Description
3.5-4.5″ ZJ Lift Kit, Old Man Emu
Let’s face it.. there are at least a hundred different lift kits out there for your Jeep. What separates one from another? Even when we flip thru magazines, they all look the same. It is the pictures of the springs, the shocks, all the nice brackets and bits… These pictures sure make those kits look nice. So how does one choose?
Underneath it all, underneath all the advertising, the flashy photos, the colorful vehicles, lies the foundation of any lift. The springs. All those lift kits you see all stacked up in the magazines and catalogs, they do have at least one thing in common… stiff riding springs.
Crummy springs are the bane of the Jeep 4×4 world….. prevalent, horrible, tough to identify. Advertising budgets and flashy colors in pictures make great camouflage for them. They’ll take your dream toy and turn it into something no one wants to ride in, and you curse every day you failed to research properly and wound up on those stiff big brand name springs.
Best springs on the market for the Jeep ZJ. No debate…
Spring manufacture is a fine art which very few companies take the time to engineer properly. The largest names in the business are guilty of it…. mass producing cheap springs that ride brutally stiff, but sell well because of the insane markup that most 4×4 shops get on those springs…. meaning they really push those big name kits. As a general rule, the less markup on a spring there is, the less likely you are to see it on your local 4×4 shop’s shelves…. which is why you rarely see Old Man Emu components. They are the best quality parts, but not the most heavily advertised. At Rocky Road… we look beyond hype and really do take a different approach to our customer’s Jeeps. A better one…
At Rocky Road, we’ve developed a way to get you 3.5-4.5″ of lift using only the highest quality Old Man Emu replacement springs, AND keeping the price extremely low due to our R&D process. The best doesn’t always have to cost more. With our Old Man Emu system, you can have the very best ride at an incredible bargain price.
Our kit uses Old Man Emu springs in the front for a full 3.5″ lift (4.5″ kits come with an additional 1″ coil spacer). Now here’s the best part…. our system moves your stock front springs to the rear for a full 3.5″ of lift in back. There are two upsides to this bit of R&D genius. First… you buy two less springs so the kit price is lower allowing your more finds for those nice new tires and wheels. Second, The front springs carry a slightly higher spring rate than rears so you increase your payload capacity. The best news is that the front springs ride extremely well in back; far better than any replacement springs you’re going to find from Rancho, BDS, ProComp, Skyjacker, and on and on…..
Old Man Emu Jeep ZJ 3-4″ Lift Kit
Now to those OME front springs… there is no question about it, the world knows that Old Man Emu springs cannot beat for ride quality. For some great engineering information on the Old Man Emu springs included in our system, please click on the OME logo at right.
Rocky Road oft-ride long travel shocks. We feel we have designed the best riding shock we have found on the market today for moderate weight vehicles like our Jeeps. Other shocks are designed for vehicles thousands of lbs heavier (namely, pickup trucks), our engineered shocks are right on the money for a Jeep. Superbly valved for a great ride on road without being mushy offroad.
OR, the ever-popular nitrogen, monotube shocks are available as an upgrade option, which allow you to adjust and dial in your shocks for your favorite setting, or change it up depending on the driving and terrain you hit for the day.
Also included in our suspension are front and rear track bar systems. The front features a fully adjustable replacement track bar and allows for ultra fine-tuning for front-end alignment purposes. The replaceable tie rod end is a very nice feature since the ends are available at any auto parts store. The factory track bar is one piece which makes it an expensive proposition to replace when (and the factory one always does) the tie rod end goes back. We do have kits for both left hand and right hand drive Jeeps!
For the rear of your Jeep, we have a very easy to install track bar drop bracket. Our bracket offers mounting positions for both our 3.5″ and 4.5″ lifts. Your axle is precisely located at each mount point for the ultimate in ease of installation. Click the photo to the left for a larger image.
Also included in our system is a transfer case drop kit. This is necessary for any lift over about 2″ to help avoid purchasing custom driveshafts. While new driveshafts are never a bad idea when you start playing hard…. most folks cringe at the thought of having to spend an extra $700-1000 just for driveshafts when a simple drop kit such as ours will take care of the job just as well.
The 3.5″ lifts don’t require control arms at all. For our 4.5″ lifts, we do offer them as an option and they can help with fitting very large tires like 32-33’s. You can view information on our affordable selection of longer control arms.
Another great optional component for this suspension is the exclusive Rocky Road Control Arm Drop kit.
ZJ Lift Kit Contains:
In a nutshell, each Trailblazer kit includes:
- The world’s best riding spring. Simply put, the best riding spring on the market available. No person, and no 4×4 shop can legitimately dispute this. Old Man Emu springs are the best, and they are the foundation of this suspension system. If you have anything else, then you have something less than the best on your Jeep.
- Rocky Road Engineered shocks. A great soft riding shock designed for the medium weight of the Grand Cherokee. Rides like a dream onroad as opposed to other STIFF?shocks built for vehicles thousands of lbs heavier.
- Adj Front Track Bar. Anytime you go over 2″ in lift, you must replace the front track bar to keep proper front axle alignment and handling. We have kits for both Left hand and Right Hand drive Jeeps.
- Rear Track Bar mount. Triangulated mounting system for super strength. 3.5″ and 4.5″ mount positions. This kit centers your rear axle with the lift.
- Transfer Case drop kit. An unfortunate side effect of lifting ZJ’s over 2″ is the need to also drop the transfer case. This helps keep driveline vibes at bay by reducing the ujoint angles and stress on the rear slip yoke.
- 4.5″ kit also includes additional 1″ coil spacers. Clears 32-33″ tires (new control arms are recommended for fitting these oversized tires.
All these items add up to the finest riding suspension on the planet. No hocus pocus parts that are unnecessary. Just the required components to make your Jeep ride better than stock, be stable on the interstate at 80mph, and offroad performance. Truly no system out there will beat the ride quality of this system and our pricing makes the competition want to cry.