Help figuring out what lift I have

[any4xx]

My new-to-me ‘99 A/T 4.0 w/AC has obviously been lifted but I’m not sure just what I have. It sits level but is obviously higher than stock. The frame to body bushings look to be stock.

I looked for part numbers on the springs but couldn’t find any brand markings on them. The rear springs do have “216” on them and the front springs have “214” on them. The new-looking Bilstein shock part numbers show the rears are for a 3” lift and the fronts are for a 0 to 2” lift. There’s also a slip yoke eliminator installed, making me believe that the rear lift is indeed at least 3”. That or someone spent their money in anticipation of installing a 3+ or higher lift in the future.

My Jeep familiarity is only with JKs. I know those in stock condition were always raked down in the front. I am trying to get familiar with the TJ. I’d think if it was raked down in front to start with the 0 to 2” lift in front with a 3” lift in the rear wouldn’t have it sitting level. The sway bars seem pretty level so I’m guessing that whoever installed the springs also swapped the sway bar links. But only guessing. Other than the springs and shocks everything else looks to be original.

Do the 214 and 216 numbers on the springs mean anything to anyone here? Is it common to raise the rear more than the front and end up level?? I’m not even sure that the shocks match the lift amounts at this point.

As usual, thank you in advance for any help.

 

[Chris]

What color are the springs? Black I assume?

 

[Rickyd]

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/how-can-i-tell-how-much-lift-my-jeep-wrangler-tj-has.193/

Pictures of your suspension would be good

 

[any4xx]

What color are the springs? Black I assume?

Yes. Black.

 

[any4xx]

Pictures of your suspension would be good

Both ends.

 

[Chris]

Both ends.


View attachment 635513


View attachment 635514

Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe someone knows something I don’t but those are going to be pretty hard to identify.

 

[The4bangertj]

To me they look like a jks coil set. (Fronts having a double rate but not as soft as like metalcloaks so the jks top section don’t touch at ride height) while jks rears don’t have a tightly packed soft rate like metalcloaks,rock krawler, etc. I don’t know numbers on them to say what length they are but I’d bet they’re jks based on what I know.
Edit: on jks website you can zoom in and see they use a 3 digit number on the coil. I can’t tell what the numbers are but I bet if you called jks they would tell ya.

 

[TheBoogieman]

Why do you care what brand springs you have if it's the ride height you want? You already have crap riding Bilstein shocks.
p.s. Measure the springs if you want to know the lift height. 12" front/8" rear is stock height.

 

[any4xx]

Why do you care what brand springs you have if it's the ride height you want? You already have crap riding Bilstein shocks.
p.s. Measure the springs if you want to know the lift height. 12" front/8" rear is stock height.

I want to know what I already have before I start messing with things. Knowing the factory spring heights helps a lot. Thank you.

 

[any4xx]

Why do you care what brand springs you have if it's the ride height you want? You already have crap riding Bilstein shocks.
p.s. Measure the springs if you want to know the lift height. 12" front/8" rear is stock height.

A quick shot with the tape measure tells me I have a 2” lift up front and a 3” lift in the rear. Thank you again for providing the stock numbers. At least I know now that the shocks, albeit, “crap riding”,” are proper for the springs.

 

[OldBuzzard]

... At least I know now that the shocks, albeit, “crap riding”,” are proper for the springs.

Not necessarily. A shock advertised for a specific lift height doesn't always match reality.

Look up your shocks and get the specs: fully compressed, fully extended. Then measure the length of the visible shaft on your shocks, sitting at ride height. It should be close to half way between compressed and extended. If it's not pretty close to half, you probably have the wrong shocks.

 

[any4xx]

Not necessarily. A shock advertised for a specific lift height doesn't always match reality.

Look up your shocks and get the specs: fully compressed, fully extended. Then measure the length of the visible shaft on your shocks, sitting at ride height. It should be close to half way between compressed and extended. If it's not pretty close to half, you probably have the wrong shocks.

Good call. At least Bilstein SAYS the front shocks are for a 0 to 2” lift and the rears are for a 3” lift. That “mismatch” concerned me until I was able to confirm that their advertised spec at least matched the actual lift numbers.

Which now makes me wonder though, why 2” in front and 3” in rear? Were our Jeeps slightly front-high in stock configuration? Again, I come from the JK world wherein they all came with the fronts nosed down about 1.5”.

 

[Rickyd]

I want to know what I already have before I start messing with things. Knowing the factory spring heights helps a lot. Thank you.

If you had read the link I posted you would have found out how to measure lift height.

 

[any4xx]

If you had read the link I posted you would have found out how to measure lift height.

Ugh… I switched the preference to dark-mode and the links all show up in blue now. My 65 year old lousy eyes completely missed your link. Guess I need to switch back to the green. Thank you for the link even though I missed it.

EDIT: Amazing! I just switched back to the default green and your link shows up nicely. Blue on gray isn’t friendly to my aging eyesight.

 

[Unique Username]

Well, looking at the upper coil winding had me thinking it was likely a specific type of spring. So I went out to look at mine to try and see what was similar. I have JKS 4” springs with 414 and 416 numbers on them. That would lead me to believe the numbers were generated from a similar machine. Unfortunately JKS doesn’t list this number nor do they offer a 4” spring any more.
This may not answer your question, but it points you in a direction.

Note: Your springs are built on a general number. That same spring might give one person 2” ride height while giving another person 3”. Depends on the weight of your rig. Someone with and unlimited with a bunch of gear and a heavy tire might measure it as 1.5 lift. Same goes for the front. You might have a big winch and bumper making it 2” in the front.

 

[Moglocker]

Well, looking at the upper coil winding had me thinking it was likely a specific type of spring. So I went out to look at mine to try and see what was similar. I have JKS 4” springs with 414 and 416 numbers on them. That would lead me to believe the numbers were generated from a similar machine. Unfortunately JKS doesn’t list this number nor do they offer a 4” spring any more.
This may not answer your question, but it points you in a direction.

Note: Your springs are built on a general number. That same spring might give one person 2” ride height while giving another person 3”. Depends on the weight of your rig. Someone with and unlimited with a bunch of gear and a heavy tire might measure it as 1.5 lift. Same goes for the front. You might have a big winch and bumper making it 2” in the front.

View attachment 635570View attachment 635571

Looks like they do a 4 inch now?are these any good?

 

[Unique Username]

No complaints. I have swapped out springs and brands and this is the current springs. My favorite handling characteristics was a different spring, but this one is fine.