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lift suggestions

Jeepthang

NAXJA Forum User
Location
East Schodack
I'm looking to put a 4" lift on my 99 xj and i was wondering would be some good suggestions for a moderate price. I understand its pretty much u get what u pay for but im looking to spend around 450-550. If not for a 4" then possibly a 3-3.5". Any imput would greatly be appreciated
 
I doubt you're going to be able to get that size lift on that small a budget. The lift alone is going to break the bank, and doesn't address tires, rims and driveline needs. Figure closer to $2000 at least to get 'er done if not more.

By the way, this belongs more in the Modified Tech forum than in OEM. Welcome to NAXJA
 
My two recommendations:

RE 3.5 Superflex lift with new Rear Leaf pack

or

Used 3" Springs, or Rusty's 3" springs. Most people go spacers over the springs.
Dakota Leaf springs. If the springs don't give you enough lift, maybe a small AAL or shackle to get another inch.
JKS Disconnects.
RE extended Rear Brake line.
Remove Rear Sway bar (for offroad purposes only)
 
find a set of front 3-4 inch springs, make your rear springs with s10 or dakota springs or what ever else is avalible and usable, use some ranger rear shackles, or gm shackles they will net you about 3/4 inch, if you are on a budget try to find some 16 inch factory wheels in a wrecking yard off a mustang, explorer etc with the right lug pattern then buy a set of used tires, the only thing left to address is shocks and those you can go to auto zone and look for the compressed and extended legnth sizes to find the proper shocks. for 500 bucks you should be able to piece a lift together depending on your fabrication skills and your enginuity. if you are looking for name brand stuff then good luck check ebay or sale areas of this and JU
 
Jeepthang said:
I'm looking to put a 4" lift on my 99 xj and i was wondering would be some good suggestions for a moderate price. I understand its pretty much u get what u pay for but im looking to spend around 450-550. If not for a 4" then possibly a 3-3.5". Any imput would greatly be appreciated


IMO, it depends on what type of wheeling you do, what kind of ride you want, etc. If you are just wanting to lift it to lift it, you would be more than fine with a rough country kit or something off ebay.
 
No one mentioned the adjustable track bar...

Piecing together a 'quality' lift that works well costs money... How much it costs and/or how well it performs depends on at what point the builder (or customer if it isn't self-built) starts making compromises.

The -+4" lift I'm piecing together for my DD will end up costing a buttload of money... mainly from spec'ing 'prime' parts vs discount stuff... but I've been getting new & lightly used pieces 'here & there' so my wallet doesn't feel it so bad. In the end I expect it to "outperform" the less-expensive lifts I've put together... but whether or not it ends up a better "value" is a seperate issue... If I had gone down the "cheap" road again, the rig could be done by now.

"Cost" is easy to quantify... just add up the ever-growing pile of receipts.
"Value" is harder to calculate - very subjective! Sometimes even free stuff isn't a good value...
"Performance" even harder to calculate... it's hard to be objective once one has hours of time, hundreds or more dollars, and some bloody knuckles into their rig.
 
Just save a few more months and do it right the first time. I was looking for a lift just like you in the same price range, and everybody said that you should do it right the first time. I saved a little more and bought the RE6030 superflex with full leaf packs. You can pick this kit up for around $700 give or take $50 depending on what you want for shocks, doetsch tech or rubicon express shocks. That's the advice I got and I'm passing it on. It's better to do it once and spend the extra money than to do it again in a couple years or less and spend the money all over again.
Wade
 
The RE 3.5 Superflex with AAL or with the full springs is an excellent place to start. I'm almost done putting it in, waiting on longer u-bolts. It also has been pretty easy to install.
 
I know everyone in here will probably jump all over me when I say this but you can buy a rough country 4.5" lift with shocks for under $500 . Just remember you get what you pay for! o.k. guys lets hear it!
 
BigDadys94xj said:
I know everyone in here will probably jump all over me when I say this but you can buy a rough country 4.5" lift with shocks for under $500 . Just remember you get what you pay for! o.k. guys lets hear it!

so if you think it's poor advice why offer it and invite the flames? :flame:

if $$ is ths only issue you will be less than satisfied with the outcome.. it will ride worse than you like.. the springs might last a considerably shorter time than better quality parts.. but the biggest issue with "cheap" kits is that they use short cuts and will give stuff like "drop"brackets rather than new trackbars.. and brake line extensions rather than new brake lines.... as well as the stuff you will learn AFTER you get the install underway.. Rubicon Express gets my vote for COMPLETE QUALITY kits..
 
I purchased the 3.5" rubicon kit with the full leaf packs and shocks for about $650. A little more than you price range, but it is actually closer to a 5.5" lift. I'm sure the leafs will settle some in the future, but I think it is an exceptional kit for the price. However; be warned, I also had to go the SYE route and get a new drive shaft (because of the height) which means more $$$$$$$$. That will definetly take you out of the price range you mentioned.
 
crookedxj said:
IMO, it depends on what type of wheeling you do, what kind of ride you want, etc. If you are just wanting to lift it to lift it, you would be more than fine with a rough country kit or something off ebay.

