Yes......another lift question...

[ComancheKid45]

Alright well before 2 long the time will finally be here to throw a Motion Offroad 3" kit under my MJ. My main question is will adding an extra 1" to the lift really throw anything out of wack? I'm sitting on a M.O. 1.5" BB right now, I'm going to be ditching the 1.5" spacer up front for a .75" spacer and out back ill drop the Lift Shackle to 1"...so really ill be at aprx. 3.75" up front and 4" in the rear with the 3" kit installed. The kit comes with pretty much everything ill need except Brake lines....Are aftermarket lines needed with no more than 4" of lift on either end? Also will only LCAs be alright or should i find a set of uppers also? This truck sees the occasional Mountain trail (roads mainly) and is DD on most days but No major wheeling by any means and i plan to run 31.10.50 tires and have no plans to go bigger.

 

Sorry its alot to cover but I figured i better get all the info i can now before i start spendin money :yes: Thanks! :thumbsup:

[Eagle]

You might get by with stock brake lines and a 4" lift if you only drive on the street, but keep in mind that off-road the axles drop and droop and move around a lot. My '88 had a 4" lift on when I bought it, with some of those brake hose relocating clip thingies. The front left hose and the rear hose were badly stretched and in danger of failing. I replaced the front hoses with Wrangler hoses (longer) mounted back in the original locations for better protection, and I replaced the rear with a YJ Wrangler hose (also longer than stock MJ). I think others have said that a Dakota rear hose is also a suitable replacement.

 

Don't take any chances. Brakes are important ... do it right, or don't do it.

[vzehler]

I agree with Eagle.

 

I just finished installing the M.O. 3" kit as is out of the box and extended brake lines are absolutely necessary, especially in the back. My stock brake line in the back is stretched out just sitting there.

 

Also, it might be helpful to know that when I installed the lift on mine, the rear sits up noticeably higher. It would be even worse if I had an aftermarket bumper with/without a winch. So, what I'm trying to say is that you are probably going to want to net more lift in the front than in the rear so it will sit even.

[MrSimon]

I also had the same lift.

 

Extended brake lines are a very good idea!

 

I used a .75 front spacer to level the lift out and had no problems.

 

You will more than likely need adustable uppers to properly set your caster and pinion angles. Basically this means that your axle with be rotated a little bit towards the back of the truck - picture the new lowers pushing the bottom of the axle forward, and the stock uppers kind of holding the top of the axle back. This causes your pinion angle to be too steep. Its not the end of the world, and you might not even notice a bid difference while driving .... it just puts more strain on the pinion and can weaken the u-joint.

 

Here is a pic of what my pinion looked like with 5" of lift before I properly adjusted the arms.

 

 

Imagine the lowers contracting and the uppers extending .... the axle would rotate and the pinion would flatten out a bit (meaning the pinion coming out of the back of the diff would be pointing almost straight at the transfer case).

 

However, when you flatten the pinion, you lose caster angle .... you have to play with it until you find a happy median.

[MrSimon]

One more thing.

 

The adjustable track bar that comes with the MO kit is designed for lifts up to 3", but NO HIGHER!

 

I bumped up to 4.5" and needed to lengthen the bar by two or three turns to keep my axle centered. On my very next wheeling trip, the threads stripped right out and my track bar fell completely apart on the trail. I lost an entire day of wheeling.

 

Obviously I was outside of the recommended lift range, but since you will be higher than 3" too, be very careful. Better yet, buy a better track bar.

 

Oh, and the lowers that come with that kit are noisy. There is no jam nut on them because they are designed to twist - apparently to give more flex off-road. The twisting will sometimes cause popping in slow turns ... and make sure to keep the threads well greased or they will bind up and ruin the arms. IMO, its kind of a dumb design. The bushing are there for a reason - I don't see a need for the arms themselves to have play in them.

[ComancheKid45]

Alright ill defently get Aftermarket extended Brake lines when i order the lift. So is it in my best intrest to find another set of OEM MJ or a set of 1" lift shackles off an XJ, because i currently only have the M.O. Shackle and its gonna be atleast 1" higher and my stock MJ shackles were used on my trailer. I don't do any real serious offroading just the occasional pile to flex on and alot of Mountain driving.

 

Thanks for the help :thumbsup:

[mnkyboy]

You don't have to get brake lines for the front,they should be lots of room in the hard line to relocate them.

 

just unbolt the brake line and pull it down some then reattach the mounting tabs lower. with 5" of lift my stock brake lines are fine even when flexing.

 

you probably will need to replace the rear line though

[Eagle]

You don't have to get brake lines for the front,they should be lots of room in the hard line to relocate them.

Maybe, but IMHO this is a VERY bad idea. The existing hard lines are over 20 years old. Bending them to "relocate" them may bend them ... or they may crack at the bends. Even if they don't break, you're moving the fitting for the flex hose farther down into the area where it is susceptible to damage. Besides, the flex hoses are also 20+ years old and probably cracked ... and they may be rotted inside. They should be replaced anyway, so why not just do the job the right way and buy new, longer hoses?

[mnkyboy]

my point is the stock hoses will work.

 

I could see your point if you were making a major bend but basically your just pulling the line down a little,they would have to be in pretty bad shape to break one which in that case you would want to replace them anyway.

 

here you can see the old holes and the bracket after dropping it.

[Eagle]

I know exactly what the operation entails, and in my personal, not-so-humble opinion it's a very BAD idea. Of course, I am old enough to have experienced brakes failing due to a busted circuit when crossing mountains. My guess is that you haven't had the pleasure, or you might not be so cavalier about how important an intact brake system is. I'm also old enough to have seen numerous examples of just how fragile older steel brake lines can be.

 

I stand by my advice that it's much better,safer to leave the steel lines anone and do it right by replacing the rubber flex hoses with longer ones. NEW longer ones.

[mnkyboy]

Ive had brakes fail on old school single curcuit systems and it sucks to have to stop with the park brake.

 

we have dual curcuit systems so if a line did break you can still stop on the other axle.

 

 

There is nothing wrong with changing the hoses its good advice,but if everything is in good shape moving the hard line is another option.

 

If my brake system was so nasty that i would not touch the lines for fear of breaking them i would also change the hard lines.

[89eliminator]

my point is the stock hoses will work.

 

I could see your point if you were making a major bend but basically your just pulling the line down a little,they would have to be in pretty bad shape to break one which in that case you would want to replace them anyway.

 

here you can see the old holes and the bracket after dropping it.

 

i did the same thing with mine. it worked perfect until i built my longarms and needed extended brake lines.

[ComancheKid45]

Thanks Guys, I'm gonna purchase aftermarket brake lines with the lift just to be safe :thumbsup: