Need 3" Lift advice

I am a proud owner of a 1990 XJ - rear end sags and its time for a minor lift. My thoughts are in the form of a 3" lift: 3" coils, and a local spring shop will add a leaf and arch my current rear leaf springs to match the front end height. Any suggestions on a better (and economical) way to do this? Looking to fit 31's. Also, does the track bar need to be relocated or not? Different people have different answers. Getting new shocks for all four corners, anything else I'm missing? I'm doing this myself. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks for your time.

If I were you, I'd cough up the dough for a 3" kit. If you re-arch the rear and use an AAL, it will ride rough, and sag prematurely. I'd recommend the RE3.5" kit, Skyjacker 3, Full Traction 3.5, or Black Diamond 3'. I would suggest you get a new trac bar. It is not needed, but your axle will be alittle bit off centered, and those relocationg brackets are junk, I've busted 2, then bought an adjustable trac bar

31's will fit a 3" lift real nice. heres what i did to lift my 90 3".
Front End - i made coil spacers for the front, (2.75" spacer and bought another spring isolator really). If had the cash at the time though, i would'v gone with new coils too though. I didn't do anything with the trackbar at first either, but I eventually ended-up with an adjustable one to recenter the axle. no new bracketry or anything though. i still get a bit of the Death Wobble with my set-up. you might wanna think about a dropped pitman. it's not neccesary though.
Rear - made 1.5" blocks and bought 3" extended shackles for an addition 1.5" lift to total it at 3" (not accounting for the factory spring sag). wouldn't reccomend this though, with the factory leafs and the blocks, the axle would do this weird hopping around thing sometimes when in low traction 2wd situations (not usually if i had in 4wd though). i don't know if it was axle wrap from the 1.5" blocks or just the soft springs dealing with 31's or what, it wasn't crazy bad or anything, but it was just pretty annoying. i ended up getting rid of the blocks and factory springs and getting some Old Man Emu lift leafs for the rear, kept the extended shackles though. I think the rear ended up about a 1/2" higher when i made that change, but it was pretty level with the front, so i think that with the factory spring sag, i ended up still right around 3". I personally love the OMEs, really great ride, no more hop.

also, if you'r looking for articulation when wheelin and you haven't considered it yet, think about getting some front swaybar disconnects. JKS quicker discos are the way to go. i also removed my rear swaybar entirely for the extra flex. a bit more body roll when the road though.

31's will rub the lower control arms a bit when turning really tight (like when parking and stuff). you might wanna think about changing your backspacing if you don't like the sounds of loosing a bit of turning radius. i haven't done that though, so i don't know what to change it to. i find it not to be a big deal and just don't turn the wheel that far anymore.

keep an eye on the rear driveshaft slip yoke into the transfer case. it CAN fall out. I'v heard of people reccomending a transfer case drop kit or a SYE (Slip Yoke Eliminator) at 3". I don't have either and everthings been okay with mine. tolerances for each vehicle can stack up differently though, so at least look at it.

if you don't want vibrations from your driveshafts, make sure that understand about differential pinion angles.

good luck and have fun ! you might already know this, but start sprayin those nuts and bolts with penetrating spray ASAP. I don't know if parts rust in Alaska like they do here in New England, but i like to spray'em at least couple of times during the week before i turn'em. (that is if i actually plan that far ahead)

off topic, but what's the wheelin like in Anchorage anyway?

Wheelin in Alaska - I won't lie, I am new in this ballgame. I bought the XJ here with the hopes of lifting it up a little bit and trying it out. What I do know is there seem to be a lot of opportunitues to get flipped upside down or stuck in the mud in the summertime. Not sure what people do for wheelin in the winter snow.
Thanks for the words on the 3in lift. My initial plans are to start with replacement coil springs leaf spring packs and shocks in the front and back, and go from there. I have started some penetrating sprays on the nuts and bolts i think I be pulling, I'm sure I'm missing some.

I know nothing about: dropped pitman, front swaybar disconnects, changing the backspacing, rear driveshaft slip yoke into the transfer case, differential pinion angles. I have a lot to learn, but that's the point. Thanks again for the words..
chris

f15c said:

I know nothing about: dropped pitman, front swaybar disconnects, changing the backspacing, rear driveshaft slip yoke into the transfer case, differential pinion angles. I have a lot to learn, but that's the point. Thanks again for the words..
chris

Click to expand...

>Droped Pitman Arm - longer shaft off the pitman arm to allow for the rest of the vehicle being lower than the steering (than the engineers of the jeeps didnt plan on)

>Front sway bar disconects - the front swaybar prevents body roll on the freeway, and limits flex off road. The disconects make it easier to take the swaybar off. (you can take it off normally,it just takes longer)

>backspacing - is set up and determined by the wheel. a larger (number) backspacing puts the wheels closer to the inside of the car (makes the wheels sitck out less) a small backspacing will make the wheels stick out more and get you introuble with the smokies

Slip yoke and SYE - a "normal" driveshaft will have flanges on both ends and has a slip yoke in the middle. The slip yoke allows the shaft to get longer and shorter as the axle flexes up and down. the t-case on cherokee's has the slip yoke built into the output for the rear drive shaft. This makes the slip yoke do the duty of a slip yoke and the duty of a u joint. When a lift gets to a certain height the driveline angle (the angle from the t-case to the rear axle input if you will) it causes terrible vibrations and the slip yoke can slip all the way out, making your rear driveline useless and causing ATF to leak from the T-case.
a Slip yoke eliminator or SYE is attached to the t-case and allows a "normal" driveshaft to be attached with u-joints at both ends.

Pinion angles - check this out (i just learned about them)
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=33430

good luck and happy huntings for wheeling places

Check out the budget lift at Rock Lizard Fabrications in his tech section. He added another leaf to the rear and got 3" of lift. Up front 2" spacers and zj v8 coils will get you 3" I duplicated his write up and paid as follows
2" spacers (DPG offroad) 32.00
Xj leaves $45
Misc metal and bots for spring clamps 7.50
Center bolts for springs $2.50
Add the xtra leaf (comes with the pack) and ZJ coils ($50 ish) and you are done quite cheap. Ride is excellent too!! Beats OME!

Thanks for the info...Looks like I am going for about 2.5-3" of lift....I picked up some 3" rusty's coils, 4 new shocks and now I am just trying to decide how to go about the rear. I am looking into all options.

Most people seem to say "spend the $ and get new spring packs"....I'm also interested in the dodge springs, but not sure which ones to try.

Still thinking...