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lift upgrade, is it a good idea?

S

Semper Fi

NAXJA Forum User
Location
PA
I'm thinking about upgrading from a RE 3.5 super flex to a long arm lift. I'm not looking for more lift just a better ride. I'm also thinking of putting boomerang shackles on the rear leafs to help them ride smoother. Any thoughts? Is this a good idea, and will it give me what I'm looking for?
 
OK do any of you have any opinions about weather this is a good idea or not? I want to stay the same height but have a better ride. Should I just go with drop brackets? Or are they weak like I have been told? Will the drop brackets give as good a ride as long arms? I know it would be cheaper with the DB's but is it worth it?
 
at 3.5 you don't need drop brackets.
 
I just installed a long-arm kit on my XJ after driving/light wheeling it stock for years. (Clayton's 6.5") I am extremely impressed with the quality of the ride, it rides and drives every bit as good as stock.

FWIW I think long-arm is the way to go, especially on a DD rig.
 
I think 3.5" is too small for long arms. Someone will correct me if I am wrong but when articulating there isnt enough height and with the mounting location farther back on the "frame" it wil hit things when articulating. I would say get the Db's if anything. As you know they are cheaper and I have heard great things about them. I have never heard of them being called weak.
 
lancey3 said:
at 3.5 you don't need drop brackets.
Click to expand...

according to the angle of the lower control arms, the rough ride, and the pounding that the underside is taking, yes I do need drop brackets or something. I have the RE 3.5 on the Jeep now but have gotten 5 inches of lift out of it. I didn't think about the arms hitting on things, good point. The shop that wants to put the long arms on for me said that the DB's were weak. I guess I have to get all the braces with them and ensure they are on the correct way and welded. With the DB's and the boomerangs will I get that stock ride back???
 
Drop brackets are not weak, if you use the frame braces. Sounds like the shop you are dealing with really wants to spend some money with them,

Are you running a coils spacer on top of the coil, or are you getting 5" from just the 3.5" coil? Sounds a little odd if it's just the coil. At 5" you would be fine with longarms, but at 3.5", you'de be better off with short arms.

What you need to ask yourself is, "how much wheeling do I do". If it's more for improving the street ride, go with the DB's as they are alot cheaper, and are plenty strong enough. I would not run the DB's under 5" though.
 
All I have on the Jeep is the 3.5 coils, no spacers. I measured from the center of the wheel to the bottom edge of the flare. It was 5.5 in the front and 5 in the back. When I had the lift installed, the guy that did it for me insisted that it was a 5 inch lift.

I plan on doing the DB's with a spacer on top of the coil to level the front end after I put the boomerangs on the back. I am looking to improve the street ride over all. I get plenty of flex with the RE lift as it is. I am also only running 31's and only plan to run 32's in the future.

What I'm looking to get out of this is a smoother ride. The ride is very harsh right now. The only way I can get the ride to smooth out is to hook up my trailer with 3 quads on it. The lift has been on the Jeep for more than a year now so I think it has settled all it is going to. here is a pic of the Jeep. I will try to include a pic of the control arms if I can.
Jeepdriveline012.jpg

aug15002.jpg
 
Dude. If the highway ride is smoother with your trailer hooked up or whatever, you've obviously got issues with rear spring, not with your front control arm angle. If anything, your front control arm angle is going to be worse with a trailer hooked up.

I'm assuming that you're already running a long shackle in the rear? A boomerang will not change ride quality at all vs. a regular old extended shackle, unless the shackle is laying against the body at ride height (not likely unless you acciedntally bought MJ springs) I'd try pulling a leaf out of the spring pack and see what that does for you. Especially since you're like an inch higher in the rear, looking at the pic.
 
I agree. I see no problem whatsoever with your control arm angles.

RE is famous for sitting ass high. Alot of people will order the 4.5" kit, with 3.5" real leafs just so that it sits level.

I have the 4.5" RE kit on my XJ, and it came with the 4.5" Coils and 4.5" leaf and 2" shackle (1" lift). It sat way too high in the rear, so I tool out the shackle AND put a 1" coil spacer in the front. Now it sits level. I would say the harsh ride is coming from the rear...Or you could have stiff shocks. What are you running? OR, you really have to understand that most lift kits are going to ride rougher than stock as the spring rates are generally hight on lift springs. I've owned 10 Jeeps that I have modified, and the only lifts I've had the were even close to a stock ride were OME (2.5" ona TJ) and Teraflex (3" on a TJ). All aftermarket leaf springs are going to be stiffer. Stock XJ leafpacks have 4 leafs intem, and moaftermarket leafpacks have at laest 5.

Hope this helps. Just hate to see you waste you money, since it ain't woth much anymore...:patriot: :wave:
 
Last edited:
here's what happens. When I hit a bump in the road it sounds like someone hit the front of my Jeep with a sledge hammer, and it gives a very hard jarring to the front of the Jeep. When the back of the Jeep hits the bump it kicks hard.

I know that lifted Jeeps ride hard, and that's not the total issue. This lift has not gotten any better since the first day I put it in the Jeep. This is my 8th Jeep so I'm know stranger to Jeeps either. When I hook up the trailer The rear springs hardly squat at all. Hell I see more squat in the sidewalls of my tires than I do in the springs.

I'm running the stock shackles with the new springs and a 4* shim. I have heard that the boomerangs will make the springs act as if they are longer. This will in turn give a better ride because it will cause the springs to flex more than a straight shackle.

I am running the RE mono-tube shocks. If I were to pull a leaf out of the pack, which one would I pull out?
 
