Very Very Torn on Lifts! XJ

[JohnXDoe]

Ok so I've got a 2000 RHD cherokee. We just picked it up from being shipped from Japan to Germany. Well we got it inspected over here and it needed tires and a couple other little things. So talking to the wife we decided to order tires that'll fit it when we lift it. Well I think I might have ordered a little to big to fit stock. We ordered 265/75R16 Hankook DynaPro ATM RF10's. So talking to the wife she said go ahead and order the lift.

So now I'm torn between the Rusty's 3" full rear leafs, the IRO 3" kit with full leafs, Rough Country 3" with full leafs and a Rubicon Express 3.5" lift with full leafs. The thing I'm torn on is how different these lifts are in price and whats included.
I know the Rubicon Express lift is probably alot better but it doesn't include shocks and is way more expensive.
I've heard alot of bad things about Rusty's but their also extremely cheaper.
Rough Country has very mixed reviews. Some people love them, some say their horrible. I like that they include lower control arms and no one else does. (Thinking this might be the way I'll go and maybe upgrade the shocks to something better.)
And the IRO kit, I've heard really good things about them. But i've also heard that their just rough country springs, so why spend the extra money?
Old man Emu is an option to but their usually really over priced for what you get I think


Now this will be the first jeep I've ever lifted. We've owned it for about 2 and a half years, the whole time in japan, so we never had a reason to lift it or anything. The only other vehicle I've ever lifted was an 85 full size blazer and I put a 6" super lift on it with 37s. No were trying to keep this as street friendly as possible while still gaining offroad advantages. We use it ALOT for camping and exploring, but it also gets driven to and from base from home almost every day. My wife is pregnant so it also needs to ride as comfortable as a lifted jeep will!

Now I've done an absolute TON of research on this and pretty much wanna blow my brain out from all the thinking about it. I'm hoping that I wont need to do an SYE yet and that's the reason I'm going with a 3" over a 4.5". Also due to the jeep being RHD it's hard to find Steering components for it. IRO sells a RHD track bar and Over the knuckle steering, but I dont' think I'll need that yet. There is a knock in the front end when turned to the right and going over a bump. But haven't even tried to diagnose that yet.

The plan is to order a lift, all new brakes (everything including master cylinder), and probably a new cooling system since it still has the original Radiator in it and it has a small wheep somewhere that keeps eluding me! And what ever front steering parts are starting to wear on it. The jeep only has 130000 Kilo's on it but is still pretty beat. My wife sunk it in a river in Japan shortly after we got it and it's never been the same since, But trying to get it back up to par!

Really just excited about being in Europe and wanna get this thing to where I can take it out and explore long distances with it comfortably!

Sorry for the long rant and thanks in advance for all the help! This web site kicks ***! I've turned into such a Forum Junky!

 

[bob91yj]

Cheap lifts are cheap for a reason, you only want to do it once.

 

[reece146]

3" is not enough lift height to run a 265/75-16 (i.e. 32x10.5x16) tire on a Cherokee. That's the size I run with 5" of lift and it is heavily bump stopped. Images here:

Post Pic's of your Jeep #2431

and here:

Post Pic's of your Jeep #2433

You need to run at least a 4.5" lift for those tires OR embrace the sawzall and cut up the fender openings.

FWIW, my wife is 5'-4" and finds the height of the Jeep just on the edge of being too tall (i.e. she wouldn't want it much taller). The other rigs that we've had in the past have been taller and she complained about getting in and out of them but this Jeep seems to be ok. To be honest, I wouldn't want it to be much taller either. I use this as my daily driver and find it easy enough to work around with my bum hip.

For anything higher than about 3" of lift you really should start looking at suspension setups that correct the control arm geometry for a better ride. The long and short of it is that this means drop brackets or eliminating the stock geometry altogether (i.e. long arms).

