skool me on....XJ lifts part 2

[smartass_kid]

done some searching on here and not finding info i'm looking for so,

want to a minor lift on my XJ after getting skooled on 6" short arms being a no-no.

question is, i see kits with few parts and kits with new everything. what is needed to lift? i know more parts will improve ride but give me some info.

so far i have coils, front shocks, and rear leaves. need: rear shocks, UCA, trackbar relocation or new one?


thanks in advance

 

[Mountains r coo]

how far are you lifting? i would recommend a good 3.5 inch lift, it is all you need. what is needed in a 3.5" is obviously coils and shocks ,your going to want new lower control arms for sure , and a new trac bar (highly recommended), thats whats required, i would also go with new upper control arms and sway bar disconects. for better ride but that is optional, now if you want to go up to 4.5" get longer brake lines and a drop pitman arm.

for the rear i would recommend a 2.5 inch leaf pack and a 1" lift shackle and new shocks and brake lines. if u wana boost up too 4.5" get a 3.5" leaf pack and a 1" shackle

 

[Badger]

What coil and leaf spring packs do you currently have? Do you want 6" or another height ? It will make a difference it what will needed or ordered.

If you have most of it you could get a long arm upgrade kit which will get the cross member and front arms. Most places will still do package deals and sell you shocks,brake lines, track bar mounts/track bar...etc.

 

[smartass_kid]

shooting for 3" lift. 90% sure i have some 3" coils i got from NPS off the floor. also got some new front shocks.

i picked up some used leaf springs from someone who was parting out a wrecked XJ, plan to swap those and if not enough lift use an AAL.

also seen trackbar relocation brackets, are these a band-aid repair instead of an useful part?

 

[XJEEPER]

At 3" of lift, you don't NEED to replace the stock control arms, so you can save up for some adjustable units for the future. Track bar relocation bracket extensions (bandaid) or a new adjustable bar (recommended) is required to center the axle.

Don't forget longer front and rear brake lines and swaybar disconnects.

 

[N-Smooth]

I suggest new control arms for 3" of lift because that extra 1/4" or so over stock (seems pretty typical) usually puts the caster back into spec and helps with avoiding the dreaded DW. At 3" a new tracbar or a drop bracket isn't mandatory, your axle will just be pushed a little to the driver-side. That being said i would either get a drop bracket or redrill the factory hole and do some serious reinforcing to it while you're at it. The axle-side mounting hole will wallow-out like crazy. If you do the drop bracket, do a couple welds between it and the factory mount to make it solid.

UCA's are up to you. I never had a problem with my factory UCA's but I've also seen people bend them like crazy. I would definitely suggest welding on LCA skids ($20 or so) because the mounts will literally rip off of the axle and something to strengthen the passenger-side UCA bracket. I also saw one of those almost rip in half.

You can also cheat with the front brake lines and just straighten the hard line for a little bit of extra droop. You shouldn't have enough flex to justify new lines IMO


It sounds like kind of a lot to worry about but I'm glad to help with whatever info I can.

 

[XJEEPER]

If you have the budget, get new adjustable control arms. If not and you have access to a MIG welder, you can easily extend/reinforce the stock arm to correct caster and re-center the axle in the wheelwell. Ive done this for several XJers who start out with a 2-4" lift and they never had an issue with the modified parts.

DW is more likely to be caused by worn steering components, trackbar ends and bushings/wheel bearings, than less-than stock caster. If the trackbar ends are worn (more than 80k miles), you still need to replace it.........same goes for TRE's

Back in '08, when I built my current XJ, I ran my rig for several months with 3* caster (6" lift) and zero DW before I rotated my knuckles and corrected the caster.

YJ Brake Lines = 3-4" longer FWIW

 

[smartass_kid]

thanks, plan is to get adjustable LCA and new track bar. since i have no garage i plan to do brake lines first, soak stuff in PB blaster as much as possible then see if my boss will let me use his garage.

i''l have to look into the YJ brake lines, another trick is to use front brake lines off a 90 or 91 chevy truck, can't remember which year but a little grinding is required to fit on caliper.