First time doing a lift on any vehicle. My family camps a lot so I’d like a little more clearance and I might add bigger tires down the road. I just replaced the stock tires to falken wildpeaks in stock size.
I’m getting Bilstein 5100’s front and back. I’m getting 2 inch lift coils for the back since those shocks aren’t adjustable like the fronts.
My question is what is the advantage/ disadvantage if I stick with stock coils and set the bilsteins to the 2.5 perch or set the shocks at the lowest perch and get lift coils? Do I just lose travel ? I only want to add 2.5 inches to the front.
I’m not going to add any extra weight to the front of the car or the back. Other than our camping gear when we are on trips.
Thanks
Stock suspension is far better than reputed on this forum. The 5100 is a meh shock. The higher the lift the way you propose, the higher the likelihood your ride gets stiffer. Forget pavement. Ride quality MATTERS A GREAT DEAL offroad. All the folks who claim otherwise are either solo cowboys or drive on the internet or offroad parks. Most unpaved miles are spent on mildly to not so mildly bumpy dirt roads and easy trails.
If your family hates the ride on those, you will never get to the moderate or difficult trail you want. Ride quality rules and the stock suspension delivers on that. How often will you go out if every time it feels like your kidneys will fall off?
Second, you will always hit. You will hit more on moderate trails where attention lapses and difficulty is often low with gotchas laying in ambush. You will hit because you are tired, because kids argue and you are dealing with them, because the dog wants out, because a relative you took for a ride suddenly wants something inexplicable, or because you are letting a Jeep pass while some of the above is going on and you end up backing into a sharp rock you had no time to notice. I have a Moab friend who has driven half a dozen difficult trails in a stock GX 470. For a while he argued he can do without hitting. But he always has a spotter (mine is 12 yo) and yet his stock skids are now mangled as he started going out more and more and more often solo (like I am almost always). I also have 6 difficult trails in my 10 month old 4R but I have hit far more on moderate trails. So, lift or skids?
A 5100 lift may seem a cheap alternative to armoring up, but I do not think it will save you from some bad hits. A lift will give you more confidence, potentially increasing speeds and thus risks, expose the rear LCAs and even the driveshaft more, and will also make the rear diff more vulnerable once it becomes the single lowest point after a 2" lift.
Ultimately, it is true that a DIY install 5100 with rear springs will run you sub-600 with self-install vs 2000+ for proper armor, including sliders. So I cannot endlessly argue the virtues of staying stock till the stock springs and struts show wear.
But maybe consider a higher quality setup, maybe the Dobinsons twin tubes and springs. The 5100s are okay for older rigs or for rigs where looks matter more than function but if you are doing it for actual trips, it seems like a meh option to me.
Just trying to say that for serious family use, armoring up or a quality lift are better than a half baked lift.
Ultimately, you may want both. As for larger tire, a 33" gives you negligible offroad advantage over 32" while hurting you on road. We are not talking a JKU going from 32 to 35 or a JLU from 33 to 35 or 37. I understand people want to increase wheel/tire size with lift for aesthetic reasons, which is fine, but let's not confuse looks with function.
I am no expert but hope this helps.