I have long arms on my Jeep. Drives great, nice and smooth on highway. The flex off-road is nuts even with the big bump stops. I could drive this Jeep for hours on end like a "normal" car and not be fatigued by it. I can't say that about stuff I've had in the past.

HTH

 

[reece146]

BTW, IIRC the WJ brake upgrade using RHD WJ parts should work to give you decent brakes and properly corrected steering at higher lift heights. You might have to fabricate a OAB instead of buying the JKS unit but that is not a big deal if you can weld. Who knows, maybe JKS makes a RHD. I've never looked under a RHD Jeep so I'm not even certain if it has a mirrored geometry. The differential housing is probably in the way...

I'm assuming that since you are in the service your vehicle doesn't have to pass TÜV in Germany?

 

[ExpoMike]

I run 245/75-16 tires on my Cherokee with 3" lift, with corrected bump stops and I sure know I would not be able to put a larger tire on without rubbing issues. You can trim the fenders for more clearance but I did not want to do that.

I would consider a 4.5" RE lift with that tire size.

 

[bat]

I agree 3" and 32" tires are not going to fit, I agree with REECE 32" tires with min. 4.5" lift and still with corrected bump stops. This was my old setup 5" and 32" BFG with bump stops set just right.

 

[dox]

I have a recently-acquired 96 XJ Sport and have been agonizing over the same thing.

Price is a factor as this machine is just a playtoy and won't be used for more than medium difficulty fire roads, but ground clearance is important. Also, the cost of a few of the lifts around $800 is more than we actually paid for the vehicle.

Rusty's is the least expensive 3" lift that I can find which includes full rear replacement leafs.

Let us know how you decide and your review of what is ultimately chosen.

 

[AeroSynch]

I don't know about the other lifts, but I have a Rubicon Express 3.5" with Bilstein 5100s and I absolutely hate the ride. Way way way too stiff. I feel every bump in the road. The ride is so bad that I want to change out the front coils at least. The reason is the spring rate is a crazy 241 lbs when the stock rate is 150 lbs. I don't know what they were thinking but I wouldn't buy one again for the sucky stiff ride.

However, the lift did net ~4.5" of lift, so I was able to fit 285/75/16s:

I still hate the lift though.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Why not get the RE 3.5 with a 1in spacer in the front and a 1in shackle in the rear and properly matched shocks? And why in the heck did you buy tires before even looking at the proper lift options? Another option of course is just cut out your fenders to fit the tires under the Jeep.

 

[bldeagle10]

if you can fit 31s with 3" how come you can't fit 32s till 4.5-5" with heavy bumpstoppage?

 

[reece146]

if you can fit 31s with 3" how come you can't fit 32s till 4.5-5" with heavy bumpstoppage?

Lots of different things come into play depending on the types of parts that are cobbled together and how they are implemented.

31s on stockish offset/backspace wheels might be able to work with 3" of lift.

It's a matter of having the correct combination of parts that tucks into the fenders under articulation.

Also, a lot of Internet "lore" regarding what hits or fits is generated by people that tend to run BFG tires. In my experience BFGs are almost a full size undersized to what the side wall says so guess what, it fits... sorta.

Additionally, the standards of lift heights are not consistent across the manufacturers. A 3" Rubicon Express lift is likely an inch or two taller than say a Rusty's lift. Why? Because RE rates their lift heights based upon a vehicle's full "fighting" weight. That is, the springs are rated to deal with a vehicle that has front and rear aftermarket bumpers, rock sliders, and other equipment. See Aerosync's post above and keep this in mind and you'll see that it makes sense. I'm running RE springs and I find the springs anything but stiff... My Jeep is ~1100 lbs heavier than stock and I race cars too so my perspective may be different regarding ride quality.

Getting back to 3" and 31s... If you look at the relationship of the wheel to the fender opening you will see that you are giving up a lot of upward/jounce travel.

Black_ZJ has the right idea on doing a 4.5" cheaply. I wouldn't do it personally but lots of people do and are happy enough with it. It depends on what your expectation levels are.

