After saying all I would ever want to do is have a 2 to 3 inch lift kit, "Santa" gets me a Rough Country FOUR and a half inch kit! Gonna look kinda silly with the 28" tires under it!
So, I have a couple of questions and would like input please.
This is going onto a 95 XJ with 300K+ miles on it. The kit came with add a leafs. I was never able to gauge the sag of the current rear springs to my satisfaction.
Should I just rely on the add a leafs?; Should I buy new stock leaf springs to use with the add a leafs?; Or should I try to exchange the add a leafs for new 4.5 inch rear leafs?
Also, the kit comes with a xfr case drop kit. What does a drop kit do to the alignment of the engine and tranny? Will this suffice, or should I save up for a SYE?
Exchange AAL's for full rear springs. Be aware that this will cost you. Install the t-case drop with 4 degree shims in the rear and see if it vibrates. If it vibrates, start saving for a SYE.
Jeff, I was thinking the same thing. Unless this 95 XJ has undergone an engine rebuild, and probably a tranny rebuild...I'm not sure it's worth the effort putting the lift on.
He's on the left side, so maybe the unitized body's not rusted out. The four inch lift is one heck of an overload spring, he's better buy a kidney belt. IMHO God Bless America, Bill O|||||||O mailto: snipped-for-privacy@billhughes.com
I've owned it for 2 years. When I bought it, the dealer claimed the engine had been rebuilt about
50K miles prior. Don't know about the xfr case though. He also claimed the previous owner did mainly highway miles to rack up the almost 280K miles it had on it, and probably NEVER put it into
4WD. So far, it has been more reliable than I had expected (knocks on wood), and only has a few minor issues nagging me at the moment.
I *really* didn't want this much lift, as it's my daily driver. I just wanted a bit more tire clearance for the rough stuff.
Any idea what dropping the xfr case does to how the engine and tranny sit in their mounts?? Personally, I WOULD prefer a SYE so the hardware is farther from the rough stuff
I would be thinking on going with new rear springs because of the mileage. Old leaves get 'set in their ways' and don't like to get reshaped and can easily snap. I snapped the ones in my CJ7 shortly after I started offroading it hard.
'I' went the keeper spring route and bought new stock spring packs to go with it. I had a truck spring shop put them in so the new leaves got reshaped on their spring press to the proper arch, then assembled with the top leaf replaced by the keeper so the leaf numbers are the same.
To me it was well worth having the spring shop do it because of the rust levels and to get the arch put in the new springs. They had a bugger of a time even with their flame wrench (acetylene torch) and heavy duty impact hammers.
I have heard a lot of horror storied over the years about sagging springs from kits, so figured the OEM arched was a better way to go. 8 years of heavy use later and no sag.
The lift maker thinks you can get away with the transfer case drop and longer shackles which also affect the angle, for driveshaft angles. They should know. If it wouldn't work, then the kit would include shims for setting the angle and it doesn't.
It isn't likely the XJ can fit an engine lift which also changes the angles. Wranglers can do that with a body lift.
I would check it out and then maybe save up for more mods if I got vibration or didn't like the skid plate shims or started hitting the skid plate. I usually do mods as needed.
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail > After saying all I would ever want to do is have a 2 to 3 inch lift
Spacers under the engine mount on an XJ are not a good idea. The engine and hood are all ready pretty close.
I have 6" of lift on my 2000XJ (The ones more prone to vibes) with a 1" t-case drop, and it is fine. 4deg shim. I have an extra 3/16" drop thanks to my full legnth frame rail stiffeners, which helps I am sure.
Up until now, I've not been too extreme while off roading, but I have been wondering about frame stiffeners. Have you really noticed any difference in how your XJ acts with them installed?
On road, i hear less rattles and it feels more 'solid'. It does seem to drive a little better. Off road it flexes the chassis less and really cuts down on the sqeaks.
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