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jmeti000

NAXJA Forum User
Location
san antonio,tx
Hey all,

My 87' is currently sitting on 3" of lift and I have the itch to kick it up a little higher (roughly to 4.5-5"), but am questioning the easiest, cheapest, and best way to do it. Ive thought about using coil spacers and shackles and then just ordering everything else needed individually, or the other option is to just by a whole lift kit. Ive looked at the rough country site and saw their 4.5" options but the $450 option is just AAL and nothing is adjustable. The next option they show (the x series lift) has everything I want but its over $800 and almost as much as the 6.5" lift. If I wanted to spend that much I'd just go for the 6.5" but I dont wanna use a ladder to get in and out of my vehicle. Anyone have any thoughts or other options I might look into?
 
Agreed with solar... my 3" lift consists of a 1.5" taller spring and and 1.5" spacer, in the rear it was a bastard pack +1" shackle... that limits you already to what you can do.

If you were to piece it together you'd need 4.5" fronts with a thin isolator and whole new leaf pack or pieced together one (bastard pack)... already half way to buying the kit with just that... then you have trackbar things odds and ends like brake lines, etc.

Edit: also, what do you want that's adjustable? That word mixed with lift kit means you pay more for anything whether you build it or buy it.
 
I currently have 3" coils with a dakota bastard pack (no spacers or shackles) and everything else pertaining to lifts is pretty much stock. As for adjustable I was thinking along the lines of track bar and control arms. I also noticed that the kits come with a t-case drop, but I am planning on installing a sye so thats kind of a mute point.
 
I had a rustys 3 inch springs up front and a bastard pack out back, I added some explorers leaves and a 1.5" coil up front (30 for the spacers and i got the leaves free)

Used RC adjustable lowers for $30

picked up a used JKS trackbar for $80 (probabbly stolen)

and two MJ shocks less than $30 (relocated mounts on the axle)

so it can be done for less than $200 Craigslist and the pick and pull are your friends
 
Then you could go either way for the extra inch. But if your going to change to arms and adjustable trackbar id price it out first with what you want... in my looking around I found most arms came in around $130-$160 per set depending on the joint used, and you need two sets, then your trackbar with double sheer mount is about $180, brake lines $100 for the set. Pay for shipping on all 3... maybe $50+. Then your spacers and decent shackles are probably another $50-$100 depending on what shackles you use.

See where this is going? That's about $600 for pieces of a kit, or another $200 for a brand new suspension on the whole rig.

Just sayin, you can do it either way, but at that point I would personally buy the kit. I would also long arm it before I bought two short arm kits.
 
annnd im poor, so less than 200 for another 1.5" was definately worth it for me compared to 1300 for a long arm kit.

I like my driveline vibes now i have massage seats
 
Haha, I was just assuming he was looking for new stuff since he was looking at kits. I priced a lot of stuff out when I was looking to upgrade like this, then I decided I'm gonna build my own stuff
 
Im completely not opposed to used stuff. I actually like going to the bones yard and finding stuff, just not sure which parts from what vehicles will work, and havent hit the search button yet.
 
Hey all,

My 87' is currently sitting on 3" of lift and I have the itch to kick it up a little higher (roughly to 4.5-5"), but am questioning the easiest, cheapest, and best way to do it. Ive thought about using coil spacers and shackles and then just ordering everything else needed individually, or the other option is to just by a whole lift kit. Ive looked at the rough country site and saw their 4.5" options but the $450 option is just AAL and nothing is adjustable. The next option they show (the x series lift) has everything I want but its over $800 and almost as much as the 6.5" lift. If I wanted to spend that much I'd just go for the 6.5" but I dont wanna use a ladder to get in and out of my vehicle. Anyone have any thoughts or other options I might look into?

I did mine with a set of used coil spacers in the front...got them in a partial trade with cash for fuel tank skid I had laying around...and a set of Dodge Ram pick up rear shackles...$6.00 at the pull a part.

Of course that opened up other worms....SYE, drop brackets in the front, shims in the rear, etc. But the lift itself was cheap and easy.
 
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