anyone tried....

[XJ-4-life]

anyone tried the 4.5" kit that trail master makes, I found one on e-bay for $550, same price as most of the 3" kits ive found.

[CaptTrev]

yeah

thats the one im currently running
i wanted more lift in the back so i added 1" blocks to give it a more aggressive stance. some say they dont like the trailmaster b/c it rides liek a truck. i dont know what that means, because it IS a truck!
i would say thats a good price for as much lift as it provides and it does flex fairly well.
any more questions--feel free to ask

CaptTrev

[XJ-4-life]

have you ever had anoth lift on there, whats the real difference id get from spending more on a name brand?

[Eagle]

I disagree with Trev -- I bought an MJ with a TrailMaster lift. The quality of the parts is decent, but it rides like it has no suspension at all, and there is zero articulation. To use the term "flex" in the same paragraph with this lift IMHO is an oxymoron.

The TrailMaster was an okay lift for the price when it first came out and there wasn't much else available for the XJ. Now there are much better choices available. The rear lift is a very thick half-length add-a-leaf, which is far from an optimum way to get lift or flex.

The one good thing is the control arm drop brackets. They hang down and can be as much of a problem as an asset when rock crawling, but for a truck that spends most of its time on pavement, they do preserve the stock suspension geometry, and that's a plus.

The kit does not, AFAIK, include any provision for brake line extensions, and you absolutely need that with more than 3" of lift.

All in all, I think I would look at Rubicon Express and their drop brackets.

[XJ-4-life]

Jeep XJ Cherokee 4-1/2 inches

Front Coil Springs
Rear Add-A-Leaf Springs
Front Lower Control Arms
Transfer Case Drop
Sway Bar Drop
Brake Line Brackets
Track Bar Bracket
Rear Block & U-Bolt Kit
The U-Bolts that come in the kit fit the 2-3/4" Axle. 3" U-bolts are available for an additional charge.
4 Hydro Shocks w/Black Boots


$500.00

[ChuckD]

Doesn't look good to me, it does not have an adj track bar just the bracket. I would check out Rusty's, the only reason Trailmaster is kinda appealing is the CA drop Brackets, this kit looks like it does not include them.

[XJ-4-life]

his is $669.00
thats a rough country lift not a trailmaster. Id deffinitly take rustys over a TM, never known anyone with a rough country before, so i thought id ask.
with either of these kits am i going get any bangs, kluks, or clangs, just read a post on someething i think was drivetrain wrap, sorry i dont know any of the abrv. you guys use yet.

[Eagle]

Forget brake line "extenders." They're junk. To go to 4+ inches you need new brake hoses, period. YJ hoses work fine -- that's what I put on the MJ (whoever installed the lift didn't seem to thnk brakes were necessary off-road).

The only clunks I get from the TrailMaster lift are due to the worn out bushings in the control arms -- which are OEM stock. As I wrote above, the quality of the components is decent, but it isn't a complete kit and it doesn't ride or flex at all well.

The track bar is something I forgot. The front axle on mine was off-center when I got it, even though they had redrilled the axle end bracket to relocate the mount. I added a Rusty's adjustable to solve that. So to do it at all right you have to add to the kit the cost of brake hoses and an adjustable track bar right from the starting blocks.

And it'll still ride and flex like cr@p.

[CheapXJ]

I can definitely compare the ride quality of Eagle's MJ to that of an XJ running rancho coils (260 in/lb) + spacers to get 4" on stock control arms.

Mine's just slightly worse ;)

[Georgia Mike]

Yup! I can attest to Rancho's coils. They are pure hell to drive on. It's almost like there's no give at all in them on road,and I'm using the 1.75" spacer for a grand total of 3.75" of lift. Mine does flex fairly well,though. It did an 882 RTI on a 20 degree ramp at the NAXJA SE show a couple of weeks ago. I think most of that came from the hourglass bushings in the control arms and the Dakota leaf setup,which is super flexy :D I REALLY need some Rusty's coils!

[CaptTrev]

hmmm

after reading this..... (and other similiar posts in the past) Ive thought about a different lift setup entirely...

I only got the Trailmaster 4.5" kit b/c it seemed like a good, cheap kit at the time for 4.5"s
I did have to add a RE trackbar and got SS extended brake lines to make things work offroad.

anyway
what kit might be good for me to swap in to go about 6" total (removing the trailmaster stuff)
I kind of like the Skyjacker lifts. . . . . . . .
also short on $ right now too though....


tCaptTrev