How to measure lift - both front and rear?

What is the best way to measure lift. I've got a Rusty's 3 inch lift which included a 3 inch spring pack. The rear seems a lot higher than the front (I've heard - after the fact - that you get more than 3 inches on Rusty's 3 inch spring pack). I've added a 3/4 inch coil spring spacer in front and it still seems a little forward leaning. SO HOW DO I MEASURE ACTUAL LIFT TO GET MY XJ LEVELED OUT? I NEED SOME HELP FROM THE EXPERTS.

just messin' with ya. :angel:

The proper way to measure lfit is to measure the distance from the CENTER of the wheel (which is a theoretical location, and must be "eyeballed") to the BOTTOM edge of the factory fender flair.

A stock XJ without the "Up Country" package will measure 17.5 inches in the front, 17.0 inches in the back, that leaves a 1/2 inch difference, in favor of the front.

All lift meausurements should be compared against this "baseline".

Make sense?

Actually, I think the best way to measure lift is the old "dirty method".
You crawl under the Jeep (hence the dirty part) and measure rear from the axle tube to "frame rail" where the bump stop attaches and in front from the spring pad to spring pad. Now if I could just remember base line. I may have it on my old hard drive. I'll check and post if I can find it. If not I am sure someone will be along to give it to you.

Bones
:skull1:

I've always measured from the axle to the frame (where the bumpstop is mounted) in the rear. This won't do you any good if you didn't grab the stock measurement before the lift. Your stock springs may have drooped a bit making a 3" lift seem more like 4-1/2.
This will also work for aftermarket flares or no flares and/or larger openings.

edit: damn, beat me by just seconds.

az jeff is correct....this is the most consistent measure throughout xj land. [center of wheel to lower part of factory rubber fender.]

Here is the link to what you need. This is not my site.
Jeff Arnfield did a lot of work on this page. Kudo's Jeff.

http://www.lizards.net/albatross/liftspecs.htm

Bones

WHEEL'er-DLR, "az jeff is correct....this is the most consistent measure throughout xj land. [center of wheel to lower part of factory rubber fender.]"

Click to expand...

Have to disagree on this one. My flairs have been knocked around so much I don't know where the stock location was. It is also invalid if aftermarket flairs are used.

AZ Jeff, "measure the distance from the CENTER of the wheel (which is a theoretical location, and must be "eyeballed") to the BOTTOM edge of the factory fender flair."

Click to expand...

Since when is a theoretical location that must be "eyeballed" the most consistent way to measure anything?

The dirty method will give you the most consistent results and is not affected by flair molestation or trail damage.

Bones
:skull1:

This method has worked best for me.
http://www.mike-g.net/jeep/yinyang/techdex.html

AZ Jeff said:

The proper way to measure lfit is to measure the distance from the CENTER of the wheel (which is a theoretical location, and must be "eyeballed") to the BOTTOM edge of the factory fender flair.

A stock XJ without the "Up Country" package will measure 17.5 inches in the front, 17.0 inches in the back, that leaves a 1/2 inch difference, in favor of the front.

All lift meausurements should be compared against this "baseline".

Click to expand...

I know this is the most common way to measure but I agree that the other way (axle to frame rail) would be more accurate. As a case in point, my XJ measured stock 18"/17.5" and I do not have UpCountry. I measured several times to make sure and thats what it was at. Had I not measured MY jeep and just went with the 17.5"/17" standard, I would be deceived into thinking I got an extra 1/2" from my lift than I actually did. Now that my flares have been trail "adjusted" a bit and I am looking at trimming, another way of measurement is required. I wish I had taken the axle to frame rail measurement when it was stock.

Baseline XJ heights

XJ Hints & Help #3

The section on measuring lift height is about 1/3 of the way down the page, with both flare and dirty method baseline measurements.

The 17.5/17 flare method baseline is a good average for all years. The heavy duty tow package and up country sit 1/2 to 1 full inch taller, and the 4 cylinder models sit slightly taller.

The page information has been copied and published on other's web pages many times (the page is older than many owners XJ's), but usually only the flare method info, so help yourself (just have the courtesy to mention where you found the information).

If needed, these pages have been translated into French and Spanish by XJ enthusiasts.

The XJ is still a Jeep, and (true to Jeep form) production variances will alter the height from vehicle to vehicle.