zj coils on an xj????

I have been reading a little about using the grand cherokee springs on an xj? I was wondering how difficult this is and what it entails. I am looking to install the BOR 8" rear leaf pack and wanted something other than the skyjacker 8" coils. Heard many bad thoughts about skyjacker. Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks xjfanatc (this is my first post also so let me know if I did something wrong)

I suppose I should list what I will be doing the install on. I have an 86 xj stock at the moment. I have built several fullsize trucks, but fell in love with the flexability the xj provides over the fullsize rigs. It has the 2.8 v6 and currently i run bfg mt's (235/75r15 on stock wheels) I plan on getting my lift and tires seperately and installing together with major fender trimming. Cutting the body is not a problem since this is only a trail rig. Any suggestions or advise would be great. Thanks again

What are you plans for the front suspention besides 8' coils. as for the coils you can try rockkrawler they have a good selection of coils. when you go that tall you lookinging at alot of work to get everything right and what size tires are you going to run cause the stock axles anit going to cut it.

Welcome to another NC local

Most folks find that ZJ lift coils give more lift when used on the XJ.
(ex: 4.5" Rubicon Express ZJs will give approx 6-6.5" on the XJ)

Adding cheap 1.75" poly spacers (or stacking these ICW 1/2" factory coil isolators) or trick adjustable spacers like ORGS 0"-3" ACOS to tune the height.

Next step is sorting out your suspension links (upper & lower LCA + track bar) & steering. The RE drop brackets for the LCA frame mount sem to be the hot ticket for the short-arm crowd, as the higher one goes, the more harsh & non compliant-on the road- the suspension gets. Long arm style suspension addresses this differently, and the folks with those rave about the ride quality...

My +-6" front lift is a conglomerate of homebrew and aftermarket, but it works pretty well for what I have invested. It is neither a pure rock-crawler or mud-slinger...kinda all around junker that has seen daily commuting duty as well as bashing around the SE. I started with Rustys 4.5" coils with 1.75" and two factory spacers, RE adjustable 'superflex' UCA, Battleaxe Fab fixed/dogleg LCA with 'johnny joints' at the frame end, Rusty's steering conversion, adjustable track bar, hydro shocks and extended braided s/s brake hoses. The rear is less exotic: Rusty's 4.5" pack with two (?) extra leaves, and factory MJ shackles.

A couple of things I did 'extra' was to remove the shock mounts from the axle and add 'eye' style mounts to the top. My shox mount directly to the LCA and the eyes are oriented so the bolts are paralell to the axleshafts (this allows more droop as well as allowing the shock to travel in a non-binding arc with the fore-aft LCA movement. I also sheathed the brake hoses with plastic tube, to help prevent chafing of the s/s and hose failure.

Out back I removed the drop shock mounts from the 44 axletube, and had new ones mounted at approx the c/l of the tube...this makes for less things to snag under there. The gas-charged shocks are mounted to a custom top mount (2" x .250" sq tube that mounts between the rails using the front IIRC bumpstop holes

I retained the non-disconnect 30, but it really might be more economical to go with something beefier from get go. I haven't had a lot of front ax problems (running 33") and I am sort of a mentalcase with the gas pedal sometimes, so :dunno: but I would look into bigger if boulding another one from scratch with plans for big tires.

If I keep the 30 in there, I need to address the axle end track bar mount. I think the OEM mount is a limiting factor to my setup. The under-knuckle tie-rod steering is at the upper end of it's design envelpe at my height...Ideal would be boring the tapers out of the knuckles and building something with rod-ends over the knucks.

I'm sure I missed something, and be certain that my setup is not perfect...but it works well enough and I'm satisfied.

BTW I'm next door to ya in Moore Co.

forgot driveline angles :O

Most folks that lift the XJ over moderate height install a slipyoke eliminator kit and double-cardan driveshaft on the back. I am simply running a TC 1" drop, and a (longer with more open yokes) YJ yoke on my factory driveshaft, and I know others taller than I that running similar cheap setups with good results.

Dropping the rear of the t-case helps the angles there, but also increases the front angle (helps & hurts at the same time?) The front shaft angles can be tweaked with LCA caster shims & adjustable UCAs...but the steering caster is 'set' at the knuckle. On a pure trail rig, this is a lot less of a worry than one that will be driven at road-speeds.

Some of the older-pre 87?- T cases in XJs had a CV style front shaft (rubber boot at the tcase output) these are a LOT less desirable than the double cardan style found on the newer models.

HTH

I am waiting on a reply from skyjacker on a price for the 8" RR kit for the front end. I have heard many different comments to thier systems from loving it to hating it. I was wondering if anyone knows of another kits out there from other companys. Hey Woody where are you located. Send me a private if you want. Thanks

i have 4.5" zj coils and they give me mayyybeee 6" ... i believe these are the coils that come with the xd RE 5.5 kit..

the skyjacker coils are great. I think some of the jeep speed guys are running them too. They have nice firmness and yet they are pretty squishy. I have been running them and they are great on and off road. I wouldn't do the skyjacker 8 inch lift for the front end if so, the 6 inch would be a lot smarter. Their 8 inch is shit and will break guaranteed due to the angles. You are getting into a lot more problems with 8 inches of lift I'm running 14 inches and it took me 9 months of learning and adjusting to get it right. DW will be a pain in the ass. I still am fighting it. It is absolutely amazing with 40's and a load of flexing off road though. I love the XJ's flex.

Good luck

If you want a good setup for not a ton of money youre only option is to fab up your own links. A "long arm" setup is simple to do and doesn't cost a ton. If you decide to swap front axles you could find a ford with radius arms allready on it and just adapt them to the xj. Just do a search for long arms.

Nik, did you ever get those fenders trimed? I know everybody gave you a hard time about your rig when you posted a while ago, but do you have any uptaded pics? That thing is huge.