MrSimon

I installed new front shocks and shortened my LCAs tonight. I realized that the previous owner had stuffed a half dozen shims into the LCA brackets .... no wonder the length charts weren't working for me :smart: I'm pretty happy with where the wheel sits in the well now. Its still just a bit towards the rear, but I think it will center nicely when I lengthen the UCAs to fix the pinion. Judging from the goofy ways the tires are now pointing, I think the MJ will be visiting the shop for an allignment in the very near future. So for the front end, I just need to play with the UCAs, center the axle front left to right, adjust the track bar, and get it alligned. Had to remove the fluid resevoir to get to the driver's side shock bolt. Easy. The new shocks. Much better. Shocks installed. IMO, this is why LAs would be soooo much better .... you can see that my droop will be limited by the arms contacting the mounting plate. The springs and shocks would allow for at least a few more inches of flex, maybe more. Looking good!

Neat little video. From what you can see in the video, he has a really clean MJ there. Good for him!

I think he was saying 18" was the max SAFE length ... at least thats how I took it. If 18" was completely extended, then yeah, 17" might be pushing it.

Andy - I've thought about altering the 3" pack, but I'm going to try and find a set of stock leafs first. That way, maybe I can sell the 3" packs and recover some of my cost. Wahoo - XJ shackles are a good idea. I've been thinking about that too. I'm going to look at the junk yard when I search for some stock MJ leafs.

You can get a relocation bracket, or some people even just drill another hole to move the track bar over a bit. Do some searching - both options have been discussed at length. I think even a 3" lift on a stock track bar would move the axle just a bit off center .... could cause allignment issues.

Thanks for the info. I'll order some perches and shock tabs right away. I'm going to try and re-use the U-bolts that came with the 8.25 .... will that work? Here is a pic of the new axle. Its sitting in my brother's truck right now .... in Northern VA. What a guy, he picked it up for me. I'm meeting him this weekend to pick it up.

from one edge of the hole that the screw goes throught to the other is 18 inches, thats the maxi would go, i can go farther but then the threads start to show According to the chart, for 6" lift, you want your LCAs to be 17" from eye to eye (measure from the center of each eye). So you arms will be long enough. Problem is, with that much lift, the arms will hit the coil spring perches and limit your flex/droop. Thats where drop brackets come into play. Or long arms. I've don't a ton of research regarding this exact same thing over the past few days. It seems you have three options with 6ish" of lift. 1. Use adjustable short arms (upper and lower will be needed) and deal with non-optimal geometry and flex. It will work, and you can dial it in to the point where your steering and flex are adequate - not great, but adequate. 2. Use short arm drop brackets. They come with their own problems, one being that they can be a pain to install and a lot of the brackets our there are poorly designed. If you get a good set and get them installed properly, they can help with flex and your front end geometry. 3. Long arms are the best solution. Good ones will solve almost all of your problems, give a great ride, and perform fantastic off-road. But they are expensive. So, in the end, you have to decide what you are comfortable with regarding performance and price. Its always a trade-off. Oh, and upgrading your steering at that height is another story.

Where in PA are you? Are you interested in buying an almost new set of full 3" leaf packs? I'll give you a really good deal - PM me if you are interested.

I don't have the bumpers yet .... they should arrive by the end of this week. They make them to order so its been three weeks .... a long wait, but hopefully worth it. I'll definately take pics and post them. I thought about the shock extenders, but the current shocks won't even extend far enough to attach with the extra few inches of lift. They are just hanging there right now. Weird. What else will I need for the SoA? Should I get new perches, or try and re-use the old ones? What about shock mounts - can I buy a set somewhere?

I can see how you would think that. A normal person would just get the right size coils, but I've been looking for an excuse to go higher for some time now, and the coils are the perfect excuse. Keep an eye on my build thread to see what I actually end up doing. Its kind of like the truck is going higher on its own, regardless of what I do ..... it has a mind of its own.

