Old Man Emu kit upgraded with TeraFlex 1.5-inch "Budget Boost"

Nov. 01, 2005 By Chet Szymecki

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The TeraFlex "budget boost" is a simple, cost effective, method of lifting your stock Grand Cherokee 1.5" or adding an additional 1.5" to an already lifted ZJ. Included with the kit are four black poly 1.875" spacers and four bump stop extensions along with the required mounting bolts. The reason the spacers are 1.875" but only lift your vehicle 1.5" is because the kit is designed to replace your stock rubber spacers (.5-.625") entirely. If you choose to leave the stock rubber spacers in place while installing the Tera budget boost you gain a full 2" of lift while retaining stock ride qualities.

Here on the left you see the TeraFlex budget boost installed with the Old Man Emu 1" lift - the vehicle has 265/75R16 (32"x10.5") tires installed. The ZJ on the right wears stock suspension and tires. I personally feel the Tera "budget boost" with 30" or 31" all terrain tires is the best combination for the person who wishes to increase their off-road ability for occasional use while retaining the fine on-road characteristics of the Grand Cherokee family.

...and here is a shot of a the same Project vehicle with 1.5" of lift and 31" tires.

After upgrading the Old Man Emu kit with the TeraFlex "budget boost" for a total of 2.5" of lift we shot some photos with the stock tires (225/70R16) and then installed the 265/75R16 (32"x10.5") rubber for the next photo shoot. If you have a 15" rim I would recommend installing the 31"x10.5" as opposed to the 32"x11.5" size unless you are prepared to trim some of the panels. With 31's you may have to trim the front plastic on your fender just a tad but with the 32's you may be required to trim the leading edge of the rear fender. You can always "test fit" a tire on the front and rear suspension to see just how it looks - do not drive the vehicle with different size tires though - this is a static test only! On the left is the OME/Tera kit with stock tires - on the right is the OME/Tera kit with 265's.

You can retain the stock shock absorbers with 1.5" of lift but this will limit your off-road ability and decrease service life of the stock shocks. There are many shock absorbers available for the Grand Cherokee, but for mild to medium lift applications the Old Man Emu shocks can not be beat for their price. When we lift a vehicle we change the front end steering geometry slightly and that requires immediate attention. A simple front end alignment works just fine for a vehicle lifted 1.5". If you start getting 2.5-3" of lift we recommend relocation of the front trackbar along with a front end alignment. The front track bar runs parallel with the front axle and controls the axles lateral motion with a mount to the vehicles frame. The trackbar is mounted to the front axle on the passengers side and mounted to the frame on the drivers side. The recommended method of relocating this trackbar for 2.5" if lift involves drilling a hold in the axle bracket 9/16" closer to the vehicles centerline than the stock hole is. This is a simple modification and can be reversed if you choose to remove or upgrade your suspension.