Story and photos by Albert Vandervelde
Clayton Off Road. No nonsense, tough, well-built Jeep lifts you will be happy to buy. That pretty much sums up my experience with Clayton Off Road.
My first exposure to Clayton was a few years ago now, when a beat-up $1000.00 XJ out-wheeled almost all of us in Naches, Washington. The owner said he throws away an XJ a year but will not let go of his Clayton lift. It just had nice balance, didn’t unload funny, wasn’t too soft. Since then I’ve installed a couple more, and while I have heard a couple of times people being OK with the lifts we have written about and reviewed, I never hear back from the Jeep owners rolling on the Clayton kits I’ve installed. Just happy and out Jeepin.
While there are more bling kits out there than this JK short-arm kit – you really need nothing else. It’s cool and strong to be square, their signature square tough-as-nails links are 2 inches 1/4 wall-thick and slide nice over trail obstacles, and come with a lifetime warranty. They are supplemented by a pair of round uppers in the back, so they can curve around the rear tires, Clevite rubber bushings are found on the large lower links to help reduce vibration, and genuine fully rebuildable Johnny Joints are everywhere else for the twist required for a flexy suspension, while still providing a quiet suspension with no metal-on-metal with the Currie “tough 88” urethane inserts.
This 3.5-in. lift can be packaged with either Bilstein shocks or Fox shocks, Fox being the premium, stiffer for more control, choice, and Bilstein for better ride quality. Coils are single-rate wound and made in the USA, as are all of the Clayton parts with a 188-lb spring rate perfect for the weight of a Jeep. Both will come with the needed extended brake lines and brackets to relocate and finish the install for a complete kit.
In a world filled with many choices for Jeep lifts, Clayton Off Road has stood its ground with their best-in-class unibody Jeep lifts to the most modern, and their developing JL lifts slowly filling their web site – yup, it’s still hip to be square! If you have installed a Clayton lift or not, also check their site for their great skid plate systems and accessory parts. We swear they are bulletproof quality as well!