I recently got rough country 2in lift kit and new tires that are 245-65-17. When I drive the car, it seems the front end is making a "thud" noise whenever I drive over bumps. The mechanic says its because the way the factory shocks were made and that the lift kit is maxing out the shocks/making it stiff. Supposedly this isnt supposed to hurt the car but the noise it makes is not pleasant. Basically I can just deal with the noise or change the car back. Any help or recommendations would be appreciated! The tires I got for the car also seem rub the inner wheel well when I turn the front tires all the way to either right/left side.

If it's happening mostly when the front wheel drops off and the strut fully extends (like going over train tracks) it's "topping out" and it doesn't really hurt anything.
The coil spring spacer in that kit is probably what's causing most of it.

To gain clearance, the coil spring spacer is added which pre-loads the spring and uses up some of the strut extension, but what you lose in strut extension you gain in compression so the strut doesn't bottom out as easy, which can damage it. Pre-loading can also affect the ride quality, it's like having stiffer springs.

About the only things that will fix the rubbing is smaller tires, different offset rims, or wheel spacers.

Always a trade off.

 

Thanks for replying! Anything exists such as a aftermarket strut extension to help with clearance/the topping out issue?

 

I have the SAME EXACT thing going on with mine. The noise is terrible when it happens over certain bumps. There are no aftermarket strut extenders available ( believe I have looked) or aftermarket shocks that will work. I'm gonna try to swap out the 2inch lift for a 1and 1/2 inch lift ( hopefully the half inch which I know isn't much might help). I really wish I knew about this before I got the 2inch lift, could have saved some install money. But oh well live and learn. It sucks though cause it looks soooo great right know. Do you have wheel spacers? If not get a set of 1.25 inch spacers, make sure they are hub centric so it will help with steering wheel wobble that you get sometimes with cheap all purpose spacers , that will take car of the rubbing of any other spot besides the pinch weld.With that size tire and my wheel spacers I still rubbed the pinch weld so your probably are gonna have to do the pinch weld mod which is extremely easy. Good luck and get us updated!

 

No nothing I know of.

Getting a longer travel shock might help, but the strut travel is what limits the angle on the cv joint, so longer travel means increased angle on the cv joint at full extension.

 

Update: took the daystar kit to my installer to have the rough country lift uninstalled and replaced with the daystar. All my installer wound up doing was replacing the 2in rough country front spacer with the 1 and 1/2 inch daystar front spacer. He left the entire back have of what ever came with the rough country lift installed (he did not use the back spacer from the daystar kit he said it wasn't necessary to install) anyways problem solved!! The 1/2 I gained for the shock in the front totally did away with that terrible banging i was getting over certain bumps. I lost almost a half inch in lift but it is unnoticeable to the naked eye, only reason i know i lost it was because i measured before and after. Anyways i couldn't be more happy! My patriot still looks as great as before and i have no worrys about any bumps. If I had to do it all over from the start. I would have definitely just went with the daystar kit and bought the aftermarket rear camber adjusters and bolts for the alignment. Oh well all and all it only cost me another $235 to get my patriot how I wanted it. Well worth it in my book. I hope the post helps out anyone who is thinking about lift there jeep!

 

Thank you so much for the update! I was having the exact same problem with the 2" rough country kit but after reading will definitely give the daystar kit a look. I have been looking for months for a solution to this!

 

So is this a common thing? I just had mine put in yesterday by the Jeep dealerships 4x4 shop. She now bottoms out leaving my driveway and she bottom out at a gas station so bad I thought I broke it.

 

Bottoming out (struts fully compressed) isn't common, topping out (struts fully extended) happens more frequently.

 

As I mentioned, it's when the struts quickly and fully extend (with a clunk), like when dropping a wheel over a deep pot hole, railroad tracks, etc.

 

Thanks, I'll chat with the dealership. Its infrequent enough but that sounds like what is occurring.