Semper Fi said:
here's what happens. When I hit a bump in the road it sounds like someone hit the front of my Jeep with a sledge hammer, and it gives a very hard jarring to the front of the Jeep. When the back of the Jeep hits the bump it kicks hard.

I know that lifted Jeeps ride hard, and that's not the total issue. This lift has not gotten any better since the first day I put it in the Jeep. This is my 8th Jeep so I'm know stranger to Jeeps either. When I hook up the trailer The rear springs hardly squat at all. Hell I see more squat in the sidewalls of my tires than I do in the springs.

I'm running the stock shackles with the new springs and a 4* shim. I have heard that the boomerangs will make the springs act as if they are longer. This will in turn give a better ride because it will cause the springs to flex more than a straight shackle.

I am running the RE mono-tube shocks. If I were to pull a leaf out of the pack, which one would I pull out?
Click to expand...

How are your front end components? camber/caster? I would look into your front end and make sure all components are in good working order. You shouldn't be getting this "bang" from the lift. The control arm angles are fine so i wouldn't blame the lift. Check your bearings/ball joints too.
 
You control arm angles are right, did who ever installed your lift tighten the control arms while it was in the air and not with it sitting on the wheels? Sounds like your control arm bushings are binding up, at the dealership I work for we get alot of customers with a similar problem and start blaming the lift yet it is an installer created problem. All the upper and lower control arm bolts need to be loosened and the suspension cycled then re-torqued to factory specs with the vehicle on its wheels at ride height, we usually use the alignment rack to do this where I work.
 
Huh,never heard the one about tightening up the suspension bolts at static ride height, but I suppose it makes some sense. You wouldn't think it would make a difference, since the suspension components are designed to cycle (move) at the bolts (mounts) every time the components flex. It should be just a joint moving within the designed radius of the bolt attach point, not a "bang".

I'd think there was something else causing the banging. Only thing I could possibly see regarding the suspension mounts causing it would be if they were extremely over-tightened and installed with the suspension at full droop. Even at that, one "bang" to rotate them to ride height should be all you'd get, and then they'd all sit at static ride height.
 
Good point, maybe the shocks are shot or bottoming out, causing binding or banging. Maybe the track bar is loose, maybe the unit bearings are shot, maybe the ball joints are shot. I'd look into all of those things and them some if I heard a strange banging sound before I'd think it was binding at the suspension attach bolts.
 
rob92xj said:
You control arm angles are right, did who ever installed your lift tighten the control arms while it was in the air and not with it sitting on the wheels? Sounds like your control arm bushings are binding up, at the dealership I work for we get alot of customers with a similar problem and start blaming the lift yet it is an installer created problem. All the upper and lower control arm bolts need to be loosened and the suspension cycled then re-torqued to factory specs with the vehicle on its wheels at ride height, we usually use the alignment rack to do this where I work.
Click to expand...


This applies to leaf spring lifts but shouldn't affect control arms for coil sprung rigs. As stated above, the suspension cycles on those bolts and shouldn't matter how they are installed. If the bushings were siezed to the bolt, then yeah there's a problem there.
 
muddeprived said:
This applies to leaf spring lifts but shouldn't affect control arms for coil sprung rigs. As stated above, the suspension cycles on those bolts and shouldn't matter how they are installed. If the bushings were siezed to the bolt, then yeah there's a problem there.
Click to expand...

It's still a good idea if the control arms are still using bushings. A properly tightened bushing will NOT move freely (yes, they move, just not freely like a rod end or Johnnie Joint), you're doing it a favor by torquing it at ride height. But I agree, I doubt it's the cause of the noise in the front.
 
the suspension on the Jeep is good. I don't have anything that is loose and the banging I'm hearing is the jarring of the control arms when I hit a bump. Because of the angle of the arms the jar of the bump shoots straight up the arm and into the body.

The reason I was asking about the DB's is because they should put the arms back to the correct angle, right? Remember I asked if I should do long arms or drop brackets.

I will end up with about 4.5 inches of lift when everything is said and done. I will be putting a spacer on the front coil to level the Jeep out once the front bumper is made and installed. A lot of you said I don't need DB's with only 3.5 inches of lift, when done I will have 4.5 inches, about.

Which way is the better way to go with only 4.5 inches of lift, the long arms or the DB's? I will be putting the Boomerangs on the back. When I looked at the stock shackles today they are almost straight up and down.
 
Semper Fi said:
the suspension on the Jeep is good. I don't have anything that is loose and the banging I'm hearing is the jarring of the control arms when I hit a bump. Because of the angle of the arms the jar of the bump shoots straight up the arm and into the body.

The reason I was asking about the DB's is because they should put the arms back to the correct angle, right? Remember I asked if I should do long arms or drop brackets.

I will end up with about 4.5 inches of lift when everything is said and done. I will be putting a spacer on the front coil to level the Jeep out once the front bumper is made and installed. A lot of you said I don't need DB's with only 3.5 inches of lift, when done I will have 4.5 inches, about.

Which way is the better way to go with only 4.5 inches of lift, the long arms or the DB's? I will be putting the Boomerangs on the back. When I looked at the stock shackles today they are almost straight up and down.
Click to expand...

Dude, I'm not gonna argue with your or whatever, but you are NOT hearing the control arms. I promise you there is a worn component or loose bolt in the front making this noise. Not trying to be negative or anything, but you're throwing money at what is likely a simple problem. I'd fix whatever is broken, then worry about wether you need longarms or drop brackets.

Be aware that most boomerang shackles are also extended, usually 5" or 6" center/center so there's another inch or so of lift to go with your already overlifted rear.
 
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