lhamilton1807
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Wenatchee, WA
Hello everyone! I'm a new jeeper (bought my XJ in June last year, 2011) and told myself I had to lift it. I'm a teacher, so mechanical stuff is outside my realm, but I'm learning quite a bit and quickly, so don't feel that you have to only use small words when talking to me. Anyway, thought I'd join up here & share what I did with my xj.
Project: 1992 Cherokee Laredo from stock height (likely 1/2" saggy in the front and 1"+ saggy in the back) to 3 1/2" or so above stock height for under $300, not including new (to me) tires. Yes, I'm cheap. But that just makes it more fun.
Here are the instructions I found:
http://www.lunghd.com/Tech_Articles/Suspension_Steering_Axles_and_Brakes/Budget_Lift.htm
My parts so far:
1988 Dodge Dakota rear spring pack & 1979 F150 front coils: $40 delivered
Front & rear Rough Country nitro shocks & dust boots: $127 shipped (resold boots on ebay - was warned they just collect crud)
Misc. parts for homemade leaf clips, swaybar disconnects, etc.: $25sih
Used rear rubber brake line from a YJ Wrangler (it's 2-3" longer than stock): $10
1.75" front coil spacers (used from eBay, only 20k mi on them): $30 shipped
So far I've gotten the Dakota packs split apart and have cut the main leafs to size. Once I'm ready for the lift (I need the help of a friend with some tools, etc) I'll put the Dakota packs (minus the overload spring) under the main leaf spring from the Jeep and won't use the other Jeep springs. I've got pics of before/after the cutting, and will update with those soon.
10/5/11 Pictures
Leaf springs before & after cutting. Used a metal-cutting blade in my circular saw to cut off the head of the center pin, and used a hammer & chisel to take off the clamps. Then I measured the distance from the center pin to the front & then to the back on my Jeep's main spring and cut the Dakota main springs to those lengths from the center pin hole. Now I need to strip the rust, prime, and paint before reassembling with grease to eliminate the sqeaks.
10/6/11 pictures
I used a brass brush bit and cleaned up the loose rust on the leafs. My 5 year-old son helped me pick out the spray paint (he like the sound of "industrial") and spray primer on the short leaf.
10/13/11 picture update:
I decided to paint the front springs, too. They got chipped during installation, though
Altogether, I netted 4" front & back over stock. I also made quick disconnects for the front anti-swaybar links, so I can take out the vertical links before I go off-road and get more flex, but put them back on when driving on the road so I don't have a lot of body roll.
And... The final product! It took 14 hours altogether. Before and after shots (note the position of the red ball on the windshield; the jeep wasn't moved forward or backward during the lift). I had to make a bar pin eliminator for one of the shocks in the back b/c the previous owner broke a bolt putting replacement shocks in, and just welded the bar pin in place. I had to grind that out, make the bpe, and then bolt/weld the bpe in before I could put the shock in.
I've now put the rear fender flare on. It came with the jeep, just needed some new nuts & bolts and it was good to go.
And what I HOPE to do very soon: put the big bumper on! It came with the Jeep when I bought it.
The rear driveline angle was pretty steep, so a friend brought over some shims for the rear springs, longer u-bolts from his shop, and then I made some 1.25" TC drop spacers out of box pipe & massive nuts welded in them to keep them from compressing. All drive line vibes are gone. All of this was free
I collected a bunch of free used tires on CL and traded them for a set of used 31x10.50R15's at a local tire shop, so nothing out of pocket there (they're Toyo A/T's, so Les Schwab rebalanced them for me for free!). I sold my old set of MT's from the pics above for $80 and am now looking for longer LCA's and an adjustable trackbar. The project's been on the backburner for a while now. It's not my DD, I walk to work
Total budget for the rig (including the Thule on top, bumper, spare front driver fender, lift pieces, and covers for interior seats) is $2000 now. I'm pretty happy with her It does great in snow, too! After the trackbar/lca upgrades, I hope to make a stronger rear bumper with a tire mount & cb antenna mount. Will just need some scrap metal & borrow my friend's welder! What next... front locker? I was looking around & found some lunchbox lockers for Dana 30s for under $300. Do those work well?
