My weekend project

I took advantage of the 3-day weekend and installed my new coils and leaf packs. I ordered 4.5" coils and 4.5" leaf packs from Rough Country, I figured that after I put on an extended shackle I could maybe use a spacer to level.

In progress:


Final product:


It seemed REALLY high for a 4.5" inch lift, but I figured it would settle. So I loaded it up and gave it a workout on some light trails Monday.


Got home, and it still seemed really high. I used the "quick and dirty" method of measuring, as suggested in the FAQ section, and my front is 24" from center of the axle to the bottom of the (stock location) flare, that's 6.5". I don't know if RC shipped me the wrong coils or what, I would be surprised if they settled 2 full inches. The CA angles are pretty severe, and it rides really rough. So I guess my next project will be either CA drop brackets or long arms, whichever I can justify pricewise.

cool dude.

Looks good. I had RC leafs, and they settled, but only about 1" after installation......

I went to Lowes and got a 1000# bag of gravel and carried it around for a few days to settle my springs.

most of the aftermarket coils and leafs are setup for your typical heavy steel bumpers, winch, tire carrier .. when you have a mostly virgin jeep, they sit high.

it will settle as you build.

thats a pretty badass jeep tho. i like it.

besthaticouldo said:

thats a pretty badass jeep tho. i like it.

Click to expand...

Thanks, needs bigger tires though.

Thanks for all the replies, the rear seems to be settling a bit, and already it feels better than my old AAL setup. I will need to replace my straight extended shackles with boomerang shackles though, as the shackles don't have much room to move before they crash into the rear of the shackle box.

I see that Rough Country is offering 15% off to members this month, so I will probably buy a set of CA drop brackets, and save my pennies for a while until I can afford a TNT Y-link or similar setup, or maybe I'll be happy enough with the ride that that won't be necessary.

I measured it again, front and rear are both about 6 - 6.5" higher than stock. I'll be the first to admit that my XJ doesn't have much in the way of heavy stuff, but that still seems really high for a 4.5" lift.

Rough Country gave you a bonus two inches!

(add snide comments here!)

Jump This said:

Rough Country gave you a bonus two inches!

(Was It too big for you?)

Click to expand...

Dude, due to my sagging 20 year old suspension, MY 4.5 inch kit netted a real-world ten inches out back and a full seven in the front. It has settled about one inch all around over the hard usage I've put on it since, but is PLENTY high to clear just about anything I point it at. Whatever is higher than the lift I just slide over on the rock rails hehe.

Your Jeep looks great, man, cool deal!

My first 4.5" kit netted 5.25" all around. The rear settled to 5 or so, then it settled again to 4.5", finally before I canned them they settled to 4" and spring wrapped. TOO SOFT!

Still running my original "4.5 inch" coils with 5.25" of lift. The front never settled.