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Quickest/cheapest way to net ~1-1.5" lift on the front?

anthrax323

anthrax323

NAXJA Forum User
Location
San Antonio, TX
I'm about to be picking up a set of Moabs from a TJ Rubicon (with the stock MT/R's) and want to make room for them on the cheap as a hold-me-over until I do my full-out build (as detailed in a previous post - thanks for the input!). I already have the load-adjusting Monroe SensaTrac shocks on the rear which have indeed resulted in slightly over 1" of lift and want to level the thing out and minimize the risk of rubbing in the mean time.

What would my options be for a quick and dirty front coil swap to gain ~1" (or a hair more) on the front? The XJ pickings at LKQ are somewhat slim, but there tend to be a good number of Mopars overall (lots of ZJs). Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks in advance!
 
ZJ V-8 front coils?
 
Oh yeah, I neglected to mention I found that the coils from a V8-powered ZJ should net about 2 inches... Would the springs from a 4.0-equipped model net a little less, or basically be the same as the stock XJ coils?

*EDIT* Ha! Jinx :D . Glad I picked up Eric Zappe's book... This thing is awesome.
 
The 4.0 springs are basically identical to normal XJ springs IIRC. The V8 ZJ springs are a good way to go if you can find them, they are the same length as XJ springs but have a higher spring rate, resulting in 1"-1 1/2" of lift and a better ride.

Coil spacers would be fine too.
 
Awesome, thanks for the input. If I go the ZJ coil route, I might need to consider getting MJ rear shackles (as due to some subtle rear frame damage, the rear of the right leaf spring is bumping into the rear of the shackle box).

If I install MJ shackles, will they still add ~3/4" to 1" of rear lift, even with the lift provided by my load-adjusting shocks? My main concern is that they be longer to avoid contact with the rear of the shackle box until I have the frame pulled.
 
Do you mean that the shackle is contacting the rear of the shackle box? If so, boomerang shackles might help-MJ shackles won't really help much with that. They will only be 1/4" at most (probably less) further away from the edge of the shackle box, since they are also straight shackles and will only change the shackle angle by maybe 5 degree.
 
By the way, do you mean the "High-performance Jeep Cherokee builder's Guide" by Eric Zappe? I read that at the bookstore about a week ago, it has a lot of handy advice but every single trick and upgrade he mentions has been covered on this forum. It's handy to have it all in one spot, but when I read it I got this weird feeling he pulled most of the info in it off of a forum somewhere.
 
Thanks again guys. I guess I'll look into other options for shackles rather than those from an MJ.

T3hk1w1 - Would shackles removed from a 1/2-ton Chevy (with 2.5" rear springs) possibly eliminate contact with the shackle box? If not, my only option would be to go to the local 4 Wheel Parts and pick up one of the following (as I'd like to get this knocked out this weekend):

- Tomken Machine Rear Shackle Extensions (~1")
- Skyjacker Greasable Rear Shackles (~1")
- Generic Shackle Lift Set (various sizes)

I'm thinking the Tomken Machine set would be the highest quality and have a very similar profile to the others, and might be the best option. What are you guys' thoughts?
 
I vote V8 ZJ springs, just make sure they're from a V8... speaking of which... wanna buy some I6 ZJ front springs? :D

Or spacers, if you don't mind the disadvantages. Installing either is about the same difficulty, either way you have to pull springs off of bumpstop posts. Be ready to lower it back onto the wheels without fully retightening any of the bolts, and have spare spacers of various sizes (probably plus a few coil isolators) around so you can fine tune it if you don't like your XJ tipped forward/back. Better to do it a few times in one evening than it is to find out after those bolts are covered in gunk and frozen again.
 
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