Do I need new control arms?

Ok, so I am going to lift my wife's 99 XJ sport. She uses it for a Grocery Getter/Mall Crawler. I am looking at the 3.5" RE( Super Ride) kit or the 3" RC kit( Non X-series). I like the quality of the RE kit but doesn't come with shocks.I like the price of the RC kit, but comes with shocks and no control arms. I am getting either kit with the leaf packs, because her leafs are shot. So, my question is do I really need to replace the factory control arms on her Mall Crawler. If not, then the RC kit might be a better option.What do you guys think?

Are you going to steal it on the weekends for some wheeling?



Otherwise, why lift it? I assume you'll lift it to add bigger tires and then you'll decrease the performance and fuel economy unless you also change the gears.

You don't "need" anything, but what might work best depends on how it will be used.

I might steal it on the weekends to do some light trail riding. Hell, it might even get her into offroading. I bought this for her for Christmas and told her I would build it anyway she wants.( I think she is a little jealous of my YJ). It came with a set of 30" Geolander M/T's, and she seems happy with those, so I'm not changing tires. This is not her DD just a weekend Grocery Getter/Mall Crawler.

You might consider doing something similar to what I've done with mine. I installed a stock V8 ZJ coil in front with one additional isolator, and added one leaf to the rear. Cut the eyes off of a stock XJ main leaf and added it as the second leaf. It rides and handles great and gave me about 2" of lift. I also added longer good shocks.

At first I added two leaves to the rear, but it was a bit too high (not level), if I was going to run 31's (or maybe 30's) I could have left it that way and added an additional isolator to the front to level it out. But, I was using shocks I already had, which were a little short for that height, and I'm running 235's, so I didn't need that extra height. I did drive it a little like that, and it still rode very nicely.

Just an idea......

The idea of doing bastard packs has crossed my mind, but the factory leafs in the rear are shot. So, I really need to get new leaf packs, so I thought if I'm getting new leaf packs might as well get the whole kit. The ZJ coils up front is a good idea. I was just wondering if I really needed to replace the factory upper control arms on something that will hardly ever see any offroad time. Thanks for the tips.