hmm...lift thoughts

[BIGdaddy]

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I love my Currie steering but its beef and strength far exceeds the stresses my driving style and terrain place on it. Overkill for my situation. I would have been well served sourcing V8 Grand Cherokee parts as an upgrade...food for thought. 10-4

On the topic of Junk Yard Jewels, there are lots of YJs, TJs and XJs showing up in the junkyards with SYEs, keep your eyes peeled. One more plug for the V8 Grand Cherokee, front springs are a nice upgrade for XJs. They have a little higher spring rate and net 1.5-2" lift. You can adjust your total desired lift with a 3/4" or 1.5 inch coil isolator. I was just introduced to this fact recently, thanks for confirming it!


BTW, I'm running 245/75-16 on 3 inches lift and 3.55 ratio and find it to be a very good combination for a double duty rig. I think you'll be happy with it.

thanks for the info on the tire size. great to hear. I was fan of tall and skinny ever since i saw f-250 highboy on pizza-cutters when I was a kid. When I saw a series land rover for the first time, I was smitten.

I have two sets of 15's that I'll need to swap out/sell/get rid of, but I find the 16's simply have the sizes I'm interested in.

 

[XJxplorer]

I have done a couple lifts from sourcing out the parts and in the long run I find it almost cheaper and easier to just get a full RE kit or the like. It is much less of a headache and you usually have no problems with parts. Just my .02

 

[Root Moose]

If you do start looking at full kits, don't rule out the RE kit with drop brackets. Really quite good flex, you keep stock arm angles, ride is excellent, arms are relocated down and forward to re-center the wheel in the fender opening, ...

People complain about the stiffeners being in the way for extreme wheeling but it's not that big a deal. The parts are big and can take the abuse and 99.99999% of the time its not a factor.

Dirk at DPG sells this setup with a touch less lift than the RE direct setup. (~5.0" versus 5.5"). If you like the stance of my truck that is the spring combo I am using (DPG).

$0.02

 

[CA-RJ]

My old XJ had a Rusty's 3" lift with 31's on it and it was pretty good. I didn't really wheel it, it was a daily driver. If it was my XJ, I'd look hard the the complete OME kit. Call Will at Sierra Expeditions. He has really good pricing on OME stuff and is very helpful.

 

[BIGdaddy]

If you do start looking at full kits, don't rule out the RE kit with drop brackets. Really quite good flex, you keep stock arm angles, ride is excellent, arms are relocated down and forward to re-center the wheel in the fender opening, ...

People complain about the stiffeners being in the way for extreme wheeling but it's not that big a deal. The parts are big and can take the abuse and 99.99999% of the time its not a factor.

Dirk at DPG sells this setup with a touch less lift than the RE direct setup. (~5.0" versus 5.5"). If you like the stance of my truck that is the spring combo I am using (DPG).

$0.02

Hey buddy, can you shoot me a link to some photo's of your rig? thanks!

 

[BIGdaddy]

My old XJ had a Rusty's 3" lift with 31's on it and it was pretty good. I didn't really wheel it, it was a daily driver. If it was my XJ, I'd look hard the the complete OME kit. Call Will at Sierra Expeditions. He has really good pricing on OME stuff and is very helpful.

Yeah, mine'll be mostly a DD, too.

You like the OME kits, Ryan?

I have to admit I had one for a suzuki that wasn't very impressive.

-B

 

[Root Moose]

Hey buddy, can you shoot me a link to some photo's of your rig? thanks!

Try this: http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=440846&postcount=844

That's the first time rolled out of the garage, rear leaves are still fresh and there is a lot of weight still to be added. Should get it more level.

~5" of lift, 265/75R16.

 

[Root Moose]

I have to admit I had one for a suzuki that wasn't very impressive.

Hmm, odd. I had the OME springs on my LWB SJ-413 and it quickly got the moniker "Dandy long legs" they way it moved over obstacles.

Mind you, that was spring over configuration.

 

[BIGdaddy]

Try this: http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=440846&postcount=844

That's the first time rolled out of the garage, rear leaves are still fresh and there is a lot of weight still to be added. Should get it more level.

~5" of lift, 265/75R16.

ah, crap. that looks GREAT! 265-75's... those are full 31"s right? 10in section width?

235-85's would be a bit taller and narrower right?

 

[Root Moose]

LOL The guys in our local club were giving me the gears about it. "So when's the lift going on?!". Perfect!

