Leveling kit or suspension lift?

Hey, brand new to the forum and brand new to Jeeps and off-roading. I love the outdoors but it’s always been camping, backpacking, water sports, etc.

My crossover I’d been driving for 7 years is on its last leg and with my oldest heading off to college in the Fall I no longer needed a third row to fit the whole family in, so pretty much on impulse I bought a used 2013 Wrangler I saw at a local dealership. I looked at it one day when they were closed and the next morning I was driving home in it haha.

I know nothing about this stuff, and I’m not exaggerating, so this is an adventure for me. I did have a mechanic look it over and other than a few minor things (about $300 worth of fixes which the dealership took care of at no cost) he said it drives great and the previous owner obviously took great care of it.

So here’s my question: The dealership had no clue, or at least the person I talked to, about a lift on it. I measured from the top of the spring perch to the edge of the spring tower as suggested in another thread and it’s just shy of 11 inches, so I’m thinking the previous owner put a 1.5 inch suspension lift on it. It is running with 285/65r18 Toyo Open Country ATs currently. How do I determine if this is a leveling kit or a suspension lift? This is probably a dumb question, but as I said, I’m totally naive to this stuff.

I’ve included pics from different angles in case that helps.

Camdenst said:

Start out looking for pucks above the springs in the rear. I’m helping a buddy with his JK and I don’t see any kit that doesn’t use at least the rear pucks.

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It looks to me there are some spacers. Here are some pics to confirm what I’m looking at and make sure I’m seeing things right:

Front
Rear

MacGuyver said:

While I agree that it appears to have a leveling kit from the apparent lack of a factory rake, There doesn't appear to be any additional pucks in the suspension. I have the terraflex 1.5 leveling with pucks, it's dark out so not checking tonight. However, they do make a spring replacement kit that I'm pretty sure doesn't come with pucks.

In truth, it can be pretty hard to figure out. You can measure the front sway bars and report back, even leveling kits, at least most of them, come with longer replacements.

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How long are the stock sway bars? These appear to be roughly 6 1/2 inches.


I’m speculating, since there are not spacers, that the previous owner used a spring replacement leveling kit since the rake isn’t there and the front spring is longer than stock, resulting in a 1.5 inch lift.

Thank you for both providing feedback!

MacGuyver said:

those sound stock, and looking back at the pictures they look stock. Mine from my kit are 10 inches, from top to bottom, not bolt to bolt. There are leveling kits that don't come with new ones though, but I'm not aware of full spring kits that do.
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Used wranglers can be bags of mystery. Mods added and removed, or replaced. I recently discovered partial wiring for a CB radio behind the dash in mine. Something I plan on investigating when I have the time, and a hurricane isn't about to hit me in Wisconsin. Strange days.

At the end of the day it doesn't really matter. Factory rakes are subtle and while it looks like there may be a leveling kit, evidence so far indicates you don't. Better IMO, mysteries can be annoying. Now if you plan on putting bigger tires on or off roading that's different, but for the moment enjoy the new vehicle and welcome to the club. Don't forget to wave.

btw, what year jeep? it cut off in your post.


Mine with leveling kit and 285 70 r17s
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Yeah that might just be better, as I would like to add perhaps a 2-inch lift at some point, and knowing the previous owner simply purchased some shiny rims and not much else probably means there wasn’t much off-roading extra stress on the vehicle.

It’s a 2013, probably was a daily driver.

That looks nice! And a Rubicon too! What did you go with for a front bumper? That’s certainly not stock.

That looks nice, gets good reviews too. I’d like to get a winch because some of the mud puddles in the Ozarks get pretty nasty so just a peace of mind thing.

I hear you on the manual. I actually would prefer a manual transmission- I think they are more fun to drive...and that’s what it’s all about of course.

Hey if you do the lift I’d like to see it now that I’ve seen the before pic.

Thanks for the warm welcome!