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Junkyard lift on a budget

1

140657

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Lewes DE
First off i want to say hello to everyone this is my first post on naxja. For the last 3 days i have been searching this site finding more info then i ever thought existed, on my friend the xj. I have read many threads about junkyard parts including the very long junkyard upgrades from beginning to end.

The idea of a lift for cheap sounds great to me sence im heading off to school soon, but with so many ideas of what parts to use and what will give you what, i want to throw out there what i have and what i would like to do, and see if you guys know the best route for me and what to look for.

I have an 89 XJ 4.0 auto 213,000 miles. I already take it to the beach often and off road when i can. I would like to be able to run some mild trails, nothing to crazy. I don't think i want to go over a 31 inch tire, just for MPG and regearing reasons, not that with a 4.0 mpg is a selling point.

I have read and seen what many of you have done with so little, and it is amazing. Any ideas, opinions or suggestions are greatly wanted.

Thanks in advance

Andy:compwork:
 
Howdy,
I've done a couple of cheap lifts. Leafsprings from a Dakota + your mainleaf and a set of coil springs from a ford E-350. shocks (rear ) from a random GM pickup.

Now as a caveat, I did end up buying a set of SuperLift front coils (3"), they lifted better, and rode softer. They were $124.00 at Advance auto.

Easy as pie, works well, the Dakota leafs flex like crazy.
 
Hey there
How much lift would a set up like this net me. and I have heard that the e 350 springs have a really ruff ride is there anything ells out there that will net the height with a better ride. I know its from the junkyards beggars cant be choosers.

Love the help Keep it coming
Andy
 
 
140657 said:
Hey there
How much lift would a set up like this net me. and I have heard that the e 350 springs have a really ruff ride is there anything ells out there that will net the height with a better ride. I know its from the junkyards beggars cant be choosers.

Love the help Keep it coming
Andy
Click to expand...

Front ZJ coils provide some lift as well as a similar spring rate to our XJs. If just a little more lift is needed you can also add another coil spring isolator (disk above the spring).
For the rear you can try a bastard pack and also a longer shackle. I have heard of S-10, MJ and Dakota leaf springs used in a bastard pack. I am using MJ shackles on my XJ with my 4.5" rustys leaves. I hear that some GM truck shackles will provide some lift as well.
 
73 to 79 F150 coils give about 3" & the ride isn't too bad. Any of the bastard packs work better than an aal or shackle lift. I believe the E350 & F250 2wd springs give closer to 4" and as previously mentioned they are real stiff. The F150 springs also flex better than I thought they would.
 
Hello

All of this help so far has been great. I think that i have decided that i want to go for about 4 inches of lift. My idea so far is to grab some 73 to 79 f150 coils and isolaters, and to make bastered packs for the rear, out of a better set of xj springs and dodge Dakota springs. anyone know the leaf combo to use to get around 4 inches of lift.
I'm loving all this info
Thanks for the help
Andy
 
stewie said:
Welcome to NAXJA Andy!

This is actually quite a popular topic. There are a few threads on this topic:

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=66012&highlight=junkyard

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=969836&highlight=junkyard

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=50083&highlight=junkyard

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=951380&highlight=junkyard

http://www.jpmagazine.com/techartic...h/154_0705_used_jeep_dana_44_axles/index.html

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=944937&highlight=junkyard

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=962927&highlight=junkyard

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=955705&highlight=junkyard

I went ahead and grabbed some threads that I thought you may find useful.

I hope this helps!
stewie
Click to expand...

Damn Stewie, you spend way too much time on NAXJA!
;)
 
I checked through a lot of those links i found one that would have been great but the pics would not show up. anyone know why.
thanks
 
140657 said:
. anyone know the leaf combo to use to get around 4 inches of lift.
Click to expand...

S-10 Blazer spring pack with the spring eyes cut off. Take out all the Cherokee leaves except the main one. Take out the smallest/shortest S-10 leaf and put the rest under your original Cherokee main leaf. You will get about 4 inches of lift, give or take, and it works well off road.
 
i did the jy lift with 3" tj lift springs from a jy, and another xj pack and put on teraflex 1 1/2 shackles, with a coil spacer to level everything out and bought doetsch shocks, i love the way it rides and handles, if i had to do it over again, i would use the dodge van leaf to get the shackle angle better, i am going to install the shackle relocation brackets that i got from here on the vendors forum, warning once u lift it, liftitus sits in and u will want mere, save your money and buy a complete 3 to 3.5 lift i oculd of done it this way a lot cheaper thatn waht it has cost to piece everything together hth
 
The S-10 leaves work great in the rear, they flex great and ride very smooth. In total the entire bastard pack cost me 10 dollars, including u-bolts.
 
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