265/75R16 works out to roughly 32x10.5x16. By the maths I think it is a 31.65" tall tire - which is consistent with the real measured height of most manufacturer's 32" tires. The TruxusMTs that are on there measure over 32" but not 33". I'm kinda worried about what to fit when I get decent tires. Some tires are made much smaller than the metric rating say they should be. BFG is bad I find.

235/85R16 is

235 mm wide ~= 9.3" (25.4 mm per inch)

(235*0.85/25.4)*2 + 16 ~= 31.7" (width times the aspect ratio converted to inches and count it twice since the height is at the top and bottom of the wheel, add 16" for the wheel diameter itself)

So roughly the same diameter, an inch narrower. That should work with factory offset wheels, but don't quote me on it.

FWIW, I used to run 33x9.5 on my old SJ-413. It didn't like it but they aren't really directly comparable vehicles.

 

[StumpXJ]

Lots of good advice in this thread. I would however caution against full disregard of the front swaybar. At least experiment before totally pitching the links. Stump is credible and is having luck with no swaybar but other factors like spring rate etc. come into play. Don't take risks especially since you have kiddie seats in back.

True enough. I have a full leaf pack in the rear that is fairly stiff, and 6" coils up front. The truck is fairly well stiff in the roll department. I also drive like a grandpa on the road, not the case for everyone.

~James

 

[CA-RJ]

Yeah, I do like the ride. I had the kit on my 99 Wrangler and 05 Wrangler. Both were very nice. I also have it on my 4Runner. The springs combined with their shocks would provide a nice ride for you and should be able to run 31" tire with it.

I would advise that you run a front sway bar too. I ran without one on my 97 for 70k miles and even though I was used to it, the Jeep handled like crap. I tried it on my 05 Rubicon and I hated it and couldn't stand to drive it like that. Get some discos.

Yeah, mine'll be mostly a DD, too.

You like the OME kits, Ryan?

I have to admit I had one for a suzuki that wasn't very impressive.

-B

I'm curious, what size tires are on your XJ now? Why are you lifting it?

 

[BIGdaddy]

Yeah, I do like the ride. I had the kit on my 99 Wrangler and 05 Wrangler. Both were very nice. I also have it on my 4Runner. The springs combined with their shocks would provide a nice ride for you and should be able to run 31" tire with it.

I would advise that you run a front sway bar too. I ran without one on my 97 for 70k miles and even though I was used to it, the Jeep handled like crap. I tried it on my 05 Rubicon and I hated it and couldn't stand to drive it like that. Get some discos.



I'm curious, what size tires are on your XJ now? Why are you lifting it?

stock sized tires. 235 70 r15's...nice Goodyear wranglers(I'll likely run them for a while after the lift, as goofy as they'll look..haha!!). Problem is, my rear springs are sagging 1.5" below stock without much in the back. I could just get some stock springs, but the rear shocks are also blown, too. loaded up with kids, cooler and camping gear, its darn near the bumpstops. (I understand that I'll probably need airbags back there, but everything needs replacing anyways, so airbags'll have to wait)

So, my suspension and steering needs a refresh basically. they've worked their little hearts out for probably the whole 17 years of life. I've priced nice stock height springs and its really the same pricing, so I decided to go ahead and upgrade now, fixing the worn out parts and improving the ride height/approach/departure angles, etc...

thats the thought anyways...:chef:

 

[Stumpalump]

Bastard packs are a great cost effective way to build a spring pack but if you do that then why don't you put that bracket on that relocates the rear hanger. This gives some lift and a longer main spring to gain flex. I think you use a chevy main spring and work your way down to your stock XJ leafs. No matter what rear springs you build or buy they will be a lot stiffer than stock. The front coils you buy will only be 20lbs stiffer than stock causing an imbalance. This cause your rear to stay stiff and forces the front to blow thru all it's travel real easy. The cure is to run stiffer Deaver coils on the front to balance the stiff rear. With the springs balanced and stiff you can ditch both your sway bars and still have better handling then stock on the road. If you buy any other front coil you will have to keep your sway bar and waste cash on those crappy hard to use disconects. I had the JKS ones and like all the rest they are a pita. Just build your suspension with some balance and ditch the bars. Especially as low as you are staying. Build your rear and then cut the front coils to the height you need. Look at all the photos you can find of XJ's and watch them on the trail. You will see the front is soft and rear is too stiff. Check it out and build it like I sugested or at least use the Deaver front coils. Best thing ever invented for an XJ. Also don't forget a longer than stock rear shackle. Stockers are an inch to short even for the factory springs.