
If you do go with a full OME kit then I would recommend the MD kit. I have the HD kit on mine and it's a bumpy ride in the city, it's a little stiff for the family. The OME kits are totally worth it and I feel it's the proper way to lift our Commanders. Spacer lifts maintain the factory ride and if you're going to disassemble the front suspension to add the spacers you might as well replace whatever is in your budget and especially if it looks like they've never been replaced before considering your mileage. For example, you might not need new coils with the spacer lift but you would benefit from some good Bilstein shocks and struts. You might also consider new sway bar bushings and check your tie rod end links. It also wouldn't hurt to see how bad your ball joints are.
It is recommended, but not required, to use aftermarket upper control arms such as the Jeep by Al ones so that it corrects the angle on the upper ball joint and relieves some stress on it when lifting our Commanders.
Thanks for the tip. I'm convinced and will order my OME Kit this week. I'll check for the bushings, tie rod end links and ball joints cost and see if I can afford them right now, any recommendations?
Hey man, I went with the rough country 2" lift. It's just spacers but made a huge difference on my commander. I did it myself and kept going back and forth on the RC 2" and rocky road 2 1/4" but after a month of research I went with the rough country. As I'm sure you've noticed, the stock commander sits "nose heavy" which i wasn't a fan of. But both kits are spaced lifts which use your stock suspension and don't require replacing your arm bars or other mods. I actually really like the rough country, it doesn't ride stiff and even though it says it's a 2", it raises the front about 3.5" with 2" in the back and evens out the dive. It SUCKED to install myself (as all lifts will) and the videos/instructions aren't exactly what is required to get it on but now that it's done, I would recommend the rough country 2" and it's cheap. Like $150 cheap with good quality parts. Hope that helps! Good luck
+1 on OME lift kits, I've met couple of guys on them and are very impressed. A new upper control arms will make it even better, should be worth adding while you are there. Update us how it feels.
I just googled the "upper control arms"... some go for around $60 and some for around $450... :surprise:
I notice the most expensive ones are recommend for vehicles with a lift, but, is it really worth spending that much money for something its not even broke? What else would I gain by changing this? better ride perhaps?
So.... I finally convinced the family to stay home for the weekend, and pulled the trigger. After lunch on Saturday I removed the first wheel nut, and by the end of the day Sunday I was applying 100 pounds torque to the last wheel. Old Man EMU 2" lift kit finally installed!!!
34" from the floor to the fender on all four wheels, looks good
Pulled the car out of the garage, and took it for a ride... Not the happiest moment of the weekend...
First, too much swaying, I felt like the car was reeeally touchy, pulling to either side with every bump in the road. I guess I'm gonna have to get used to it.
Second, I now have a squeaking noise coming out from the front, sounds like something being too tight and needing to settle. Any ideas?
Congratulations! That "touchy" feeling is normal. You need to get an alignment done immediately after having any lift installed on the Commander. The lift will result in a positive camber, where the bottom of the tires are actually inward, this will cause that "floaty" feeling. After you get your alignment done things should feel like back to normal.
That's exactly what I was wondering this morning! When I finished with the lift, I proudly call my wife, "Honeeey, come see! Im done!!! :grin2:"... She is like, "the wheels look crooked :|"... "Nahhhhh, they are fine..." I said, I guess she was right. :frown2:
Im getting new wheels next week (265s). Should I wait until then to align it?
Yesterday I dropped the jeep at the local alignment shop, a couple of hours later they called me and said the jeep couldn't be aligned. The lower ball joints are busted and they told me I have to change the UCAs before they can do a proper alignment.
Last night I ordered the JBA Upper A-arms and MOOG Ball joints, now the worst parts, convincing the family again to stay home for the second weekend on the row...
Ugh, cheers for buying the UCA's but not for the reason the guy told you. I call BS on the shop for telling you that. The lift is not so high the machine cannot lift it, mine is very high and it can be aligned on the standard machine.
At the end of the day with a stock UCA you will end up with a 1deg caster offset... which JBA sells the caster correction shims now.
I installed new MOOG lower ball joints and new JBA upper control arms over the weekend, I'm getting pretty good at taking the front end a parts...
Took the jeep to the shop yesterday to get it aligned, they said (apparently) the car had been hit or something on the front right side (I guess by the previous owner) and they couldn't get it to specs, the left side was fine. Overall the ride now is almost perfect, but it pulls a little to the right.
The guys at the shop told me they can fix that, if I install a "Adjustable upper ball joint", UGH...I just installed brand new UCAs...anyways, I searched for the part, and MOOG makes one (see bellow pic), then I called JBA, and they weren't sure if the part was going to fit on their arms...
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