Time to upgrade my lift

[adventure man]

Hey guys, currently I am running a 2 inch budget boost with 31's on my 98 zj. Last weekend I was at the badlands and suffered a lot of wheel rubbing. I have had this lift for over a year and I would like a bigger lift.

I'm a college student so my budget is pretty tight, that is why I am considering the 3.5 inch rough country lift.http://roughcountry.com/jeep_zj_3.html I have heard that some people think rough country is crap and others say it is great. What do you guys think? Does anyone run a rough country lift?

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Why not just trim the spots that rub and save up until you can do it RIGHT the first time? I know tons of people running the RC lift and they have had to replace all of the flex joints every 5k miles and end up upgrading to better joints.

 

[dumprat]

I have a 2.5" with a .625 spacer rough country lift in my Lj and I like it. I run 33" tires on offset rims without rubbing. It rides nice and flexes well. You don't need to change the control arms either.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

I have a 2.5" with a .625 spacer rough country lift in my Lj and I like it. I run 33" tires on offset rims without rubbing. It rides nice and flexes well. You don't need to change the control arms either.

That's great, the LJ and ZJ are VERY different Jeeps. And I can guarantee that you are losing about 3 inches of travel with your stock arms.

 

[motomaniac]

I've never had trouble with rough country products except their drop brackets. Its hard to beat iron rocks front to rear lifts for a budget minded person as yourself.http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=IROR&Product_Code=IR-Z_3LK&Category_Code=PFZ
I've ran a few lift set ups on my zj and for 31 at 3.5 stock control arms are ok. The iron rock kit comes with a nice double shear style front track bar. rough country's has a drop bracket which is a poor design and likely to lead to death wobble. although a better alternative is to just drill a new mounting hole rather than use the drop bracket. I ran mine that way for 2 years no problems at all.
like so not my jeep but you get the idea

Thats my 2 cents

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

I have some RC components in my lift, and they have treated me well. I have the X Flex LCA's for a 3" lift, 15,000 KM and they are still in great shape, nice and tight.

Iron Rock Offroad is supposed to make some great components, their steering stuff is reportedly exceptional, like the double shear track bad and HD tie rod. Reasonably priced to.

 

[bob91yj]

Do your research and spend your hard earned $$$ wisely the first time. Some trimming and armor sounds like it would meet your needs right now without breaking the bank.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Spend some time over at mallcrawlin.com to get feedback specific to ZJ's.

 

[K2ZJ]

Spend some time over at mallcrawlin.com SEARCHING to get feedback specific to ZJ's.

Fixed!

I would go IRO. They are great guys and make great stuff. It is only $50 more and worth it imo.

 

[adventure man]

Thanks for all the replies, I do think the iron rock lift looks great. My only concern is that it does not include lower control arms. Is a 3.5 inch lift too much for stock control arms?

 

[jeep-N-montero]

3.5 is pushing it without some adjustment, but others have done it many times, all depends on what you plan to use it for. As for the lower control arms, save your money until you can do upper and lower, unless of course you like ripping off the upper control arm brackets. I say this from experience, because when you replace just the lowers with an arm that wants to flex, guess where it starts to bind and increase stress? That's right, the upper arms become the limiting factor and your brackets will start to weaken and twist, eventually ripping them off.

So, if you absolutely feel you need a taller lift right now here is the bare minimum of what you need: 3-3.5in front springs (your stock fronts will be swapped to the rear), longer shocks, and adjustable front and rear track bars. Some people will try to sell you on just the extension brackets or re-drilling the holes, but I speak from experience when I say that the brackets will twist or crack if you intend to wheel this rig hard. I would also suggest swapping in the steering linkage off a 96-98 v8 ZJ if you do not already have it.

 

[adventure man]

thanks for the information, I'm planning on buying the iron rock lift within the next week. I have never thought about swapping the steering linkage, what is the advantage of swapping in the v8 linkage?

 

[jeep-N-montero]

thanks for the information, I'm planning on buying the iron rock lift within the next week. I have never thought about swapping the steering linkage, what is the advantage of swapping in the v8 linkage?

The v8 has solid steel linkage, not the hollow crap that came on the 6. If you can't find it local let me know, I have a few spares.

 

[johnny quest]

any updates on the lift?