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Suspension Lift Questions

BogdanR

NAXJA Forum User
Location
San Diego
Hi Guys,

I am some what new to jeeps, and to lifting them, so I had a question or two. I got the jeep with what I think to be a 3.5 inch spring lift in the front, and a 2 or so inch lift in the back using an add-a-leaf system. I wanted to even it out a bit. To do so I got some longer shekels for the rear end that added 2 inches to the end. So.... now I am sitting 1/2 inch lower in the front then the rear. It's not noticeable, so I guess visually it's ok. I was wondering though if there is any performance downside to having the back a bit hire?

If I want to even it out, what's my best option? I was considering getting a 1/2 inch front spring spacers, but I can not find anyone who makes 1/2 inch spacers, maybe no one does. Any other ideas? Drilling and lowering the shekels is not an option, because of the way they are designed.

Also, when it comes to shekel lifts, is it basically as bad as doing a block lift? Or will it give me a lift and some more articulation? I read that it's important to match the angle of the transfer case output to the angle of the differentiable input, to cancel out u-joint speed bumps. Adding shekels probably changed the angle a bit, but I can't feel anything. Any thoughts about this?

Sorry, perhaps some of the questions are stupid, but any help is appreciated. Thank you,

- Bogdan
 
you can gain the extra half inch by adding another one of the factory rubber spring pads at the stop of the spring tower. get those from the junk yard, or maybe someone sells them online somewhere...

personally, it would not be worth the work to add the extra half inch to the front. it wouldnt even be noticeable without a tape measure.
but thats just me
 
it wont effect performance in any way. technically stock xj's came a little ass end high. alot of guys on here purposely lift their rear end a little higher so it levels out when loaded with gear. if you like how it looks then leave it and youll have no problems
 
I rode around with the back higher than the front on my Jeep for a long time until my add-a-leafs in the rear finally started to sag which sounds like the ones on your jeep did and thats why it sat lower in the first place. Also they are called SHACKLES not shekels. I am not hating on you I am just correcting you so you know for the future because some people on here would flame the crap out of you for something like that. But shackles are not as bad as blocks. Blocks can cause problems over time like axle wrap to your leaf springs taking on a "W" shape and bending upwards in the middle. And you are correct that nobody makes a 1/2 spacer but jeeptorino68 was right that you can just install another factory rubber spring pad to add a little more lift up front. It is also correct that in order to lessen drive line vibrations from the rear driveshaft that you want to match the rear pinion angle with the angle of the driveshaft which is can be achieved a little with shackles but to gain better angles using axles shims is the best approach.

Welcome to the Jeep community!
 
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