Lift question

I mentioned wanting to do a 4" lift on my '90, and someone said I needed different Lower Control Arms? (I know what they are) Is that neccessary?

Any preference on add-a-leaf or the whole leaf pack?

Thanks
Ecarlcl

with 4" your front axle will move towards the rear of the vehicle a fair amount and while you can get away with stock arms you're way better off with longer ones.

AAL or full pack? Full leaf pack without a doubt.

Not to mention the ride will go to hell in a hand basket. Get adjustable lowers and uppers. Also, depending on how much you would like to spend, you may want to think about putting on the RE dropdown brackets with supports (supports are optional but well worth the $75). If you get the drop downs you could probable get away with the stock control arms for a while. The drop downs will allow you to keep pretty close to the OEM length without sacraficing the ride. When you put that steep of an angle on the control arms they want to move back instead of up when you hit a bump. In short, the ride sucks. Just an option you may want to look into. By the way, you will be told that you will get hung up on things when you go wheeling with them. I've had them on my 90 for 3 yrs. and have never gotten hung up.

Laters...........Mikey

One more thing that I just remembered. When you lift you will need to center the front axle. As you go up the axle WILL move to the left. For now you can drill another hole in the trackbar mount on the axle to move it over. You shouldn't have any problems by doing that. Best way to go is with an adjustable track bar. JKS makes a pretty tough one for $200

Laters........Mikey

who makes a 4" AAL?

if i were to do it again, i would make a custom leaf pack... wish i had read about that before i sunk $225 into used RE 4.5" lift packs...

What does the RE stand for in RE Drop down brackets? Sounds like I will be spending a little more than I anticipated to do this right Here we go :repair:

RE stands for Rubicon Express. To save some money you can get the leaf packs off a Dakota (sorry, don't know the year but someone here should). If you take the packs w/o the main leaf its about 4" over stock. Keep the main leaf (and cut off the eye bolt) and you'll net around 5". This is while using your XJ stock main leaf on top of it all. I would definitely do full packs instead of an AAL. AAL's wear out a lot sooner than full packs. For the front you can run the coils from an F150. They should give you about the same height as the Dakota leafs. From what I've heard, the coils used under a 6cyl model are fairly close to an XJs spring rate and ride decently.

oh ok, I think I would be a little more comfortable if I got a kit with springs and shocks.

I would recomend a kit over piecing something together. A kit may seem like it costs a bit more but...you know what you are geting and you only have one company to deal with if any problems arise. I am sure after wheeling a while you will want to make modifications to whatever you may put under your rig. Good luck.







93 RE 7.5 D44 f/r 4.88 35's Eaton lockers f/r.....

Just so you know what to expect cost wise, figure about $100-125 per inch. That will get you in the ball park as far as cost goes. Once you get going on this you will find that it's an on-going project. There's always something to add or change. New inovations in suspension. Not to mention all the "bling". Stuff that makes you say "That's cool!! I need to get one of those."
As far as differnet kits and the pro's and con's, everyone has their opinion or gripe so listen to people when they talk about the kits and get the one that suits you the best. We're here to answer any questions or help with anything you need. Hey, what are fellow XJers for!

Laters...........Mikey