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Recommend a 2 or 3" quality lift

9

90Pioneer

NAXJA Forum User
Location
USA
I am buying a 99 XJ, 242, police package. It currently has stock suspension (no upcountry).

It will be my daily driver but I want to give it a little more aggressive stance. So I want to put a small lift on it, 3 inches max. I plan to run 235s on it for the time being but will eventually upgrade to 30s or 31s when my 235s wear out.

I am looking for recommendations on a quality lift that will provide a good ride and handling on the street. I don't want to use blocks and would prefer not to use coil spacers either. I'm still debating whether or not I want to run an add a leaf or new leaf packs all together. Shocks will be replaced at the time of the lift, but with what I'm not sure yet.

I know the 96+ XJs will have a lot of driveline vibes even with a small lift so I will also be putting on an RE hack and tap SYE at the same time.
 
I would lift it when you get new tires. I just lifted my sisters WJ and it looks like ass with the stockers.
 
austinaubinoe said:
I would lift it when you get new tires. I just lifted my sisters WJ and it looks like ass with the stockers.
Click to expand...

235s on a 2 inch looks fine to me. The next biggest tire you are gonna stuff is a 30 (saying this is mainly a street rig, i doubt you want rub/ cut fenders)
30s are only a half inch bigger than 235s. I wouldnt go out of my way to upgrade those tires you have.
 
XJLI said:
old man emu.

/thread.
Click to expand...

X3 - Old Man Emu. There isn't a better 2-3" lift manufacturer if you can afford them. If you have any inkling of a thought that you want another brand please locate the nearest kitchen and dig it out of your brain with a grapefruit soon.
 
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If cost is a concern for you there's no problem with coil spacers for a short lift. For good road manners you will want longer control arms. Drop brackets will give you the best ride at that lift. Same with full leaf packs. OME is great stuff for mild lifts.
 
I just finished installing a 3" OME kit that I got from DPG on my 00 XJ. I'm running a set of 245/75r16 BFG AT's on a set of moabs. At first I didn't care for it as it rode a bit hard. I kept playing with the air pressure in the tires to find a happy medium and now that the lift has settled a little I really am happy with it. I run 45 miles one way to work on the interstate daily and it really has good road manners with no bump steer issues. It does get just a tiny rear DS vibe that I haven't tackled yet.

My advice is look into extended brake lines when you do the kit. The rear on mine is real close to getting torn apart at full droop.
 
OME carries a bit of a price tag but it is designed to be a well riding lift. many people praise it. i have never personally run or seen it.

30s will fit at stock height and backspacing though. i personally did it. no rubbing or loss of turning radius. spacers up front and longer shackles, AAL, or a new leaf pack out back should get you where you want to sit. its an SUV (technically a station a wagon) but with quality shocks you should be able to get the rid to be like stock or better.
 
You can piece together a lift for a bit cheaper than a kit.
I would say find some used lift coil springs/zj upcountry coils + maybe 2nd stock coil isolator. Otherwise the OME 934 coils. And then either OME 2" MD leafs/lift shackle/shackle relocation bracket. Or a Bastard leaf pack.

They are worn a bit, as I got then used but I have 235's and to me it doesnt look bad with 3 inches and no flares. I can take a pic if you want.
 
I'm in a similar situation. I have yet to install the parts (waiting until winter break) but I have:

-2" OME medium duty leafs (give about 2.25" of lift)
-2" front coil spacers from Iron Rock Offroad
-stock Jk Rubicon shocks will ride nice and work for 2-3" of lift

I figured the above would be a nice riding setup while being budget minded.
 
OME is nice, some people say they sag but I've been beating the bag off mine for a few months and running it for a year or more with no sag at all.

Word of warning, buy a smaller lift than you want. For instance my OME 2" HD leafs and 1" V8 ZJ OME lift coils (CS035RA leafs, OME934 coils) got me just about 3.5" at both ends with stock shackles and no aftermarket bumpers, no winch, no armor, etc. If you want it to ride nicer than mine did that way, plan on getting shorter leafs (say a 1" HD leaf) and add 1-2" boomerang shackles so the leafs actually flex. There just plain isn't enough travel in stock shackles to let taller leafs flex properly.
 
OME is the plan if you want a quality product and the best ride IMHO.

I really like my 4 inch OME/DPG hybrid lift. I would buy it again in a minute.

Here is where you need to go. Call Dirk and tell him how you are going to use it and what gear you are going to install, Then he can pick the right kit and springs to get you what you need and want. OME is not cheap, but you will not be sorry.

http://www.dpgoff-road.com/site/OMEXJkits.htm
 
VAhasnoWAVES said:
30s might fit at stock height and backspacing though. i personally did it. no rubbing or loss of turning radius. spacers up front and longer shackles, AAL, or a new leaf pack out back should get you where you want to sit. its an SUV (technically a station a wagon) but with quality shocks you should be able to get the rid to be like stock or better.
Click to expand...

Fixed. 30s did not fit at stock height for me. I had to give it a little boost to run them. I planned on 1.5" ended at 3" up front with 1.5" out back. RRO sent too many spacers. :D With swaybars disco'd and stock bumpstops, I needed to trim my fenders to keep the tires out of them.
 
Darky said:
Fixed. 30s did not fit at stock height for me. I had to give it a little boost to run them. I planned on 1.5" ended at 3" up front with 1.5" out back. RRO sent too many spacers. :D With swaybars disco'd and stock bumpstops, I needed to trim my fenders to keep the tires out of them.
Click to expand...
mine was a street and fishing (NC beaches) rig only. no wheeling. and the suspension was in tip top shape, i added a helper spring in the back for towing. my guess is yours was sagged... ive seen 30s without rubbing multiple times.

(could have been the tire too... some run bigger/smaller. mine were 30x9.50R15 BFG A/Ts)
 
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