Considering that you have already put the funds aside for driveline mods (sye), rims tires, etc., then you have been saving for awhile. I would keep saving awhile longer for two reasons.



#1 I don't think that it's possible to get all the information required for making an informed decision from one thread. That is not to say that myself or others are not happy with what we are running on our rig. It works for our specific needs while there will be those around here that may think we did it all wrong. Take some time and search out the pros and cons presented on the various makes and styles that are available. I researched my lift for about a year and a half before making a purchase, and it paid off in the end.



#2 Think dollar value, not to be confused with price. Often times by spending a few extra bucks up front, you can avoid needlessly replacing an item down the road, effectively doubling the cost of the mod. This could be because of quality or the result of a future modification.

I chose components for my lift that allowed for adjustability and adaptation to accommodate what I may want to do down the road and maybe hadn't thought of yet.
 
I know a lot of the guys on here are running RE kits, but I have the Trailmaster 4" on my 93 and it works great. The ride is good, it was easy to get aligned. No problems at all so far, I added some ACOS and blocks in the rear and everything still held up well. I would reccomend going with the Trailmaster kit, it's only about $400. The kit comes with AAL, I would suggest picking up a full leaf pack. The AAL will hold up for a while if you don't have the money to do it right away.
 
sidriptide said:
but the biggest issue with "cheap" kits is that they use short cuts and will give stuff like "drop"brackets rather than new trackbars.. and brake line extensions rather than new brake lines....
Not to be confused with the RE Control Arm Drop Brackets - those are a good piece of hardware while the ones you mentioned are bandaid add-on pieces.

I'm still missing a vital piece of information here - original poster says he "already have that stuff paid for im just looking for a lift" without going into any detail about what that 'stuff' is. Supposedly that answers my concern about tires, rims and driveline needs when in reality it does nothing to tell me what we're working with.
  • Rims with reduced backspace? How much?
  • Tires? What size?
  • Driveline? You've already got an SYE and driveshaft sitting there waiting for a lift?

I agree with the sentiment to save up a little more and buy the right lift the first time, not some $500 piece-together that may have all the parts you need...and many that you don't.
 
im gonna run 31x10.5 tires on 15" rims im not sure about the driveline i didnt take that into consideration... the RE lift seems to be the way to go so im prolly gonna get that... I'm kinda new to the whole lift thing... ive looked into a lot of kits and listened to a lot of different people but i wanted to do it right the first time and RE seems to be the way to go... what else would i need to go along with that besides the sye driveline apprently
 
well - here is what i did.
I searched the For Sale forum and found a 3.5" lift kit that someone was selling for 250 shipped without leaf springs (included: shocks, front coils, LCA's, steering stabilizer)
When i contacted him, he said that i could get some uesd RE 4.5" Xduty leaves for another 200
I figured that the 4.5" leaves would net me about 4.5" based on the fact that they are used and bla bla bla
so i bought some coil spacers (.75" from RRO) to make up the difference.
I did some searching and found that an adjustable track bar would a good thing to have - and as i was going to be at about 4.25" front end - i added that to my order from RRO.
so now im up to 600
The parts arrive from RRO and they sent me 1.75" spacers - ok, extra lift - why not...
i throw all the parts in:


  • LCA's for 3.5" lift
  • 3.5" coil springs
  • Trackbar
  • Coil Spacers
  • Leaf springs
  • Shocks / stablizer
And my vehicle then sits at about 5.5" front end lift and about 3.5" rear end lift.
Im wheeling one day and do this:


Find that my limiting straps for my front end flex are my brake lines...

Meaning that i now need new brake lines. I opted for some used YJ lines that a buddy had for 10.00 - but had i bought them now or the Stainless ones, it would have been about 70.00 or 150 respecively

I drive it like that for a while - then one day i get terrible vibes from my front pinion being to low and i have fried my front driveshaft
so then i need to get the following:

  • New Front Driveshaft
  • Adjustable UCA's (so i dont have to buy annother front driveshaft)
And at this point i have decided to buy brand new - straight from the Manufacturer - so the UCA's from RE cost me 220 and the driveshaft costs me 275
so now im up to 1200 for a lift that looks like this (click the picture for a full size):

and i still dont have my 33"s, gears, rims, or new rear axle, or SYE...
learn from me - buy new, buy the right stuff the first time, and buy the best stuff:

My Adjustable trackbar needs to be replaced - the TRE end went out and i want to put in a JJ or a Superflex joint - but the threads are the wrong ones...

so - buy the package deal with everything... the first time
dont think - ill save a few $$$ if i do this - cuse you will pay more in the end... and still not have what you initialy wanted...
 
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