I need a lift kit list. 8"+

[fmaster7]

New member, new to the comanche. But I will never sell it...I have a 89 shortbed 2wd bone stock.

 

I need a list for my new money pit.

 

I'd like to go as big as I can go, and probably the biggest tires I can go.

 

I saw I can use an 8.25 rear, or a ford 8.8 rear (i have the ford rear in my explorer). Is this safe or should I go bigger than that?

 

Can I use the dana 30?

 

------------

 

Then what to do with the coils and leafs? Thankyou much appreciated.

[AeroNautical]

I've seen 44" swampers on an MJ before, you'll probably want f-350 super duty axles.

 

Honestly, I would never go larger than a 35" tire, in which case an 8.8 would be fine for you, though you'd be pushing what a D30 can do. 

[REEDracing94]

You definitely do not need 8" of lift for the tire size those axles can handle (I would say 35s max). You can easily run 35s at 4in with alot of trimming or 6.5 and no trimming with proper bumpstops. Anything that high you are definitely going to want to go long arm. I'm running 8.5" coils but I'm planning on running 40s.

[89eliminator]

what do you plan on doing with the jeep? 

[MrSimon]

Welcome, and congrats on your truck!!!

 

For what's it worth, here is my advice in three easy steps

 

1. Do nothing but maintenance and repairs for the entire first year .... get it in good reliable driving condition and fix all the little annoying things
2. Read read read .... watch tons of videos .... and think hard about what you want to do with the truck
3. Then plan out exactly what you need to buy - and save your money to buy good quality stuff.  It will save you money in the long run.

Or do what the rest of us did and throw cheap parts on right away, drive it hard and wheel it, then get annoyed because it doesn't run right and half the crap we put on is broken :rotfl2:

[Megadan]

If I were going to go 8+" of lift, I would want 1 ton axles simply for the stability you would get from the width.

[dscowell]

Why 8"?  Most things you won't need that.  If you want the biggest tires possible you will definitely need something bigger then an 8.25 or and 8.8.  Like mentioned before they can handle 35s fairly well but anything bigger would be iffy.  The D30 would need to be replaced as well.  Also with larger tires and suspension you are going to want better steering and the some other parts of the drivetrain might also need to be replaced or upgraded as well.  Just keep in mind the bigger you go the more parts you will have to buy.  Nothing wrong with that but It'll start to add up real quick.

[MJ_Milam]

I got 8.5" lift on my Comanche. I used rough country long arm kit, 8.5" coils from rustys. Rear I did SOA with 1.5" lift shackles. I'm running D30 front. East coast gear supply has axle tube sleeves you weld in for about $90. The only down side is that the larger tires wear out the unit bearings quickly. Definitely recommend an SYE kit for your tcase as well

[MJ_Milam]

If I were going to go 8+" of lift, I would want 1 ton axles simply for the stability you would get from the width.

A hp D44 and 9" are more than suitable, in my opinion, than one tons due to the issue of the one tons have a much larger dif which hinders ground clearance and the added weight is unnecessary.

[fmaster7]

I'm willing to upgrade everything as I go. I'd like to get a set of rears and springs and go from there. This is definitely not a daily so I'd like to go bigger than 35's.

 

To the comanche that has 8.5 inches of lift. I understand the bigger coil spring part but what do I do about leafs?

 

I saw a topic of adding k5 blazer leafs for lift. Good idea or no?

[dunnc1991]

Are you planning to off road it, or just drive it? If you plan to wheel it a decent amount I would look strongly into larger axles unless you don't mind breaking and replacing components a lot.

[Zebvance]

I'm willing to upgrade everything as I go. I'd like to get a set of rears and springs and go from there. This is definitely not a daily so I'd like to go bigger than 35's.

 

To the comanche that has 8.5 inches of lift. I understand the bigger coil spring part but what do I do about leafs?

 

I saw a topic of adding k5 blazer leafs for lift. Good idea or no?

 

 

 

Shouldnt be hard at all to get that in the rear. First off go SOA and get rid of the stock SUA set up. That will net you about 5-6 inches of lift alone. Then you could add a 3 inch lift shackle/or blocks. Also Hell Creek carries a 4.5 inch lift leaf spring for MJ's. So you could Stay SUA and run a larger shackle and blocks to get to 8 inches. I am sitting at about 9 inches of lift in the rear and just went SOA and a large shackle.

[Pete M]

 

 

 

 So you could Stay SUA and run a larger shackle and blocks to get to 8 inches.

 

 

adding blocks to a SUA will lower it. :thumbsup:  

 

If it was me, I'd be looking at the HellCreek 3" leafs or metric ton leafs and put those on top of the SOA conversion. 

[ParadiseMJ]

I'm with MrSimon on this one, although a year may sound like a looong time, doing it all in a big hurry will likely leave you with a hacked up, mismatched and inferior build.

 

Just buying springs and "going from there" is a bad idea, since you're going to need to do MUCH more to get what you want with quality results.

 

So, you wanted a list:

 

Plenty of money and...

Long arms

Axles

with a favorable gear ratio for giant tires

(and/or gears and the ability or more money for someone to set them up)

SYE

Shocks - not just regular auto parts store shocks.

Wheels

Tires

A good welder (or a good "welder" with great fabrication skills)

 ...and that's just for starters

 

Then you'll want a bigger engine, lights, stickers and a cup holder.

 

So, what is it you plan on doing with the truck?  realistically you're looking at 10K or so, and a lot of down time.

. 

[Zebvance]

 

 

 

 

 So you could Stay SUA and run a larger shackle and blocks to get to 8 inches.