Project: 1992 Cherokee Laredo from stock height (likely 1/2" saggy in the front and 1"+ saggy in the back) to 3 1/2" or so above stock height for under $300, not including new (to me) tires. Yes, I'm cheap. But that just makes it more fun.
Here are the instructions I found:
http://www.lunghd.com/Tech_Articles/Suspension_Steering_Axles_and_Brakes/Budget_Lift.htm
My parts so far:
1988 Dodge Dakota rear spring pack & 1979 F150 front coils: $40 delivered
Front & rear Rough Country nitro shocks & dust boots: $127 shipped (resold boots on ebay - was warned they just collect crud)
Misc. parts for homemade leaf clips, swaybar disconnects, etc.: $25sih
Used rear rubber brake line from a YJ Wrangler (it's 2-3" longer than stock): $10
1.75" front coil spacers (used from eBay, only 20k mi on them): $30 shipped
So far I've gotten the Dakota packs split apart and have cut the main leafs to size. Once I'm ready for the lift (I need the help of a friend with some tools, etc) I'll put the Dakota packs (minus the overload spring) under the main leaf spring from the Jeep and won't use the other Jeep springs. I've got pics of before/after the cutting, and will update with those soon.
10/5/11 Pictures
Leaf springs before & after cutting. Used a metal-cutting blade in my circular saw to cut off the head of the center pin, and used a hammer & chisel to take off the clamps. Then I measured the distance from the center pin to the front & then to the back on my Jeep's main spring and cut the Dakota main springs to those lengths from the center pin hole. Now I need to strip the rust, prime, and paint before reassembling with grease to eliminate the sqeaks.
10/6/11 pictures
I used a brass brush bit and cleaned up the loose rust on the leafs. My 5 year-old son helped me pick out the spray paint (he like the sound of "industrial") and spray primer on the short leaf.
10/13/11 picture update:
I decided to paint the front springs, too. They got chipped during installation, though
And... The final product! It took 14 hours altogether. Before and after shots (note the position of the red ball on the windshield; the jeep wasn't moved forward or backward during the lift). I had to make a bar pin eliminator for one of the shocks in the back b/c the previous owner broke a bolt putting replacement shocks in, and just welded the bar pin in place. I had to grind that out, make the bpe, and then bolt/weld the bpe in before I could put the shock in.
I've now put the rear fender flare on. It came with the jeep, just needed some new nuts & bolts and it was good to go.
And what I HOPE to do very soon: put the big bumper on! It came with the Jeep when I bought it.
The rear driveline angle was pretty steep, so a friend brought over some shims for the rear springs, longer u-bolts from his shop, and then I made some 1.25" TC drop spacers out of box pipe & massive nuts welded in them to keep them from compressing. All drive line vibes are gone. All of this was free
I collected a bunch of free used tires on CL and traded them for a set of used 31x10.50R15's at a local tire shop, so nothing out of pocket there (they're Toyo A/T's, so Les Schwab rebalanced them for me for free!). I sold my old set of MT's from the pics above for $80 and am now looking for longer LCA's and an adjustable trackbar. The project's been on the backburner for a while now. It's not my DD, I walk to work
Total budget for the rig (including the Thule on top, bumper, spare front driver fender, lift pieces, and covers for interior seats) is $2000 now. I'm pretty happy with her It does great in snow, too! After the trackbar/lca upgrades, I hope to make a stronger rear bumper with a tire mount & cb antenna mount. Will just need some scrap metal & borrow my friend's welder! What next... front locker? I was looking around & found some lunchbox lockers for Dana 30s for under $300. Do those work well?
