suspension Q's

okay, so It's an 89 xj woody. trimmed fenders, 32's W/cragar deep dish wheels, 2.5 inch shackles, and 2 inch spacers.. the coils and leafs are stock and a bit on the soft side. can I put grand cherokee springs+ my spacers without doing control arms?? and what would be a good candidate leaf spring from the wrecking yard that would give me a bit of lift?? I'll eventually get all the right lift kit gear, but I really need this to work for now. so let me know what ya think -thanks

you're about to get it for not searching.

I'd give a better answer if I had one, but learn the search function and you'll save yourself a lot of grief in these parts

I've searched it to my best ability, and I know what I can and cant install now.. but still haven't been able to find a lift limit on the stock control arms.. W/ grand springs and spacers I should be around 3.5" I'd imagine. some of the info I tracked down claims 2" is the limit on stock control arms and another says 4".. so I'm unfortunately still left askin. and about the leafs I also know what will fit now but no one ever seems to say how much lift it gave them. I'd like another 2" in the back. I'm still trying to research it but it's quickly becoming a job of filtering out fact and fiction. so if someone has knowledge I may be able to gain from them I'd really appriciate it. -thanks

Your stock control arms will be fine up to about 4" of lift, some people will even go higher than that. The V8 GC coils + 2" spacers and stock XJ leaf pack with a full length XJ main leaf added will net you about 3" of lift. It will also ride firmer than stock. It's a great cheap mod to gain a little altitude without breaking the bank, I plan on doing it to my son's '92 this Fall.


Search "bastard pack" for other options, as S-10 and Dakota leaf packs will work too.

i ran your same set up (or what you want to do) for about 6 months with stock lcas it was fine. i just recently put on new lcas and it made a big difference (my stock bushing were bad though)

The V8 Grand Cherokee coils seem to net different amounts of lift for each person, I suspect this is partly due to differing spring rates on differently equipped ZJs. 1.5" of lift seems to be about average, so your 3.5" figure seems about right. (My spring swap yielded 1.25"). The general consensus seems to be that the stock LCAs are good for up to 4" of lift. Personally, I'd lift it, then replace the LCAs as time and money allow.

kaymoto said:

okay, so It's an 89 xj woody. trimmed fenders, 32's W/cragar deep dish wheels, 2.5 inch shackles, and 2 inch spacers.. the coils and leafs are stock and a bit on the soft side. can I put grand cherokee springs+ my spacers without doing control arms?? and what would be a good candidate leaf spring from the wrecking yard that would give me a bit of lift?? I'll eventually get all the right lift kit gear, but I really need this to work for now. so let me know what ya think -thanks

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At 3"s of lift you will need to shim 1/4" longer on stock lca mounts.which is doable. at 4" you really should go to a aftermarket lower arm. if your going to wheel the rig after market arms are a good idea either way!

dang, you guys are great help! so I'll do the full length xj main and toss in the grand springs than. now that I'm on the right track, my control arm bracket allready have a couple really thin shims(1/16" total thikness) do I need to pull those out and do a 1/4" total shim thickness or just add in the 1/4" shim?

bump