HTH

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Lots of different things come into play depending on the types of parts that are cobbled together and how they are implemented.

31s on stockish offset/backspace wheels might be able to work with 3" of lift.

It's a matter of having the correct combination of parts that tucks into the fenders under articulation.

Also, a lot of Internet "lore" regarding what hits or fits is generated by people that tend to run BFG tires. In my experience BFGs are almost a full size undersized to what the side wall says so guess what, it fits... sorta.

Additionally, the standards of lift heights are not consistent across the manufacturers. A 3" Rubicon Express lift is likely an inch or two taller than say a Rusty's lift. Why? Because RE rates their lift heights based upon a vehicle's full "fighting" weight. That is, the springs are rated to deal with a vehicle that has front and rear aftermarket bumpers, rock sliders, and other equipment. See Aerosync's post above and keep this in mind and you'll see that it makes sense. I'm running RE springs and I find the springs anything but stiff... My Jeep is ~1100 lbs heavier than stock and I race cars too so my perspective may be different regarding ride quality.

Getting back to 3" and 31s... If you look at the relationship of the wheel to the fender opening you will see that you are giving up a lot of upward/jounce travel.

Black_ZJ has the right idea on doing a 4.5" cheaply. I wouldn't do it personally but lots of people do and are happy enough with it. It depends on what your expectation levels are.

HTH

I was speaking from experience, my brother ran the same setup I suggested for 5 years with 33's and liked it.

 

[gm4x4lover]

Because people all have different opinions on what looks good and what doesnt. I have a 94 xj with 5" of lift and 35's on it. Yes I had to trim but thats really not that bad of a thing. I still run the stock flares. I also have run 33's with 4.5" and 31's with just a budget boost and no trimming. Trimming is not a bad thing, you dont have to hack the entire side of a jeep away. Personally to fit 265/75/16's i Would run zj coils, an adjustable spacer, adjustable lower control arms, shackles, and a small block. It will allow you to tune your lift to the needs and look you would like. I recently picked up another xj and that is what i think i am going to do.

 

[reece146]

Yep. If I was running 35s I'd still only run ~5" of lift as well.

Every once in a while I get "crazy" with inchitis and toy with the idea of Iceland Off-Road flares and 37s. I have the axles and most of the gearing for it but I like getting ~20 mpg so that's what keeps me from doing it. I'll drive this Jeep on long road trips from coast to coast. Difference of ~15mpg vs ~20 mpg is a big deal at that point. That and the extra bit of height being a PITA on a daily driver and then the Jeep will be "noticable". To the untrained eye my Jeep looks very stock and no one notices, a sleeper of sorts. I really like that.

FWIW, not directed at any one in particular, if you are buying new parts buy the lift springs that are the correct height and don't bother with spacers.

I have ZJ V8 front coils in my Jeep; 4" IIRC. My lift started as a DPG Hybrid setup. I was expecting to get ~5" of lift with them but my Jeep is such a piggy that the ZJ V8 part didn't really do much and I ended up having to add about 1.5" of spacer. Buy the correct length XJ coils if you are not trying to make JY parts work.

I'm not a fan of blocks on the rear leaves due to the torque affects under high loads. There's off-road loads and towing loads that beat the hell out of leaf packs. On-road I tow a Starcraft 11RT and soon a ~4500 lb race car trailer also so the Jeep never gets a break that way.

I'd rather put the height in the leaves, maybe a touch in the shackles, or weld on new perches only a touch higher (< 1") and that are longer to try to reduce the effects of wrap. My Jeep has height in all three places and the centering pin is offset rearward about .5"-0.75" IIRC to recenter the wheels in the fender opening.

2¢

 

[comrad_zeelaagee]

I have the RE 3.5" with full leaf packs and OME shocks. Love the lift, but would probably go with different shocks next time. I've have no issues with the lift itself, just with other periphery issues to be expected after a lift on an XJ.

You will get what you pay for.