Lift Question

Hey all,
Just need some advice on some different lifts I was looking at. I have an 88 XJ that I have torn apart. Engine is at the machine shop and I just recieved the parts for the tranny and transfer case, but I was looking to put a lift on also and was looking at a couple different options. I was only going to run 31's since I have a new set and don't want to pony up the dough for new tires so I was going to run either a rustys 3" or 4.5" since they seem to be the best price. Anybody have any comments good bad or ugly on the rustys stuff? Anybody running those lifts and which one works the best with 31" tires?

before you get flamed too badly, do a search. its a good idea to see what else has been talked about before you bring something up... more than likely you'll find something.

that said, I have 4.5 coils, 3.5 leafs... his springs don't seem to have a lot of complaints about them, they are made out of shop, that may mean something.
as far as parts made in house, seems more bad news than good. breakage, pricy shipping, warranty issues and such.
Other than his track bar breaking while pulling into a parking lot, I haven't had a lot of bad news to spread, but if you search you'll see you get what you pay for with his pieces.


on a personal note, if you plan on only going upto 31's... re-think that and plan on going bigger. I had the same plan, 33's seem small now, long arms are in the near future, 35's so on and so on...

I went with the Rusty's 3" lift a few years ago, and don't have anything bad to say. I ordered it off the internet, and recieved my lift in less than a week. Put it on, and it worked and rode awesome. Flex is better than I expected with just 3" and 31's. I guess if I had to find a weak point, it would be the shocks that come with the lift. It started riding horible, so I decided to upgrade. Pulled the old ones out, and NONE of them had any oil left in them.... Put some new ones on, and I'm happy as can be again....except wanting to go bigger. Think I'm gonna go with the RE 6.5" kit this time and 33's.:yelclap:

If you are comfortable with using china steel, then rusty's is ok, but I would not put my life or my family's life in jeopardy with it. I would get the simple 3.5" RE kit and a good USA made trackbar and call it a day till you want to go bigger and better. Then go with what chrisja77 said at the end, RE 6.5" long arm kit and 35"s and a trim here and there, and limit straps to protect the track bar, etc. The list goes on.....
Don't forget about the rear driveshaft. It will complain on some XJ's at 3"+ lift, so you might need to drop bracket the transfer case a bit, and eventually go with a double cardan shaft like from Tom Woods and remove the drop. I have mine at 4.5" and I had to use the TC drop brackets to reduce the vibes.
Again, really look into the Rusty's lifts and what others say about it here using the search and you will find all you need to make the wise choice. And remember, some problems some XJ's have don't happen to all, and vise versa, especially with the DS vibe issue.

Good luck and happy lifting!

your going in the wrong direction. You need to look at this jeep on ebay. this guy has the right idea. and its got mad flex http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/LOWRIDER-JEEP-CHEROKEE-FULL-CUSTOM-SHOW-TRUCK_W0QQitemZ130222024785QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item130222024785&
..........and you wanted to lift it................ha..............

man that thing has ghost flex