RE, Tomken, Rustys, $ky jacker, or combo???? - I read the old posts.

I know you guys get tired of answering these questions, but what are forms for, Right?

Any way I have a ’91 XJ, 4.0 Auto (AW4), with a NV231 T case. Dana 30 front and Corp. 8.5” in the rear. (soon to be a Ford 8.8”) my question, of course, is which lift to get. Heard good and bad things about all companies. I just want to get some more input before I plunk down my hard earned cash (tough to keep $$ from the wife) I am looking for 6+ inch lift. I thinking about the long are setup but not sure about them yet. I do moderate to serious off-roading and drive my Jeep almost every day. I want a Serious lift (no glam crap here) handles just as good on road as it does off. I willing to mix and match just wanted some input. Any and all Help, comments, and criticism would be great.

I like my R.E. Extreme duty, it is very complete and the flex is great.

putting a combination of lift parts according to you own preferences is almost always ideal in regards to everything but price. piecing together kits is always gonna be pricier. my preferences include softer spring rates. so i would go with rusty's springs(i've never used alcans or bigoffroad's though), but maybe some RE steering parts. if you've got the money, check out those jks control arms, they look huge. my .02 cents

I am running Tomkens Long arms with skyjacker 8 inch coils. I have 2 inch spacers on top of that and a RE trackbar in a custom made Track bar bracket. In the back I am running BigOffroad springs and if I could change one thing it would be the rear springs. They are just too stiff. I want to go with a 10 or 11 leaf pack with a smaller arch. The bigoffroad springs have too much arch in them to get good flex out of them. As far as the front goes it has never handled or rode better.

thompson97 said:

putting a combination of lift parts according to you own preferences is almost always ideal in regards to everything but price. piecing together kits is always gonna be pricier. my preferences include softer spring rates. so i would go with rusty's springs(i've never used alcans or bigoffroad's though), but maybe some RE steering parts. if you've got the money, check out those jks control arms, they look huge. my .02 cents

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Are the RE spring too stiff? What would be a better option? Alcans or I could have some custome spring made from National but they cost $500.

I’m leaning towards the RE kit but I also think the money might be better spent getting a Rustys and upgrading. Plus getting the extra parts you end up buying latter. Like adjustable control arms and eccentric lower ball joints... I would'nt be too far off the price from the RE kit with up grades I think the price diffrence is in the naborhood of $400-$500 (it's been a while sence I looked at prices for rustys in awhile and of course there website is down right now.)

thx for all the help

I agree that useing different parts is the way to go also, I found that most people (like me) buy one kit and over time replace parts of it with different parts anyway to make it "better" for their own preference. So go put pieces on your piece and like it!

"So go put pieces on your piece and like it!"

that is how I feel some time, I just need to get the lift on because everything I'v done up untill now, is not visible and some times I feel like I am getting no where. It will be so nice to come out and see a beutifull lifted XJ that belonges to me.

i've got rubicon 4.5 front coils, rough country lca's and trac bar bracket with rusty's shocks and i believe rubicon extended stainless brake lines with ford f150 2wd leafs out back it flexes awesome, rides just slightly rougher than stock which prolly has more to do with my swampers than springs but all and all my only problem is its not tall enough but i dont have the HP to pull anything cooler so i'm stuck with this till i come up with a 3.4 or get energetic and swap in my 5.0

What year it the F150 Leafs from? I have a 98 F150 I'm getting ready to lift as well, and that would work out nicely.

lift

my lift, after many parts coming and going, is: Custom long armswith johhny joints, rusty 6.5 coils, Rancho rs 9012's,no sway bats, flat belly skid/crossmember, rusty leaves, custom shock hoop, rusty shackels. The only problem i've had is with rusty's leaves sagging VERY fast. his coils are great though! Thinking of going w/ big offroad leaves next after 3 sets of rusty's Good luck!

I have good luck with skyjacker rockready but vary $$$$
it get 23.5 in travel ft 19 rear that total travel run 33 10.50 tsl

i would get the claytons long arm 3-link setup for the xj. run 7" RE coils. then run a spring that will give you 7" in the back(still tryin to figure this one out) for the 4-link kit you can order from D&C Extreme. then pick up some bilsteins 5150s or other good shock in the 14" range.

I run rustys 4.5" coils and ACO spacers up front (+3") with Rustys adjustable upper and lower arms and out back I have Rustys 4.5" leafs and also Rough Country a add a leaf with ORGS shackles, With my set up I run 33" Super swampers after trimming the fenders to get max flex out of it

MuddinXJ said:

i would get the claytons long arm 3-link setup for the xj. run 7" RE coils. then run a spring that will give you 7" in the back(still tryin to figure this one out) for the 4-link kit you can order from D&C Extreme. then pick up some bilsteins 5150s or other good shock in the 14" range.

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Just slap on a 4-link rear...that would be sweet out of the box, but maybe a bit much for a moderate/serious wheeler/daily driver?

I agree with the first part (you should absolutely go long arm for a daily driver that sees serious but not extreme trails), but for the rear get a set of custom leaf springs with 4" of lift, run a 2" block with traction bar, and 1.5" shackles. This will give you low spring arch, especially if you get Nationals, which are thick springs due to the 10-12 leaf design giving you more lift from the spring thickness. 10" travel shocks in the rear, 12" travel up front...raise the rear shock mounts up to the axle tube.

