Lift Kit Opinions

Its about time for me to start getting serious about my XJ, I have a 95. Presently it has about 5.5 misc. lift, its regeared with an arb in the front and an EZ locker in the rear. Im gonna go long arm about 8 inches. I dont know which lift to do. I def want the clayton long arm kit. I dont know if i should get the entire clayton 8 inch kit, or buy the stuff seperate from a bunch of different places. I can get a good deal on the clayton kit from Zach at A to Z fabrications. Wondering what you guys thought of it? Heres what I had planned

Either Clayton 8" Long Arm kit, roughly $2000

Or

Clayton long arm conversion
rustys springs
big off road leafs
the rest fo the parts, such as brake lines, drop pitman arm, boomerang shackles to run with the BOF leafs, shocks and such will come from rustys or rubicon express.

If i order in bulk from rustys i know theyd give me a break on prices. So that would come to about $1800, not a huge difference in price. Any suggestions? Thanks for any helps guys

remember to add in shipping costs of all different parts coming in from all different companies. The price of the parts alone may be $1800, but shipping could add on several hundred. That could put the price well over $2000. Ordering it from one place saves time, confusion, and could save you money.


Chris

I def forgot to add the fact that if i get the Clayton kit from Zach at A to Z i wont have to pay any shipping, but im more concerned with what wil be the better way to go on the jeep. Thanks for pointing that out.

TNT LAs and the rest RE

Yeah I am zero help.

Asked a few people about tnt, the concept is awesome withthe the y-link. However i didnt completely understand what was being explained to me, but what i caught was that the way its set up, if you ever need to do any trans work, you have to drop the Xmember from the kit and the front axle because of the way its set-up. But liek i said i am stuck with the clayton kit. And as for Re, their stuff is awesome, but they dont have a true 8 inches. Its 7.5 coils with spacers, and leafs with shackles and blocks. I want true 8 inches. But thanks for the input.

play_in_the_mud said:

Asked a few people about tnt, the concept is awesome withthe the y-link. However i didnt completely understand what was being explained to me, but what i caught was that the way its set up, if you ever need to do any trans work, you have to drop the Xmember from the kit and the front axle because of the way its set-up. But liek i said i am stuck with the clayton kit. And as for Re, their stuff is awesome, but they dont have a true 8 inches. Its 7.5 coils with spacers, and leafs with shackles and blocks. I want true 8 inches. But thanks for the input.

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TnT is awesome stuff. I am going to be ordering mine fairly soon, shipping quotes were $415 to my door... extremely expensive due to the belly pan weighing so much. As it looks, yes you would have to drop the belly pan to do any transmission work. It consists of approx. 12 bolts (I believe) and doesn't mess up adjustments to alignment and such. To me I'd rather take 30 minutes to drop the belly pan than to have not had it at all when my transmission dropped onto a rock.

In other words, any transmission protector will have to be removed to do work. The reason for the skid/plate is to completely cover it from harmful things!

What do you mean true 8 inches? RE usually underrates their lifts, and you will be around 8.5" with their 7.5" lift setup. If you're talking about 'true' as in you want the entire lift to consist of just springs and leafs, than that's probably not the best idea. With such a huge arch in the 8" leaf springs (to create your lift) you will barely flex as opposed to say a 5.5" leaf spring setup with 2.5" shackles.

GrayT said:

TnT is awesome stuff. I am going to be ordering mine fairly soon, shipping quotes were $415 to my door... extremely expensive due to the belly pan weighing so much. As it looks, yes you would have to drop the belly pan to do any transmission work. It consists of approx. 12 bolts (I believe) and doesn't mess up adjustments to alignment and such. To me I'd rather take 30 minutes to drop the belly pan than to have not had it at all when my transmission dropped onto a rock.

In other words, any transmission protector will have to be removed to do work. The reason for the skid/plate is to completely cover it from harmful things!

What do you mean true 8 inches? RE usually underrates their lifts, and you will be around 8.5" with their 7.5" lift setup. If you're talking about 'true' as in you want the entire lift to consist of just springs and leafs, than that's probably not the best idea. With such a huge arch in the 8" leaf springs (to create your lift) you will barely flex as opposed to say a 5.5" leaf spring setup with 2.5" shackles.

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X10 on all of that. The other thing to ask is "how often do I work on my transmission?" If it's every other week, then it would be a hassle. But transmission work shouldn't be a regular occurrence and therefore, not a regular problem to drop the belly pan.

