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MJ lift question

H

HotDog!

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Lawrenceville, GA
I'm picking up a Comanche in a couple of weeks and i'm going to start building it up a bit. I've been looking into the best way to lift it, and as I have no experience with MJ's or XJ's i had a couple questions.

I keep hearing that the best way to lift it is a spring over in the rear and a 4.5" lift up front. Is there another way somebody would recommend? and if I went the route of the rear spring over, how much lift is that going to give me overall and what size tires can you run on it?
 
Spring over is the most economical way to do the rear because it doesn't require replacing the springs. Your net lift will range from 4-6" depending on the health and stiffness of the springs, thickness of the new spring perches, etc.

As far as lifting the front end to match, the world is your oyster. You could do short arms, drop brackets, long arms, leaf springs, etc. Anything you can do to an XJ will fit a MJ.

You'll have room to fit 33's easily, larger if you decide to trim the fenders. Enjoy!
 
Well, to figure exactly how much the back will come up, measure from the axletube to the center of the leafspring and double it.

Lift the front to suit...

Robert
 
Alright so lets say I do the SOA in the rear. What parts do I need for the lift in the front? Obviously it's not a full kit. What all do i need to get besides coils?
 
well figure 6" of lift. Your going to need new upper and lower control arms. Long OR short. Track Bar, steering, maybe a DS. Sway bar links, bumpstops, brakelines, shocks. Should also do gears as well. SO.. its not super simple.

Matt
 
lower control arm drop brackets wont work..... without mods. mj's have reinforced lower control arm mounts.
 
I've seen Trailmaster drop brackets on a MJ before. Your other option is longarms, or not using drop brackets.
 
Lawn Cher' said:
I've seen Trailmaster drop brackets on a MJ before. Your other option is longarms, or not using drop brackets.
Click to expand...

good point.... forgot about trail disater. i still have thoughs brackets.
 
Kernel said:
lower control arm drop brackets wont work..... without mods. mj's have reinforced lower control arm mounts.
Click to expand...
Lower control arm drop brackets WILL work on an MJ. I bought an MJ with Trailmaster brackets already on it. I took them off a couple of months ago. The MJ reinforcement is an extra gusset that goes on the outside of the frame rails and is welded in place. Does't affect the use of drop brackets, except make it less likely that they'll crack the frame the way they do on XJs.
 
I_1BADXJ_I said:
Well, to figure exactly how much the back will come up, measure from the axletube to the center of the leafspring and double it.

Lift the front to suit...

Robert
Click to expand...


Can you elaborate on this? I'm not quite sure what you mean. measure from the top of the axletube?
 
As the Jeep sits now... Springs Under the Axle (SUA) measure from the BOTTOM of the leafspring pack to the framerail... either just in front of - or just behind the axletube. Don't count the clamp plate thickness...

Now imagine those same springs in Spring Over Axle (SOA) sitting on top of a pad that is __X__ inches ABOVE the existing pad... Add this X difference to the first measurement to get a ballpark lift amount.

My LWB Metric ton got over 6" in back, looked stoopid with 3" + 1.75" spacer, but worked OK.

YMMV.
 
Rusty's has a MJ SOA kit that will give you every thing you need.

I had a AAL in the rear and 3" coils in in the front. When I did the SOA in the rear I added 4.5 coils and 1 3/4 BBs. It is still higher in the back.

I would suggest deciding on the tire size before you lift. If you want to go to 33" or larger. You should cosider replacing the Dana 35 with a stronger rear axle eg Dana 44.

You can slide a 44 under there and weld spring perches and sock mounts and then you will be ready for the larger tires.
 
Last edited:
I am getting ready to install a Rubicon Express M.J. kit and it came with TC drop kit, LCA drop brakets, 1 3/4 spacers, coil springs, extended bump stops, upper and lower control arms, HD track bar for the front and the SOA parts for the rear which they claim gets 5.5 inches of lift but I'm switching from a D35 to a D44 so it may get more lift than that. you'll also need longer brake lines and shocks ( which also came with the kit)
 
slowrider said:
I am getting ready to install a Rubicon Express M.J. kit and it came with TC drop kit, LCA drop brakets, 1 3/4 spacers, coil springs, extended bump stops, upper and lower control arms, HD track bar for the front and the SOA parts for the rear which they claim gets 5.5 inches of lift but I'm switching from a D35 to a D44 so it may get more lift than that. you'll also need longer brake lines and shocks ( which also came with the kit)
Click to expand...
don't bother with the TC drop, you won't need it, but do get a YJ yoke (better angle capability).



There are some options for getting less lift out of a spring over. You can use a shorter XJ shackle to lose about 1/2 inch. You can pull out some leafs, and replace them with flatter (XJ?) leafs.
 
HotDog! said:
Can you elaborate on this? I'm not quite sure what you mean. measure from the top of the axletube?
Click to expand...

No, sorry, I think faster than I can type.

I was suggesting you measure from the center of the axletube, to the center of the leafspring, then double.

Or, it might be easier to measure from the top of the tube to the bottom of the spring, then adding in an inch or so for the spring perch...

Or we can just soak up all the free wisdom and experience that makes naxja great:
Scrappy said:
well figure 6" of lift...
Matt
Click to expand...
woody said:
My LWB Metric ton got over 6" in back...
Click to expand...

Robert
 
I will tell you what I am running on My MJ Long bed. I am running RE drop brackets with stock upper and lower control arms, Rusty's 6.5 coils, RE HD trac bar and mount and brace, In the rear it is an SOA conversion, and a long shackle of unknown origin, but it measures 83/4 eye to eye. You will need spring pads, shock mounts and extended rear brake line, and vent tube to do the rear. You might also want to fabricate a crossmember to mount your shocks too.

My mj especially since adding the winch and Rigid Co bumper has a slight forward rake, which I plan on fixing with more lift and a Long arm kit. I run 33's, but I could run 35's if I used bump stops.

Here is a link to some pics of My Mj http://community.webshots.com/user/cj7xjmj


Patrick
 
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