trapperbb Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Hi, i recently swapped my 2wd 88 swb to 4wd in the process it needed shocks so i put 0-3" lift skyjackers on it. now i want a lift and have been kicking myself ever since for not doing it in the first place i wanna run a 3" and 31's i bought add a leafs for the rear locally for 40$ now I'm looking at getting re 3" coils for the front. My main question is do i need extended lca's and will i need to drop the t case with a 3" lift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 I'm at about 4" with stock arms and no sye or t case drop. No weird vibes. No issues. The ride is a bit rough, I've got control arm drop brackets that should take care of that when I get around to installing them. Adjustable lower control arms would be a nice upgrade but at 3 inches I don't think they're absolutely required. You might want to look into a track bar upgrade though. The longer rear drive shaft of the mj makes it more tolerant of geometry changes than the xj with regard to the tcase drop you mentioned. At 3 inches I wouldn't make any changes there. I'm also running 31s but will be bumping up to 33s this spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitroxsteve Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 I have a 3" lift with stock arms and everything is fine. You will not need to drop the tcase and most will recommend to not drop it. The only thing you will need to do is drill a new hole for your track bar to center the front axle back up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadinator Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Check my truck for comparison. 2" pucks, chebby drop shackles and 31's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motorcharge Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Even on an XJ you don't really need a TC drop or SYE at 3". Adjustable LCAs will flex better, but stock is fine at 3" though it's about as high as you want to go on them. As someone else mentioned it will require you to address the trackbar. You can drill it, but the mount and bar stock are pretty weak and I'd go with an upgrade over redrilling if you wheel. On the road it shouldn't be an issue. You can get IROs double shear adjustable trackbar for under $200 and they're doing free shipping right now for the holidays. You can find various forum discount codes for 10% off as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 I went 3" originally and checked caster when done. It went from the nominal 7.5* to 5.0*, as it should have. You can drive around like this all day but it felt squirrelly to me. To get caster back to where it belongs (7.5*) is easy; just drop a 4.0mm shim behind each LCA. These are about $3.00 at the dealer, p/n 52003976. I also replaced the stock MJ LCAs with the beefier WJ LCAs at the same time. The lift caused about a 1/2" axle shift, so I went with an adjustable track bar to bring it back to center. It drives and handles better lifted than it did stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trapperbb Posted December 23, 2014 Author Share Posted December 23, 2014 I have a 3" lift with stock arms and everything is fine. You will not need to drop the tcase and most will recommend to not drop it. The only thing you will need to do is drill a new hole for your track bar to center the front axle back up. when you say drill a hole you mean in the axle end of the track bar mounting point ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeep Driver Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I have a 3" lift with stock arms and everything is fine. You will not need to drop the tcase and most will recommend to not drop it. The only thing you will need to do is drill a new hole for your track bar to center the front axle back up. when you say drill a hole you mean in the axle end of the track bar mounting point ? Spend the $200 on an adjustable track bar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trapperbb Posted December 23, 2014 Author Share Posted December 23, 2014 I went 3" originally and checked caster when done. It went from the nominal 7.5* to 5.0*, as it should have. You can drive around like this all day but it felt squirrelly to me. To get caster back to where it belongs (7.5*) is easy; just drop a 4.0mm shim behind each LCA. These are about $3.00 at the dealer, p/n 52003976. I also replaced the stock MJ LCAs with the beefier WJ LCAs at the same time. The lift caused about a 1/2" axle shift, so I went with an adjustable track bar to bring it back to center. It drives and handles better lifted than it did stock. When you say it gave you 1/2 " axle shift to correct it if i used my stock tack bar i woul simply move the hole in 1/2 an inch ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeep Driver Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I went 3" originally and checked caster when done. It went from the nominal 7.5* to 5.0*, as it should have. You can drive around like this all day but it felt squirrelly to me. To get caster back to where it belongs (7.5*) is easy; just drop a 4.0mm shim behind each LCA. These are about $3.00 at the dealer, p/n 52003976. I also replaced the stock MJ LCAs with the beefier WJ LCAs at the same time. The lift caused about a 1/2" axle shift, so I went with an adjustable track bar to bring it back to center. It drives and handles better lifted than it did stock. When you say it gave you 1/2 " axle shift to correct it if i used my stock tack bar i woul simply move the hole in 1/2 an inch ? Why would you weaken the track bar mount by drilling a 1/2" hole right next to a 1/2" hole? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trapperbb Posted December 23, 2014 Author Share Posted December 23, 2014 I went 3" originally and checked caster when done. It went from the nominal 7.5* to 5.0*, as it should have. You can drive around like this all day but it felt squirrelly to me. To get caster back to where it belongs (7.5*) is easy; just drop a 4.0mm shim behind each LCA. These are about $3.00 at the dealer, p/n 52003976. I also replaced the stock MJ LCAs with the beefier WJ LCAs at the same time. The lift caused about a 1/2" axle shift, so I went with an adjustable track bar to bring it back to center. It drives and handles better lifted than it did stock. When you say it gave you 1/2 " axle shift to correct it if i used my stock tack bar i woul simply move the hole in 1/2 an inch ? Why would you weaken the track bar mount by drilling a 1/2" hole right next to a 1/2" hole? true,whats a decent brand adjustable trac bar thats a resonable price? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeep Driver Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 http://jksmfg.com/i-13306791-cherokee-xj-comanche-mj-1984-2001-adjustable-front-trackbar-fits-1-3-5-lift.html This is probably the one that I would have bought, I just refuse to go to a lift........yet. It is cheaper on other sites, JKS has it listed about $40 more on their site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xjrev10 Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Go double shear and don't ever worry again. http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=IROR&Product_Code=10215&Category_Code=PFX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motorcharge Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 http://jeep-xj.info/HowtoTrackbar.htm if you wanna go the cheap route. I have the IRO trackbar and it's beefy as hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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