BTW, if you have budget problems...don't lift it 6" or you'll be draining your bank accounts on a regular basis. Trust me that whatever you think this is going to cost in money multiply it by at least three, and whatever you think it is going to cost in time multiply by 10.

Nay

Nay said:

Just slap on a 4-link rear...that would be sweet out of the box, but maybe a bit much for a moderate/serious wheeler/daily driver?

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no this should be fine for a DD. i plan on running it when i can decide on my axle choice. even for a moderate wheeler this is fine.

Nay said:

I agree with the first part (you should absolutely go long arm for a daily driver that sees serious but not extreme trails), but for the rear get a set of custom leaf springs with 4" of lift, run a 2" block with traction bar, and 1.5" shackles. This will give you low spring arch, especially if you get Nationals, which are thick springs due to the 10-12 leaf design giving you more lift from the spring thickness. 10" travel shocks in the rear, 12" travel up front...raise the rear shock mounts up to the axle tube.

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see if you are going to be dumping this much into a full tilt suspension just go with the 4-link rear. yes i know people have huge sucess with leafs in the rear but a full tilt 4-link is just awesome. and everyone on here knows D&C builds good shit.

MuddinXJ said:

no this should be fine for a DD. i plan on running it when i can decide on my axle choice. even for a moderate wheeler this is fine.

see if you are going to be dumping this much into a full tilt suspension just go with the 4-link rear. yes i know people have huge sucess with leafs in the rear but a full tilt 4-link is just awesome. and everyone on here knows D&C builds good shit.

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On what do you base the opinion that going from stock to a buggy suspension with no learning curve in between is "fine"? And why do moderate wheelers need such a modification?

I'd love to do a 4-link, but there are compromises. Do a search.

Nay

i have done a search. even drove a zj. they have springs in the back. i know its not the same as a 4-link rear though. but i have driven a truck with 4-link in the rear and they handle fine. just a little more body roll than most people are used to/comfortable with. im a moderate wheeler but i do some extreme trails.

MuddinXJ said:

i have done a search. even drove a zj. they have springs in the back. i know its not the same as a 4-link rear though. but i have driven a truck with 4-link in the rear and they handle fine. just a little more body roll than most people are used to/comfortable with. im a moderate wheeler but i do some extreme trails.

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Man, that is scary. First off, you aren't a moderate wheeler if you do extreme trails. Moderate wheelers can't do extreme trails. You can be an extreme wheeler who likes to do the moderate stuff, but not the other way around.

Second, there are tons of stock vehicles with rear coils. That lends absolutely no reference to the factors involved in triangulated four linking an XJ on a 6" lift. This issue goes way beyond simply separating the leaf spring functions of load bearing/axle location into separate components (coil springs/link arms). The way it works onroad with a swaybar has no real bearing to how it will work offroad with no swaybar.

For example, how do you mitigate a steep roll axis that will accompany the taller lift? What do you think the effect on daily driving might be of not mitigating this issue? I assume you have a swaybar solution designed for this? How will that work offroad in offcamber situations? Have you found anybody who has solved this compromise without extending the upper arms into the cab? Should a moderate wheeler be willing to stick his XJ on it's side in order to gain extreme crawling ability?

D&C says the kit is for offroad use only, and that's a pretty standard legal disclaimer. But the idea that you can slap this kit on your XJ and gain a major performance advantage in any situation, on and offroad, is simply not fact based. I do think this kit looks like an excellent off the shelf platform for a 4-link, but it is only a start, and you have to be willing to go through trial and error over and over to get this kind of stuff optimized.

This is not really "moderate wheeler" kind of stuff, in my opinion, when you could just bolt on a set of lift springs and shackle and have it perform excellently for a fraction of the cost.

Do let us know how it works out for you.

Nay

will do. i probably will be ordering their kit after NACfest some time and then putting it in when i get my d60s.

also your point about moderate wheelers. i consider myself a moderate wheeler for 2 reasons. i dont have a full tilt suspension setup. reason 2 being that i do not do hardcore stuff all the time but will try it.

an extreme wheeler looks at moderate stuff and just keeps on driving. they go for shit that will make them almost for sure break shit. take Fore Wheeler for example. hell look at his shit. hes damn right crazy.

a 4-link may not be designed for the road but yet people still drive with them on the road. same with coilovers. hell lots of cars use them. coilovers are meant for off road use. i mean its all in how you set it up and what you can come up with to compensate for everything that is gona give you a bad reaction.

I dont think people realize the amount of tech that goes into designing and fabricating a custom link suspension. Correctly designed link suspensions are vehicle specific while off the shelf kits are compromises. I dont think an average wrencher has the needed resources to correctly setup a 4 link. Therefore the amount of $ that becomes involved isnt practical for a moderate wheeler with an average budget. I think the aftermarket satisfys the needs of moderate wheelers with durable shackles and leaf springs. However I do believe a properly setup link suspension can be driven on the street daily. My buddy has a YJ with a 4 link 1/4 elliptic rear that is very stable on the road. I ve riden in it at 100mph and it showed no signs of instability. He does run the front swaybar on the road. Just my .02.