I've been busy with the MJ, so its time for an update. Also, I've been asking questions in other threads - it gets hard to track so I'll just use this thread for any questions related to my build. Anyway, I pretty much spent my entire tax return on the MJ .... its my own little economic stimulus package. Here is what I ordered: Front/rear bumpers and rock sliders from JCR Rock Krawler adjustable UCAs Used 4.5" coils Rough Country lift shackles for the rear Aussie for the front First thing I did was install the rear shackles. I'm happy with them and the rear is at 4.5" now. Nice. Last night I tore the front end apart and put in the coil springs, the UCAs, and adjusted the LCAs. It was a chore, but fun. I had all four control arms off at once, so getting them all back on was a PITA. Once I put it back together, I had a handful of problems. I actually got almost 6" of lift - the coils are actually 5" coils and I forgot to remove my 1/2" spacer. And, the axle was too far back in the wheel wells. I didn't even bother to check castor and pinion angles - I knew I had to re-do everything. So tonight, I tore it all back down, removed the coil spacers, and lengthened the LCAs. Things went better, and I like the height very much. But now the axle is too far forward. Apparently I lengthened the LCAs too much. And my pinion angle is way too steep. I should be able to shorten the LCAs and lengthen the UCAs to straighten it out. Here are some pics. Now my shocks are too short - gonna have to get new ones. My last problem is that the front is too high relative to the back ..... soooooo, I decided to so SOA. I'm not gonna do the SOA with the D35, so I searched craigslist and bought a 29 spline 8.25 with my gearing for $40. And it came with a set of stock 97 XJ leafs .... not that I need them, but I think $40 for all that was a steal. Thats it for now, but I've got a LOT to do before NACFEST in June. Stay tuned.

I could always grab a set from the junk yard I suppose. Could I just take a leaf out of my 3" packs? And maybe use some longer perches to avoid axle wrap?

I know, I know ..... I should have listened to you in the first place. Some things a guys just has to learn the hard way. C'mon, I'm completely new to this whole offroad thing ..... I'll learn.

I did. But TOO much. The front is now at about 5 inches and I have 3" leafs in the back. I'm going SOA, but I'll need stock packs, or I'll end up with 8 inches in the back.

I know there are lots of places that make new lift packs, but is there a place to buy stock height packs?

Is your cap fiberglass or aluminum? About how much does a fiberglass cap weigh? I can get one for about $20 bucks - it needs some attention, but its not horrible. I'm concerned about it being too heavy for me to remove by myself.

Check out this thread on NAXJA http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=985839

I'm considering getting a cap for my MJ .... I love the practicality it adds to the truck .... but I'm not sure how it could be to wheel with it on. I really only wheel a handful of times per year - the rest of the time I use the truck to run errands and go fishing/camping. I've never seen any wheeling pics with caps on. Anyone do it? What would be the concerns? What do you guys think?

I've worked in the corporate world for a while now, and I've seen lots of resumes and done lots of interviews. I'd say that for a college kid, he did an outstanding job on his rusume. Its one page (a must), its clear, concise, organized, and complete. He gets an A. Throw the Comanche Club logo on the bottom, and its an A+.

I think its a neat idea, and I don't find it at all offensive. Why would it be offensive to use historical terms on forum about a truck with a historical Indian name? I think its actually giving props to the Comanche Nation for us to do a little research about their culture and encorporate some of it into this board. On another note, does anyone find it really really odd that Jeep named a trim package on the Comanche after the Pioneers? Weren't those two groups rather unfriendly towards each other? Chief I get, but Pioneer????

I LOVE this thread. I have been planning to do the exact same thing to my MJ. I've done a little research and it seems like the Valspar tractor paint is the way to go. Its super tough and cheap. A quart is about $15 at Tractor Supply. I plan to sand the whole truck, fill dents and stuff with body filler, sand again, prime with the Valspar tractor primer, sand, and shoot three or four coats. Should be about $100 for the whole thing. This is my inspiration: Image Not Found

I'd bet they all put cheap AALs into old packs .... which is a bad idea.

I had the exact same striker pin issue in my truck .... it looked identical to yours. I took it to a guy who does body work and is a great welder. There is a metal plate behind the sheet metal that the pin is screwed to. He used a little air powered jig saw cutter thing and cut the sheet metal enough to get the metal plate out. Then he cleaned everything up with a grinder and welded the plate back in. Its perfect now. I paid him $50 bucks. Find someone with a welder and some decent fab skills .... its an easy fix. Oh, and he set my bin back just a bit so the door seals really well now too.

We have all heard that AALs are cheap and easy, but that they quickly cause the leaf pack to sag. I'm sure that if you put a new AAL into an old pack, the two will work against each other and cause problems. But, this past weekend I worked on a Ford Ranger that had a full length AAL installed 10 years and 200k miles ago (the packs were only two years old at the time). The truck has been used hard for a decade pulling and hauling all kinds of stuff .... and the leafs haven't sunk a bit. That AAL is still going strong after a DECADE of heavy use. So for all you people who ask about AALs, if your packs are in good shape .... go for it!

There are always better ways to get more lift, but they always cost more money too. Everything is a trade off. The ZJ coils and AALs will work .... might get a rougher ride from the coils, but you'll get your lift. Don't forget you can sell your spacers and stock springs for about the same amount as a used set of 3" springs that will be a bit softer.