another lift kit question

[rcturgeon]

hey guys I'm looking at a 4-1/2 lift kit on ebay and it comes with:

front coil springs

front upper & lower control arms

transfer case drop kit

front track bar drop bracket

swaybar drop brackets

brake line relocating brackets

rear lift shackles

rear add a leafs

4 RC Hydro 8000 shocks

 

I'm wondering what else I'm going to need to do this project and if its worth my time and money

its made by rough country- does anyone have any knowledge about this company with regards to quality and performance

 

 

thanks

[Pete M]

I gotta run out the door, but my quick thoughts:

t-case drop kit isn't needed on MJs.

Sway bar extended links are better than drop brackets (especially if your truck is rusty underneath since the bolts like to snap right off.

AALs and extended shackles aren't exactly the best way to lift the rear.

longer flexy brake lines are superior to bending the old hard lines.

[88pioneer]

yea, i would do a little more searching around, and find a better designed kit, kinda sounds like its an XJ kit anyway.

[TooTall]

Yea good lift i have a 3inch on my XJ and its held up decent ,sound like that lift has almost every thing needed!just don't care for add aleafs due to the fact they tend to weaken faster but rough country is a good lift for the price!

[rcturgeon]

do you have a better idea for me pete? I'm still a student so money is tight but i still wanna lift it and I'm more or less just beginning with the mod type stuff so i really need support when it comes to this stuff.

 

also its hard to get a lot of parts either OE or aftermarket but more difficult for aftermarket becasue there isnt really a big market for that stuff around here, usually people just leave it how they buy it and rarely do you find any restored vehicles or even bone yards with quality parts

[Geonovast]

If money's tight, you shouldn't be considering 4.5". 2" is about all you should do on a budget. Another problem with the kit you listed is it has a Trackbar drop kit... not a new bar. This will put your trackbar and draglink out of parallelness, and will cause you problems.

 

Once you get into that height, you need a lot of new everything. It also increases stress on all your 20+ year old stuff, so things will start wearing out fast. Also, you'll have to get some decent meat at 4.5". Then you'll need lower gearing.

 

I would start looking at 2" lifts with maybe coil spacers, LCAs, a small AAL for the back, and that should be about all you need.

[rcturgeon]

would a 2" lift even be worth it though ?

[Geonovast]

would a 2" lift even be worth it though ?

\

 

That all entirely depends on what you plan on doing with it.

[rcturgeon]

well I'm not going rock crawling or anything like that becasue its only 2wd but i still like to play and the terrain around here requires more than stock height if you want to get some fun in

[DJM/78]

well I'm not going rock crawling or anything like that becasue its only 2wd but i still like to play and the terrain around here requires more than stock height if you want to get some fun in

 

A proper two inch lift is all you need to run 31"s and will do mild trails easily .

[rcturgeon]

all i really need i guess then, what would you suggest for that .. and i want to get rid of that drop in the front end so its level too, is that going to need more lift in the front?

[DJM/78]

Shackles or an AAL , 2" pucks or ZJ v8 coils and lift shocks , I would replace the track bar with an OEM or a

adjustable track bar for 65 bucks more . Get yourself a set of WJ upper and lower control arms .

 

If interested I have a kit . 250.00 for everything .

 

Pm me if interested .

[green_miner]

Rustys seems to make a pretty good 3 inch lift kit for the mj. here's a link http://rustysoffroad.com/mm5/merchant.m ... sus_xj_kit

I have never used one of their lifts on a comanche but i did help my buddy use one of their lifts on a 1986 full size. It was 4 inch leaf packs all around. Everything seemed to fit good and its held up so far. Only problem we had was figuring out how the hell the brake line drop brackets went in.

[Geonovast]

all i really need i guess then, what would you suggest for that .. and i want to get rid of that drop in the front end so its level too, is that going to need more lift in the front?

 

Am I the only one who likes the look of the MJ rake?

 

Rustys seems to make a pretty good 3 inch lift kit for the mj. here's a link http://rustysoffroad.com/mm5/merchant.m ... sus_xj_kit

I have never used one of their lifts on a comanche but i did help my buddy use one of their lifts on a 1986 full size. It was 4 inch leaf packs all around. Everything seemed to fit good and its held up so far. Only problem we had was figuring out how the hell the brake line drop brackets went in.

