Help with lift questions?

Hi All,

I am new Jeep owner, '93 XJ Country (149,000).

I want to get a lift, and I am trying to decide between 3" or 4.5". My main concern is function with looks far behind in second. I expect to be hitting trails, the beach, and the occasional heavy snowfall. I don't plan on doing a lot of rock climbing, but I do binge drink on the weekends.

Some other sites have convinced me to go with an IRO kit. I would like a quality, don't-break-the-bank kit, you guys (gals) OK with IRO. If I go with the 4", is it minimal mods? How about MPG and control, would a 3" make more sense for what I am doing?

Im a bit lost on what you want... if your trying to build a mean trail-eating machine, why would you be concerned with MPG? Never really gonna do good in both haha. Welcome to the jeep world.

How good are your fabrication skills? That is going to be what will save you cash. Or, if you know someone that is good with that. Here are some ideas for a well functional budget lift:

Shackle relocation and slightly larger shackle could give 2". Then do a bastard pack, and that could give you another inch to as much as 3 or 4 inches. You will have to reaserch that to see what donor leafs can give you what spring lift you want.

For front, you can pull a coil off a ZJ or other vehicle. If you find the right ZJ (one with up-country suspension) that will give 2 inches. You could get a coil spacer if you want to go that route, or even just buy a XJ lift coil... i dont think they are that much. Those are some DIY kit ideas...

Those are your main components. you will still need shocks and probably a track bar. You will hear alot of bad about Rusty's off-road kits on here, but for functionality, they seem OK. certainly not the best, but it wont break bank either. My friend is runnin a 3.5" and it does great. Had no problems. Driveablity really went down, just a side note. If you want good driveablity, look at long arm kits. Your tire selection might be tricky for snow, sand, and MPG.... all terrain treds could probably cover all that decently?

Welcome to and the Jeep world. Make sure you search! There is a ton of great info here that can and will help you in decisions like this! Best of luck to you!

For the trail rig you're looking at I'd go with a 3" kit...once you go over 3"+ you're getting into the territory where you will need a SYE/longer driveshaft and that can put you behind another $400.

If you go too big, you'll want bigger tires. If you get bigger tires, you'll want better gears which will cost more than $1k if you don't do the work yourself.

Search for people who do 2-3" lifts with 31" tires on stock gearing...that seems to be the sweet spot for low budgets and minimal mods.

Sway bar disconnects, nice shocks, coils/spacer, bastard pack/longer shackle...you might need longer control arms too.

If you buy used parts (check out your local chapter's for sale section) you can get a CHEAP lift. Friend of mine picked up ZJ coils from the junkyard for $30 and 2" shackles from a friend for $20. For $50 he has a 1-2" lift and will be putting new 30" all terrains...perfect for his daily driver and trail rig every couple months.

CherokeeManatee said:

For the trail rig you're looking at I'd go with a 3" kit...once you go over 3"+ you're getting into the territory where you will need a SYE/longer driveshaft and that can put you behind another $400.

If you go too big, you'll want bigger tires. If you get bigger tires, you'll want better gears which will cost more than $1k if you don't do the work yourself.

Search for people who do 2-3" lifts with 31" tires on stock gearing...that seems to be the sweet spot for low budgets and minimal mods.

Sway bar disconnects, nice shocks, coils/spacer, bastard pack/longer shackle...you might need longer control arms too.

If you buy used parts (check out your local chapter's for sale section) you can get a CHEAP lift. Friend of mine picked up ZJ coils from the junkyard for $30 and 2" shackles from a friend for $20. For $50 he has a 1-2" lift and will be putting new 30" all terrains...perfect for his daily driver and trail rig every couple months.

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Good stuff. I forgot about the SYE... Even at 3" of lift, you should at least get a t-case drop bracket... cheap thing compared to a SYE. Over 4", no question to it, you need the SYE haha.

Cost is not my biggest concern, stability and overall value is. Is there a huge gap in stability between a 3" or 4"?

oneiris i have a 2000 cherokee with a 4" lift on 33x10.50 all terrain tires with 3.55 gearing. i get like 12 in town and 16 out of town. i had to do a transfer case drop to help fix my driveline angles. i think my jeep is very stable for where im sitting and i do mostly rocks

if your going to do the snow your going to want taller tires to get thru the snow pack. with taller tires you need a bigger lift and trimmed fenders.

IMO a mixture of good ground clearance and lower center of gravity(big tires,minimal lift, proper bump stopping) will be your best bet.

this will give you a visual idea of what 4 inches on 33x10.50's and 15x8 wheels and 3.75 back spacing with lots of trimming looks like

One thing to note for lifting newbies (like me, mere weeks ago) is the state of your current rear leafs. I don't see it mentioned as much, but a lot of the older stock XJs - like mine, 98 with 157K of hard use -- will have totally flattened rear leafs. While you could probably BFH these into a shape that would let you add JY leafs (aka "bastard packs") or an AAL kit, I didnt want to have to do that much work, so I bought the full leafs. It is a money vs effort trade, I think. Does anyone with more experience want to talk about the pros and pitfalls of JY bastard packs?

katuah. factory leafs come with an almost negative arch... its for better ride quality. i did a bastard pack with 88 dodge dakota leafs all i did was measure the main leaf on the dakota pack. cut off the eyes , broke apart my cherokee pack leaving only the main leaf and bolted the dakota leaf pack up to my factory main leaf. i did all of this without removing my shackle bolt or front leaf bolt. its easier if you can remove them but i didnt have the luxury of being able to remove my leaf springs(rusted tight)

Hey Maxx, thanks, that is good to know about the stockers. I gotta say, though, my rears sag a whole lot more now than when I bought it at 15K. There's no "almost" about the negative! It is a clear and definite reverse bend, mainly near the front. I don't see how you could get a true arch into it without some serious effort. Out of curiosity, how much lift did you get out of adding the Dakota leafs? And did you end up with something that had a true arch?

it took 2 C clamps to pull em together but after it was all was said and done i got a good solid 4 inches. it does ride kind of stiff but it wheels well loaded

Great looking rig.

4WDlifeform said:

Good stuff. I forgot about the SYE... Even at 3" of lift, you should at least get a t-case drop bracket... cheap thing compared to a SYE. Over 4", no question to it, you need the SYE haha.

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no need for a tcase drop on the older rigs between 3-4" replace the stock slip yoke with one from a YJ, more clearence around the yokes so the dont bind and its a lil longer wich helps with vibes

ROBZ95Xj said:

no need for a tcase drop on the older rigs between 3-4" replace the stock slip yoke with one from a YJ, more clearence around the yokes so the dont bind and its a lil longer wich helps with vibes

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i have a 2000 xj and have 4" lift with a 1" tc drop. and i dont need a sye. just like everyone says. every jeep is different, another 2000 xj could need a sye.