Hi all,

I bought the 2.5" suspension lift for my 89 2dr soft-top (1.6L 8V m/t 4wd) from Low Range Off Road, great group of guys over there. It's basically 4 OME coils, 2 OME struts, 2 Pro Comp shocks for the rear, 4 1" coil spacers, camber bolts and a rear upper control arm bracket. My question is: can I use 1.5" coil spacers instead of the 1" coil spacers that come with the kit, without causing any problems? I'd like to know if the extra half inch will mess up the suspension geometry, such as bad CV angles, straining joints, stock control arms not being long enough, or any other problems.

Any input or experience with doing this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

So, no front differential drop means that stock CV bind is close, the OME struts are about 2" longer (longer travel and body) overall than stock but you could still flip the stock upper mount for a wee bit more.

Adding another 1/2" of spacer is kinda pointless and when added to the front it typically adds more than that for lift because of geometry, you're just losing downtravel. The lift you bought is basically good to go as is, getting a small rear driveshaft spacer may also be prudent for your SWB ride. LWB trucks are more forgiving due to rear driveshaft length.

Thanks for all this great info, I'm learning more every day. What goes into a proper IFS drop besides dropping the diff. Do the control arms need to move or anything else?

Typical main lift issue:

The Calmini 3" lift does not address suspension up-travel/compression, the coils bottom out long before the stock bumpstops come into play and mods are needed. Interestingly no one else mentions this issue or just accepts the nasty bang, 3" poly coil inserts are the solution, I tried 2" extensions without success. That being said you should be totally ok with just the OME coils and a smaller spacer, check it out for yourself.

I run 30x9.5 BFG KM2's on stock rims with 1" spacers and no fender rub, only very minor frame rub stuff which can easily be adjusted via the steering stops if you want.

There's a bunch of more serious/minor mods you can do to the suspension/drivetrain, I'd just install what you've got and enjoy, for now! (plus a small rear drive shaft spacer)

Bottoming out your struts is the quickest way to ruin them.  We have cut the bump stops body in half and extended it with tubing to make longer Bump Stops.  (The rubber tip will unscrew so you don't burn them up when welding.)  Or, you can buy aftermarket bump stops in different lengths.