 

I think that's the first time I've ever seen the words 'Rusty's' and 'Good' in the same sentence on here. General consensus is "Friends don't let friends buy rusty's"

 

Look into Hellcreek. I don't have any personal experience with their lifts, but the owner is a member here, and I've heard nothing but good things about their products. viewtopic.php?f=24&t=19998

[Eagle]

You can run 31" tires on a stock MJ with NO lift. I'm currently running 31s on a stock XJ with no lift. An MJ with a 2" lift on 31s will go a lot of places that drivers of lesser vehicles simply won't believe.

 

Pay attention to those who advise not going more than 2" if you're tight on money. The cost of lifting increases exponentially in relation to the height. A 2" lift is called a "budget boost" for good reason. Anything beyond that starts to require replacing a lot more parts, and the costs go up very fast.

[Oizarod115]

i personally have always had good service from rustys, and generally get my parts next day. :dunno: heard some horror stories though.

[the_wizard_of_fire]

You can run 31" tires on a stock MJ with NO lift. I'm currently running 31s on a stock XJ with no lift. An MJ with a 2" lift on 31s will go a lot of places that drivers of lesser vehicles simply won't believe.

 

Pay attention to those who advise not going more than 2" if you're tight on money. The cost of lifting increases exponentially in relation to the height. A 2" lift is called a "budget boost" for good reason. Anything beyond that starts to require replacing a lot more parts, and the costs go up very fast.

true you can run 31" tires W\O a lift, but you can't really wheel W\O some rub.

[88pioneer]

i personally have always had good service from rustys, and generally get my parts next day. :dunno: heard some horror stories though.

 

same hear, i've have nothing bad to say about rusty's, my kit is holding up pretty good, but to each his own

[Eagle]

true you can run 31" tires W\O a lift, but you can't really wheel W\O some rub.

Sure you can. On OEM Jeep rims, the only rub is against the lower control arms, and a lift won't eliminate that anyway. WJ control arms will fix it, or you just don't turn the steering to full lock.

[rcturgeon]

Thanks eagle

 

I'm taking their advice for sure, I will be doign a 2'' lift just need some advice about whether to go add a leaf on the rear or shackles i've read that the add a leaf weakens really quick

 

and 31's are what i want to run but i don't know about the gearing I'm not sure what it is now ive been meaning to look but should i be changing it and what to if i did change it ?

 

i don't really know alot about lifts because i've never done one and nobody in my neighborhood does them on their own

[Geonovast]

You should already have 4.10s, which is the lowest gearing available from the factory in our axles. You could go lower, but with only 31s, you should be alright.

 

AALs can weaken quick, if you buy an AAL kit, which will fight the natural curve of the leaves.

 

What some members have done, including Pete M, our fearless leader, is get another set of MJ main leaves, cut the eyes off, and stick them in between your main and second leaves. These are the same natural curve, and shouldn't give you any problems.

 

Shackles are a bad idea on an MJ. Our shackles are already fairly long, and a 2 inch lift shackle will be about 4.5" longer than the ones you have now. IIRC, the added leverage on the leaf will actually cause them to fail faster than an AAL.

[Eagle]

I will be doign a 2'' lift just need some advice about whether to go add a leaf on the rear or shackles i've read that the add a leaf weakens really quick

There is no consensus on this. Those who believe that AALs weaken the springs will never believe otherwise, and those who believe extended shackles are anathema likewise will never change their minds. Personally, I am of the opinion that extended shackles are very bad, and that full-length AALs are very good. A full-length AAL adds 25% to the bending strength of the spring. How anyone can argue that adding strength weakens the spring IMHO defies comprehension.

 

But I've only been doing this for about 52 years, so I guess I have a lot to learn from the 6-month experts.

[rcturgeon]

I'm looking at parts online and i went to the only custom shop in town for the lift kits but i can only seem to find the shackles and not the AAL's but holy F their expensive the one from skyjackes that the custom shop told me about has just the spacers rear shackles and the bushings for $218 seems a touch expensive to me.. all the stuff i see looks like a hockey puck with a hole in the middle (guy from school said hes seen it done... scary to me) and rocky road talks about BPE's i just want to know whats necessary here and whats something smart

[Pete M]

A "body lift" raises the body up above the frame. Since our trucks are half-unibody, that type of lift won't work.

 

A "suspension lift" raises up the entire body/frame together.

[Eagle]

Rancho (the same folks who make shocks) has an AAL that's listed for the XJ and MJ. It gives about 2-1/2" in the XJ and about 1-1/2" in the MJ. It sells for probably around $65 these days -- I've had two sets of them and I paid $50 or $55 a few years ago.

 

Combine that with a set of 2" coil spacers in the front (around $30) and there's your lift, for about $100.