Well, after some discussion, a lift was especially important to us since we have a LE model with the low hanging trim on the front and rear (no rockers anymore!). Since our XREAS (cross-linked suspension) was still under warranty and also provides a ride that we enjoy (some say it’s too rough), we decided to go the temporary route of a spacer lift.
Now, spacer lifts are not a favorite or preferred route for people in the off-road world because it really does nothing but increase your ground clearance and approach and departure angles. Although there will be more space in the wheel wells, you will get no extra up travel, and since you’re using the same stock shocks, you will have no extra travel — period. To me, at this stage in our off-road lives, this was a good enough temporary solution. I perform all the work on our vehicle, so at $125, it wasn’t too much for a temporary fix.
Since we planned on keeping the stock upper control arms (UCA), we limited our lift to 2.5 inches in the front as well and bought the Daystar 2.5/1.5 top spacer lift kit. The reason you need to limit the front lift on stock UCAs is so you can still achieve reasonable caster when you get your alignment. After my install, our alignment tech had a heck of a time trying to get it as close to spec as possible, but after 2 hrs, he did it! Here are some pics — I was too excited to remember to take install pics, so I will just post some reference pictures and a small write up after this.
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| Before Lift |
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| After Lift (sorry for the glare) |
