01 Front end sag fix?

I have a 2001XJ Classic. 2 inch Rubicon Express lift kit, AAL in rear, 2 inch spacers in front, and 4 new shocks. 265/75/16 Bfgoodrich A/t KO2's on Icon wheels. No other mods at all for suspension. 22" light bar on front bumper, 4 fog lights (really not much weight)
1.25" Spider Trax spacers.

The RE lift gave me over 3 inches lift in rear unfortunately. I do not do much off roading, just wanted the lift for extreme weather conditions and the occasional light mountain trail ride.

Front end is sagging (0.6") on passenger side compared to driver side.
Driver: 34"
Passenger: 33.4"
Both rear: 35" +/- (0.5) depending on load

Question is, I really want to level out the jeep but I am at a loss as to what to do without dumping money on it, if I bought new Springs for the front could I expect it to get closer to leveling out and fixing the sag without having to buy any other suspension parts? Really afraid of buying 3" Springs because of all the changes that need made everywhere else in the driveline and suspension.

I considered buying new factory Springs and putting some concrete blocks in the trunk to help settle the rear.

I considered buying 5.2 V8 Springs from a ZJ but heard it would put me up to high in front.

By the way I'm rubbing fenders in front just taking curves slightly fast or hitting speed bumps!! That's unacceptable! Also getting some big time vibes directly under my feet only when I let off the gas pedal

:flamemad:

The rear is usually higher to account for towing or carry stuff in the cargo area.

The vibes are from the driveshaft needing to either have a trans case drop or an SYE, with a new CV driveshaft, plus the rear axle will need shimming in both caees. Search is your friend.

AALs are not a great way of lifting the rear and it sounds like you have too much lift in the rear. I would consider removing the AAL and just run the 2" lift.
You might try the short OME front coils. I use the short stock spring isolators to balance small side to side differences in height.

An inch or two more of lift is not going to help that much in bad weather and is the cause of your problems, it's the nature of lifting, it screws up all the Factory engineering and adjustments.
It's up to you to sorts all the changes out, the "kits" do not contain all the parts and knowledge needed to do this. You need to educate yourself or pay someone big bucks to do it for you. There is a lot more to lifting beside changing springs and shocks.

Rubbing can be cured many ways. Trimming, raising the flares, adjusting the steering stops, bumps stops, etc.
I do whatever it takes to clear, wanting every bit of available suspension travel.

2001xjeepx said:

Front end is sagging (0.6") on passenger side compared to driver side.
Driver: 34"
Passenger: 33.4"
Both rear: 35" +/- (0.5) depending on load

Click to expand...

What do these numbers represent ? The simplest and most common way to measure lift is from the center of the rim, to the bottom of the stock fender flares.

Some good used stock coil springs will fix the unevenness. If you want more lift in front buy some used +1 inch UpCountry coils, or some lift coils. At 3 inches of lift, you shouldn't need any other modifications, provided you have an adjustable track bar. The vibes will need to be dealt with. A transfer case drop may reduce or eliminate them, and SYE definitely will cure them.

you should look into buying some actual 2-3" leaf packs for the rear, and some 2-3" coils for the front. the spacers and AAL method is cheap way of lifting the XJ and you will get what you paid versus buying full leaf packs and coils, good shocks, pinion shims, DS u joints, etc.

the rear will settle eventually to some extent. you'll need to inspect and probably replace rear DS u joints, and maybe shim the rear pinion back down to get the stock DS angles in spec (parallel with Tcase output angle) but you need to measure the 2 angles to verify all of this first .


once you begin to lift a XJ, you may or may not need other parts(aftermarket control arms ,SYE, steering, aftermarket trackbar, rear pinion angle modifications, better shocks , etc)

also, once you lift it, you will find out really fast which parts were maringal before are now probably totally worn out (steering TREs, motor mounts, tranny mount, U joints, control arms, trackbar, etc)

http://www.jegs.com/i/PAC-Racing-Springs/278/JP18X4.0X200/10002/-1?parentProductId=2446792


You need these for the front.

The rear is a whole nother trail to wreck, and these guys are on it.

Ya I'm not a total noob when it comes to lifting and off roading, just not a professional either. My only real concern is keeping my cost down right now. I'll look into those jeep speed 220 springs, I guess I'll need to take out the 2 inch spacers and replace the springs to get back the nominal ride height and rid the sag. I do not have a tow hitch, nor do I do enough off roading to settle those rear leaves so I will just add weight to the rear for a while and see what happens.

Motor mounts, bushings, and all the steering components are in good shape because most of them are new. I think leveling it out and maybe shimming the transfer case a very small amount and all new u joints will cure it. Thanks for all the advice guys

I could be wrong, but i think your issue is failed factory parts and too big of tires. Without trimming etc, your tires are to large. Even Rubicon states with the 2in, a 30 is the largest you can fit without modification. I have a ~29 tire with the same lift and i hit fender before full flex. The rear will settle with regular driving, but a full inch of difference seems like something is wrong. I would start off by making sure all the lift parts are correctly installed, then check for worn factory parts. If that doesn't work, look at a SYE or all the other recommendations above.

An SYE won't help with sag...