And 8" leafs will be stiff and won't flex much at all. Check out TNT's U-bolt elminators, more for the fact that they add 1.5" lift without the negatives of blocks, shackles, and enormous leaf packs.

Chris

ckh550 said:

Check out TNT's U-bolt elminators, more for the fact that they add 1.5" lift without the negatives of blocks, shackles, and enormous leaf packs.

Chris

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Not to mention those damn U-bolts!

thanks for all the help guys, any other input would be appreciated.

Thinking and thinking, the TNT kit is nice, but the Clayton kit has been around for a while with great reviews, anyone no here actually running the TNT kit with anything to say about it?? Whatever i do i am putting money into it this week so it doesnt get spent on other dumb crap. Thanks for any help guys.

play_in_the_mud said:

Thinking and thinking, the TNT kit is nice, but the Clayton kit has been around for a while with great reviews, anyone no here actually running the TNT kit with anything to say about it?? Whatever i do i am putting money into it this week so it doesnt get spent on other dumb crap. Thanks for any help guys.

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The TNT kit is the best engineered kit out there today, I have installed a RK kit, Kevins, AND TNT........TNT will give youuu 3" of additional ground clearance at the frame rail over the rest and at least 1" at teh crossmember. There is no contest. I installed THe TNT with dana 60's and drove it 400 miles the next week on the road and would nto hesitate to use it as a first choice anytime

xjnation said:

The TNT kit is the best engineered kit out there today, I have installed a RK kit, Kevins, AND TNT........TNT will give youuu 3" of additional ground clearance at the frame rail over the rest and at least 1" at teh crossmember. There is no contest. I installed THe TNT with dana 60's and drove it 400 miles the next week on the road and would nto hesitate to use it as a first choice anytime

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TNT downfalls....

1. Takes 45+ minutes to change your driveshaft
2. You MUST torque the LCA when the crossmember is not on the frame
3. You have to remove your LCA in order to change your tranny mount
4. Difficulties in rubbing the drive shaft when using a stock D30 (with stock castor on the axle) and if you correct the rubbing, then you get vibes from the pinion angle being bad (an associates current trouble he is having)

Did I miss anything?

I think Bob does a fabulous job on his stuff. Workmanship is top notch, infact probably better than anything else off the shelf out there.

Just wanted to be the Devil's advocate.

cracker said:

TNT downfalls....

1. Takes 45+ minutes to change your driveshaft
2. You MUST torque the LCA when the crossmember is not on the frame
3. You have to remove your LCA in order to change your tranny mount
4. Difficulties in rubbing the drive shaft when using a stock D30 (with stock castor on the axle) and if you correct the rubbing, then you get vibes from the pinion angle being bad (an associates current trouble he is having)

Did I miss anything?

I think Bob does a fabulous job on his stuff. Workmanship is top notch, infact probably better than anything else off the shelf out there.

Just wanted to be the Devil's advocate.

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whadda you mean diffuculties in rubbing with a "stock" D30??

cracker said:

TNT downfalls....

1. Takes 45+ minutes to change your driveshaft

Only if you are a Moron.....takes me about 2 minutes longer, having racheting tools helps
2. You MUST torque the LCA when the crossmember is not on the frame
I dont have any problem, I install and remove the LCA's from the pan 5 times while mocking up for the D 60 brackets
3. You have to remove your LCA in order to change your tranny mount
again incorrect, I removed it from the back and made a 1" spacer and reinstalled
4. Difficulties in rubbing the drive shaft when using a stock D30 (with stock castor on the axle) and if you correct the rubbing, then you get vibes from the pinion angle being bad (an associates current trouble he is having)
Ive only heard of this once, and after he corrected the allignment of the arms, never had anymore problems

Did I miss anything?

I think Bob does a fabulous job on his stuff. Workmanship is top notch, infact probably better than anything else off the shelf out there.

Just wanted to be the Devil's advocate.

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Well try again

I have the TnT kit installed on my 99. Avery pretty much hit everything on the head. I will, however, make a couple of corrections just for XJNATION.

1. Only an irresponsible moron would tell people it only takes an additional 2 minutes to change the front drive shaft. give it an extra 20. ( so probably about 30-35 minutes total with non ratcheting tools. )you have to reach over the bellypan, over the driveshaft, and access the DS bolts from the top. Your working in a 10" driveshaft tunnle so to speak. The easiest way I have found to remove the shaft requires that one of the front tires needs to off the ground so that you can turn the shaft at the t-case to get to the bolts easier.