 

 

adding blocks to a SUA will lower it. :thumbsup:  

 

If it was me, I'd be looking at the HellCreek 3" leafs or metric ton leafs and put those on top of the SOA conversion. 

 

 

 

 

You are right sir, Had a blonde moment.....

[Zebvance]

I'm with MrSimon on this one, although a year may sound like a looong time, doing it all in a big hurry will likely leave you with a hacked up, mismatched and inferior build.

 

Just buying springs and "going from there" is a bad idea, since you're going to need to do MUCH more to get what you want with quality results.

 

So, you wanted a list:

 

Plenty of money and...

Long arms

Axles

with a favorable gear ratio for giant tires

(and/or gears and the ability or more money for someone to set them up)

SYE

Shocks - not just regular auto parts store shocks.

Wheels

Tires

A good welder (or a good "welder" with great fabrication skills)

 ...and that's just for starters

 

Then you'll want a bigger engine, lights, stickers and a cup holder.

 

So, what is it you plan on doing with the truck?  realistically you're looking at 10K or so, and a lot of down time.

 

 

. 

 

 

I agree with this. I Still have to put the front of my 8+ inch lift on and new front axle with it. I have bee working on it for almost two years. Not at the fastest pace though, I could have had it done with in a year but life gets in the way sometimes. I am just planning on running 35's for now and maybe 37s in the future. You are looking at alot of money if your going to do it right. I went with a built 8.8 in the rear and a VERY BUILT d30 in the front. I probably have close to 3k in the front axle alone. the between the longs arms, various lift parts, money in the rear axle, SYE, and new tires its easliy up to another 5k. And at the end of the day I still have the Stock worn out 4.0 to push the big lift.

[Zebvance]

Also, Since no one has chimed in to give you what you exactly asked for here is it.

 

 

Bare minimum parts list to get truck "lifted" with 35" + tires.

 

FRONT

-long arms 

-coil springs

-sway bar links

-track bar drop bracket

-Adjustable track bar

-custom made drive shaft

-longer brake lines

-drop pitman arm

-Shocks

 

BACK

-Spring Over Axle conversion kit

-Your Choice of a lifted leaf pack, blocks, bigger or shackles

-Custom made drive shaft

-longer brake lines

-Slip Yolk Eliminator MOD to the transfer case

-LARGE Shocks

 

 

ADDITIONAL THINGS TO GET THE TRUCK  BEFORE TRYING TO SAFELY DRIVE IT!

 

-Dual Diaphragm brake booster and larger master cylinder.

-New proportion valve

-Both axles geared correctly

-If sicking with the Dana 30/35 you will need to dramatically beef them up.... (Sleeves,Truss, Chromaly Axle Shafts, Chromaly Ball Joints. C Gussets) And at that point the 35 is still  not strong enough and the 30 is BARELY strong enough for 35's...

-Heavy Duty 1 Ton Steering kit

 

 

I don't think I missed anything, To any one that sees something I missed please feel free to edit the list. To anybody that knows what this stuff costs, there is ALOT of money here....

[89eliminator]

i think the d30 gets a bad wrap.  if you build it, it can last.  yeah the ball joints and unit bearings will always wear out but big breakage can be limited.  

 

i still would like to know what the OP plans on doing with the truck...

[shelbyluvv]

Long arms are not needed. You can get by with drop brackets. Especially with 35s.

[Zebvance]

Long arms are not needed. You can get by with drop brackets. Especially with 35s.

I imagine that would be a terrible ride..... the geometry of the control arms would be horrible with 8 inches of lift. unless the drop brackets drop thee mounting locations 4 inches..

[shelbyluvv]

They do

 

I'm at 4.5" and have stock control arm angles.

[Zebvance]

They do

 

I'm at 4.5" and have stock control arm angles.

 

 

Well in that case I guess you could do that plus 4.5" lift fixed control arms

[MrSimon]

If you are gonna do all that it takes to get a truck at 8" on big tires .... then it would be silly to not use long arms.  A set of long arms isn't that much more than drop brackets and adjustable upper and lowers .... what's a few hundred dollars more when you're already $4k into the build.

 

A few more things to consider with such a big build are:

• Transmission cooler
• Hydro assist steering, or at least an upgraded steering box and maybe even a power steering fluid cooler
• Extended bump stops
• Traction bar in the rear (to cut down on spring wrap)
• And you might want to think about a stronger transfer case
• Beadlocks would be nice to keep those big meats on the wheels
• And I'm sure you'll want aftermarket bumpers, a winch, rock rails, and skid plates
• Now throw on some sweet daddy LED light bars and you're ready to rock

Obviously you can get a truck up in the air without all this stuff, and for not too much money .... these are just all things that we all WANT to do to our trucks.

[mnkyboy]

i had mine at 8" for a little while with drop brackets and adjustable arms,i typically kept it around 6.5",it rode pretty well and worked great off road.

 

 

even now my truck doesn't run long arms,and i can see no reason why i would ever want to.

[MrSimon]

I've run drop brackets and long arms both quite a bit.  They both work fine.  Most people don't push their trucks hard enough to even feel the benefits of long arms (although they do offer a slightly smoother ride even on the road).

 

For me, I switched to long arms because I was tired of having the drop brackets get hung up in the rocks.  The LAs act as long smooth skids and slide over rocks that used to hang me up.  

 

This is a pic of me going through some stuff on LAs without getting stuck .... where I used to get hung up a lot on DBs.  If I didn't wheel in stuff like this, then I don't think I'd have LAs.  But since I do, I freak'n love the LAs and will never go back.