PROJECT Diversion: ready to move ahead!

Well, the good news is there is now a "budget" where I can do some purchases for a lot of the upgrades that have been planned for so long. The majority of my questions have been answered but there are a few items left that need clarification. Search as I might, I've not been able to track down answers or even discussions in some cases.

Working with a 3" lift:

1 - Opinions on going with a longer pitman arm. Anyone recall having issues with bump-steer at this height?

2 - Idea of what shim (in degrees) for rear axle.

3 - Lighting: advantages/disadvantages of bumper mount vs. roof mounted light bar.

Thanks!

1. probably not needed at 3", can always add it later if you feel it is a problem
3. roof mounted lights make for glare off the hood, unless you want to flat black the hood, or mount the lights far enough back, I would start with bumper mount.

Been a while since I had 3" lift. But do remeber setting it up well and do miss having it. 3" is nice for trail and streets nicely. At first I was on a budget and got the add aleaf setup to save $$$. However the ride was crappy and ended up saveing and getting the rear leaf pack that I should have got from the get go!. Whould have been cheaper and happier right off.

I had the drop pitman arm setup along with a Rubicon Express track bar and drop bracket. At 3" of lift this made the angle relatively pretty good and had no bump steer issues. Drove real nice and fast down the freeway and flexed like crazy when needed.

I had put in a small shim at first to get the DS angles right (vibes suck!), but I can't remember the degree for it with the stock setup and didn't like how the rear pinion was pointed where obstacles could nail it.

To better this and do the recommended deal here I got a RE hack n' tap for the tansfer case output. This along with a XJ front double cardan driveshaft and a 2.5 dregree shim worked real nice for for a while. However the stock front driveshaft is a bit pinner on size, so I got a nice beefy one built at San Leandro Driveline and now got a spare.

As for lights I like them out in front of you off the bumpers. No glare this way in total darkness. Keep them out in front and making you aware of where the edge of the XJ is so you don't hit things.

Kinda wish I left things simple with the 3" lift. Nice DD setup for sure and good luck getting it dialed. Don't get bit by the lift bug. Just build skid plates and get a winch! That may be my next build after I get done playing with this Turbo 4runner money pit in my shop now.

roof lights- more glare and get knocked off easy unless you have a jeepspeed style light bar

Drop pitman most likely won't be needed at ~3"
I would recommend upgrading the trackbar though, that tightens things up significantly. I've had both roof lights and bumper lights, I'd say go with the bumper. A few reasons why..

-Cheaper to do..you can even get away with drilling and mounting right on the bumper if you wanted, otherwise there's small lightbars made for the front bumper (Detours makes one)

-I never experienced hoodglare from lights on the roof, but they were blinding to anyone in front of me while on the trail at night. if mounted on the bumper you can just angle them down so you don't blind the rig infront of you

-Shorter wiring to the bumper = no power loss. I know for a fact I had power loss over the length of wire it took to run lights on the roof

-You will most likely have to drill a hole in your roof to run the roof lights. I've seen this done quite cleanly before, but you have to think if that's something you'd like to do. Then there's the potential for getting the wiring or the lights caught on low hanging branches

Sounds like a pretty consistent message on these 3 items ... thank you very much!

at 3 inches theres no need for a drop pitman arm, as for the lights.. just mount them on your bumper it'll be alot easier.

ArmyDad said:

Working with a 3" lift:

1 - Opinions on going with a longer pitman arm. Anyone recall having issues with bump-steer at this height?

2 - Idea of what shim (in degrees) for rear axle.

3 - Lighting: advantages/disadvantages of bumper mount vs. roof mounted light bar.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

1- I just did a 3" to my 00XJ and didn't use a drop arm. I run the interstate daily with it never had any issues. As most others have posted using just the drop arm without the drop trackbar is just asking for bumpsteer problems.

2- I went will full leafs in the back and do get a small vibe when I let off the throttle to coast. I did some measurements a few days ago. My 8.25's pinion is at 7*. DS is at 17* and the 231TC output is at 5*. I need to lower the pinion just a little to stop the vibes for my application but each one is going to be different.

3- I've never had lights on the roof of an XJ but on my TJ I did have a set of Hella 4000's on windshield mounts.The biggest things are wiring to them and also the glare off the hood. Some states have strange laws regarding auxilary lighting locations and such. You may want to look into that a bit before you take the time and money to mount them and get jerked around by the cops or inspection station.

I would get a Rustys or Rubicon Express lift, about 3 to 3.5 inchs will fit 31s nicely. I wouldnt run a dropped pitman arm but if any of the steering needs replacing then get the Currie steering. Its awesome and has corrected angles for the upper and lower tie rod ends, stay away from Rustys steering though. Get a kit with new front and rear springs with shocks, you wont be dissapointed. I wouldnt run a rear sway bar at all and if you want to run a front sway bar just get some JKS disconnects. I started with a 3 inch lift and I loved it, even with a small lift I still did rock sliders, diff covers and good front and rear tow points. Might be a little more then what you want for now BUT my thoughts were...even if I have a baby lift I want a durable truck with good tow points so getting stuck would bhopefully be my biggest worry, getting stuck AND breaking things suck even more. Dont forget to get a good trac bar and you can always look at getting a set of short arms. I guess it depends how much you want to spend and how much wheeling your going to do. I started out with just wanting a good 4x4 to get me into the sticks but soon realized I wanted a little more. Anyway, I'll get off my soap box. What are you looking to do with the Jeep?

Thanks for all the GREAT info ... the only thing left for me to do is start a build page.

Hey, something I just realized was there was no specific Forum or Discussion for builds. Is it acceptable just to put the build in the Forum for the vehicle type?