2. You really should torque the LA's to the belly pan before you raise it up to the tranny. It is nearly impossible to get 150lbs/ft at the Pass side mount without removing you exhaust first. who wants to do that. Check with Bob, I believe he has even written this into his directions now.

3. You DONT have to remove the LCA to change the tranny mount. you DO have to loosen the belly pan so that it drops down about an extra 1/2". Otherwise there wont be enough room to lift the tranny up to clear the mount from the belly pan. There is only about 1" of clearance between the tranny and the drive tunnel. If you have to do any T-case or tranny work you will have to completely drop the belly pan (8 bolts). Its really not that difficult. Just set it up on stands to take the heavy load off the front wheels. take the uppers off of the lowers, (brace the axle so it wont turn on you), drop the belly pan to the floor and fold it over the lowers to get it out of the way.

4.Avery got a little confused I think. The setup with the caster set @-6.5* with 7" lift places the pinion at almost horizontal position, causing some DS vibes. adjusting the caster to help with the vibes creates the problem of the DS @ the pinion yolk to rub on the upper control arm part of the radius arm. This starts happening at approximately -4.5* caster. I still have not found the sweet spot where I can call it good. Ill post up later when I find it.

Now for the positives.
1. Clearance, clearance, clearance, I dont need to elaborate on this one.

2. Big flex, minimal binding if any.

3. Great undercarraige protection the integrated skid plate for the tcase is strong.

3. excellent ride on and off road, (will be better once I nail down the proper caster/ pinion angles).

4. The customer service with TnT is outstanding. Bob and ....I think its William, are easy to work with and go out of there way to make sure the customer gets what they're paying for.

I hope this helps the next guy that is looking for this info on this kit. I dont have all the answers, but the ones I do have are from experience with the kit. I really like setup. If i was given the opportunity to try again I wouldnt do any thing different.

Have at it.
Aaron

I have experience with the kit, maybe not as much as some...... by jacking the exhaust with a small jack you can easily jack it up and out of the way to get the proper torque. I use a crows foot on the end of my snapon tq wrench

with a ratcheting 5/16" wrench the work takes no longer than without the kit.......except for starting the bolts........but by rotating the shaft as you start the bolts and tighten while in a down inside position it is still relativily easy.......yes harder than stock but not that much

dont back out of the clayton, i had atleast 3/4 of my vehicle weight on one arm, it doenst bend................the second option i like alot, i just ordered my biggoffroad springs, 6 inch, with the 1.5 inch shackle....i would go this route, you will not be dissappointed.

wvredxj said:

dont back out of the clayton, i had atleast 3/4 of my vehicle weight on one arm, it doenst bend................the second option i like alot, i just ordered my biggoffroad springs, 6 inch, with the 1.5 inch shackle....i would go this route, you will not be dissappointed.

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I hope you get the newer springs because with the older Big Offroad 6" springs plus a 1.5" shackle....you should sit at 9+" :shocked:


Make sure the shackles are of the boomerang type and you may need to consider opening the back of your shackle box to get the necessary flex.

I have a set of the older 8" ones in my garage and I sat at 12" with a JKS shackle.

Good luck.

i am ordering them here in a min, emailed him, told me to calculate the amount of shackle into the amount the spring lifts, so hopefully 7.5-8, i hate to be at 9 +.........got a pic of that cutting method on the shackle box.....i kinda need to do that as well.......luck is appreciated, but never happens.

wvredxj said:

i am ordering them here in a min, emailed him, told me to calculate the amount of shackle into the amount the spring lifts, so hopefully 7.5-8, i hate to be at 9 +.........got a pic of that cutting method on the shackle box.....i kinda need to do that as well.......luck is appreciated, but never happens.

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If I were you I'd consider the 4". You'd get better flex, it would probably be at 5"+ and you would have an additional 1.5" with the shackle. I, personally, am not opposed to using a 1" block if necessary, but others will flame me for mentioning it. You will get NO axle wrap with those Big Offroad leafs so you could get away with it. You could get 7.5" and no need to cut your shackle box.

Leafs in general flex a lot better when flat and the big offroads have a habbit of having a mean arch to attain the heights they claim to get. My buddy that sold me the 8" Big Offroads, bought the 6" Big Offroads and after 1 year they are stil stiff and feel as if they never broke in.

As far as pics and info, I don't have it to cut the shackle box but I have seen it here on 2 or three times a tech thread with details.

Good luck