Small lift- 2" spacers or 3" coils?

92 XJ 4.0 5spd

Just put 235/75s on, and with a saggy rear passenger leaf spring, am getting tired of it rubbing with a single extra person riding. Figured if i was going to go through the trouble of replacing the pack, i would do a small lift while i'm at it.

My brother has the stock springs off his XJ (swapped out for 3.5 lift springs) laying around that have virtually no sag. So the plan was to order the Rough Country 2" lift shackles off eBay and use his stock leaf packs for the rear.

The front however i'm not sure about. My brother is about to swap out his 3" front coils for 3.5", and gave me the option of purchasing those from him for cheap. The question is should i go that route, or stick to the stock coils and stacking spacers for 2"? The only reason i don't want to go with the 3" coils is i don't have the immediate funds for an adjustable track bar to go with the 3" the front.

I don't wheel often, it's a DD, but i do beat the crap out of it once in a while with some friends at local spots. Just looking for input. Lot of great info on here, i'm slowly becoming a believer...

Side note, any negative reviews for those RC shackles on eBay? Read some unkind words about RC adjustable track bars...

The shackles should be good, do a search on bastard packs though and you can get 3 inches out back with your and your brothers leafs and the shackles. For the trac bar you can re drill the stock mount to make do for a while. But I would recommed getting the RE 1660 trac bar with the heim mount when you get a little cash. I have it and it works great.

-Alex

Thought about the bastard packs, was a little iffy about using my springs with his. Mine are already saggy, won't they flatten out quick (relatively)? Overall bastard packs would be more work, so i don't know that i would care to do it unless i went with the 3".

Getting 3" isn't important, just would be nice. Will have to look into the redrilling of the stock track bar mount, hadn't heard of that. The biggest problem is i don't have $200 to spend on an adjustable track bar, otherwise i would go with that. I'd rather do it smaller/safer than bigger/rigged.

So then I would shy away from the 3 inch coils and a 2 inch shackle, might look a little funny. Just grab some 2 inch spacers and search drilling stock trac bar mount and that should work out.

-Alex

Will i need to rerdrill with a 2" lift? From reading a few posts, it sounds like it would only be a ~1/4" off center, is that enough to chew my tires? Also haven't gotten as far as to look up if i would need extended sway bar end links...

fattmann said:

Will i need to rerdrill with a 2" lift? From reading a few posts, it sounds like it would only be a ~1/4" off center, is that enough to chew my tires? Also haven't gotten as far as to look up if i would need extended sway bar end links...

Click to expand...

You won't need to redrill. You will be pulled off center, but not enough to make a big difference. Make sure you check your toe-in and adjust it accordingly - aim to get it set at 1/16" and no more than 1/8". Definitely get your brothers leaf pack as a short problem-solver. You should be able to find a used BB (Budget boost... spacers and shackles) for around $50 so don't waste your money ordering $100 shackles from anyone. You can find a new BB for that much. Start small and spend small. Trust me you will want to go big and spend more later. :eeks1:

I was just going to get the RC 2" schackles that they have on eBay, it's like $54 after shipping. i had noticed the BB sets for around $100, but my brother has a set of 4 coil spacers, (think they are 3/4" each) so i was goin to measure and just stack those.

Yeah he already talked me out of going big. i was going to get a 3-3.5" but then thats into talks of adjustable track bars, extended sway bar links, shocks, possible TC drop/SYE kit... I'm a poor college student, lol.

Thanks for all the info guys.

I will probably get flamed for this, but....
I did the bastard pack and yes it is a lot of work.

Flame 1:
I already had a Hi LIft jack. After cutting off the "eye" of the main spring, placed it in the jack, between the lifting part of the jack and the top piece. I put a bolt through the pin hole and attached a chain between the spring and the jack to limit the distance the spring would bend when jacking the ends together. I don't recommend doing this, but it worked for me. I was able to control where the spring bent and was able to re-arch the spring this way. Copied the process for the other one as well and made sure both had the same arch. I purchased HDME plastic 2.5"x 28ft with adhesive on one side. Each leaf got the HDME. It is .030 thick and cost me $30. Reused the U-Bolts and replaced the locating pin. That was the back and I got 2.5" out of it.

Flame 2:
The front was done by going to Home Depot and purchasing two black PVC(?,ABS?) end caps and 6" of pipe. Glued the caps on the ends (increased wall thickness), trimed at the cap end, and cut a hole in the cap for the bump stop. Placed it between the body and the rubber spring seat, cap end down. 2" lift in the front.

Keep in mind that the front spacer only experiences stress in compression. It is not exposed to UV from the sun.

Rear suspension really improved with the HDME! There is no friction between the leafs. By the way, I found a local place that provided replacement clamps for less than $2 per set. Used total of 6.

I would not do the bastard pack again. The leafs were too rusty and the arches were all different. This is a temporary at best, but the Jeep is level and rides very nicely. I no longer needed the rear sway bar either. I have the big 27mm front swaybar that works great.