What to Know About Getting Lifted at Bull Run 4x4

We love our Jeep, and we want to equip it with the gear and modifications needed to support all of the adventures it will take us on.

Until now, most of the upgrades have been to support using a rooftop tent, with some “beginner” off-road modifications along the way. But last week, we took it up a few notches by finally installing a lift kit, upgraded drive shaft, larger tires, a steering stabilizer, and beefy rock sliders. If you are new to the concept of a lift kit on your Jeep, then you’re going to want to read on!

The finished product! Lola is ready to take on the trails now

The first thing to know is that as soon as you start to tinker with one of the components of your Jeep’s suspension, you need to be prepared to tinker with all of them. Jeep designs the components that come stock on your Jeep to precise geometries, and when you change any one component’s size, the whole thing changes.

There are “beginner” lift kits on the market that cost a few hundred dollars. If you don’t know better, you’d look at them and wonder if you really need to spend more money on something that looks very similar.

Be warned. Buying a cheap lift kit now will cost you more later. Cheap lift kits are cheap because they don’t offer the adjustments needed to bring your vehicle’s suspension back to the same proportions and geometry as it came stock…. in other words, you will hate driving your car because it will drive like crap.

Gold plating on the MetalCloak lift kit

A lift kit from a company like MetalCloak is worth its weight in gold (conveniently, they have a gold finish on them!) because the control arms are adjustable. Adjustable components can be fine-tuned by your mechanic to restore the Jeep to the precise geometry needed to make the drive comfortable and enjoyable.

The other reason to skip a cheap lift kit — like a puck style lift — is that changing the geometry of your suspension has trickle-down effects to other components. Things like your driveshaft will experience more wear and torque, and those parts will prematurely fail. For this reason, it’s worth investing in a quality lift kit, and budgeting to do a series of upgrades to critical components all at once.

Nick working on the install of the lift kit — Nick is one of the top mechanics in the area

I chose Bull Run 4x4 in Haymarket, Virginia to do all the work on my Jeep. The owners, Mike & Dave, are great people — down to earth, easy to talk to, and they give the shop a welcoming vibe. But as great as they are, what you really care about is the quality of their mechanics, and they have two of the best in the business. Nick, who has over 50 years experience working on cars (and has built his own vehicles from scratch) and Eddie are two of the best you’ll find this side of the Mississippi. I am lucky to have both of their fingerprints all over my build!

The guys at Bull Run 4x4 walked me through a few options in lift and tire configurations. Ultimately we settled on a 2.5” lift with 35” tires. To achieve the lift, we went with the MetalCloak lift and Rock Sport shocks — Bull Run 4x4 is one of the top installers of MetalCloak lift systems in the country, so their knowledge on this system is unbeatable. I paired the suspension with a new driveshaft from Adams Driveshafts — this is a beefy mother!

Out with the old…. in with the new at Bull Run 4x4

In addition to the lift, we also installed a Teraflex Falcon steering stabilizer and a Synergy steering brace. These components help make the ride smoother and remove some of the wobble and play in the steering. In fact, I was shocked to discover that the Jeep now drives better than it ever did before! The steering is fast and responsive, but also “holds” it’s place on the road. Very nice.

With upgraded suspension, we had space for new wheels and tires. We settled on a set of Fuel Offroad wheels and some Falken WildPeak tires. They look sick, and the road noise is similar to the stock wheels and tires.

Finally, unrelated to the rest of the lift and suspension work, I had the guys install some ARB rock sliders and steps to the Jeep. The sliders I installed when I first bought the Jeep were made of a thin metal that had rusted and bent from lots of off-roading. They were, as Mike so eloquently put it… “totally trashed”. The new sliders were a little trickier to install and require drilling into the body metal on the Jeep, so I left it to the pros. I’m very happy with how it turned out — these new sliders are beefy and solid, offering great protection to the Jeep.

All said and done, it took about two days for the guys to finish all the work, which is actually pretty quick when you consider everything they had to do. They pride themselves on the quality of the work, and it really shows in the finished product.

I filmed two time-lapse videos showing the work being done on the Jeep — check them out below. When you see what goes into it, you start to appreciate the price of a good install, and the amount of labor needed to do it right.

With the upgrades complete, the Jeep is now ready for her new rooftop tent and to get back on the trails with some overland adventures. Stay tuned for another post soon on our new tent setup!