adding a BB onto 3"

i am looking to add a small budget boost to the existing 3" (well now it is about 2", good ol' RC). i have a small aal which was a bad idea.

my question is: should i get a BB with another FULL aal, shackles (which will sag the packs quicker...), or shackles and an aal? (and obviously some coil spacers)

also, after reading a lot of the threads, lca's are recommended, but would they be necessary immediately? i am thinking the BB would net me to about 4-4.5". at this point, how important are extended brake lines, or are stock lines ok for this height?

this lift is being pieced together in small parts with light to medium wheeling that I do. TIA

(INFO: 95 XJ, 3" RC, 31" BFG AT's, 15x8 Black rockcrawlers)

XJeffro said:

i am looking to add a small budget boost to the existing 3" (well now it is about 2", good ol' RC). i have a small aal which was a bad idea.

my question is: should i get a BB with another FULL aal, shackles (which will sag the packs quicker...), or shackles and an aal? (and obviously some coil spacers)

also, after reading a lot of the threads, lca's are recommended, but would they be necessary immediately? i am thinking the BB would net me to about 4-4.5". at this point, how important are extended brake lines, or are stock lines ok for this height?

this lift is being pieced together in small parts with light to medium wheeling that I do. TIA

(INFO: 95 XJ, 3" RC, 31" BFG AT's, 15x8 Black rockcrawlers)

Click to expand...

Your rear brake hose will most likely be too short. Get one that comes from a YJ and you should be fine. For the pack... well, look into getting a main from a dakota and then add the rest back to it, or get a new leaf back. As a last resort do a full length aal and a shackle.

In the front, you will be more or less where I am now and I will say that the new control arms make a lot of difference. Also you should be looking at a new trackbar.

Also after you lift, check your front brake lines as well: either relocated them or get longer ones. The necessity for getting them extended comes from the fact that it sucks (to say the least) if you pull them out.

if i would get a dakota pack, what years should i be looking for?
i am assuming the scrapyard is the place to get a pair of these? also are there any mods needed to install them? this might be the way to go...

Dakota leaves: I believe you're lookking for any SUA Dakota, however I may be wrong..

As for what you'll need.. You may have vibration problems with the rear driveline, so you'll have to either drop the transfer case (1" spacers at all four corners of the crossmember) or get an SYE (the best option).

Personally I wouldn't want to run a lift of over 3" on stock arms and track bar, I would look into getting adjustable arms and an adjustable track bar. At that height you will not be able to bring the castor into spec with factory arms. Also, you will have bump-steer (when you hit a bump the XJ wants to steer itself) with the stock track bar.

As for brake lines, the rear will have to be replaced, even for a 3" lift it's not enough. In front you will probably have to replace them, but you can (and should!) relocate the upper ends of them about 2" - 3" further down, that also minimizes the possiblity that the edge of yoru tire will rip the lines out. You will also probably have to do something about the emergency brake cables, either replace the cables with longer ones or relocate them, here is a website with further information (about three quarters of the way down the page): http://members.aol.com/Stvns/XJhelp3.html

You should also do something about the front sway bar links, I would suggest just getting JKS Quicker Disconnects, those will extend the links and they are something that you will want down the road. You can safely ditch the rear sway bar, but not the front.

As for using lift shackes I have one more hint. When you use lift shackles it changes the angle of the rear of your pack (of course), this will cause the rear clamp on the exaust (the one that holds it to the hanger) to bind on the springs, making an annoying sound and killing any uptravel on the right hand side. To get around this just remove that clamp and either use a large hose clamp in it's place (that is what I did) or weld the exaust pipe to the hanger.

Sequoia