dyasko Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Hey all, I'm new to the forum and to Comanches and I just picked up a '91 longbed. My plan is to use it for camping and some moderate off-roading, mostly dunes and desert trails. I'm trying to decide between 3.5 or 4.5" of lift. I don't want it to look huge but based on a lot of pictures I've seen, a Comanche on 4.5" doesn't seem to look as big as a Cherokee on the same lift. I've put a 4.5" rough country on an xj in the past and wasn't super pleased with the fitment of some of the parts, so I'm leaning towards rubicon express since I've had some friends with good experiences there. My questions are, can I clear 33x10.5s on 4.5" without any cutting? And will SOA with xj shackles come out to about 4.5" in the rear? Thanks, Drew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogmorgo Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 The MJ's a ton longer than an XJ, especially the LWB. So that's why lifts look less huge. The height/length ratio doesn't change as quickly. I can't really comment on lifts myself. I'm slowly working towards 2~3" for mine. And I mean slooowly. You can check the build threads for other trucks to see what other people are doing to acheive your desired end product. There's also a couple lift/tire size threads with pictures kicking around. But the formula for calculating what lift you get from an SOA is: height of old perches under axle + axle tube (or if you're changing axles, [old diameter + new diameter]/2 ) + new perch height. Usually it works out to ~5.5", but this will change depending on the axle used, and the height of the new perches. I think the XJ shackle is only good for 1/2" drop. But maybe I'm wrong. I stumbled across a thread a while back where someone was talking about using Grand Waggy springs, which are flatter, to decrease the height of his SOA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 XJ shackles could actually invert (meaning the joint bends the wrong way and the leafs bind up) after full droop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 18 hours ago, dyasko said: Hey all, I'm new to the forum and to Comanches and I just picked up a '91 longbed. My plan is to use it for camping and some moderate off-roading, mostly dunes and desert trails. I'm trying to decide between 3.5 or 4.5" of lift. I don't want it to look huge but based on a lot of pictures I've seen, a Comanche on 4.5" doesn't seem to look as big as a Cherokee on the same lift. I've put a 4.5" rough country on an xj in the past and wasn't super pleased with the fitment of some of the parts, so I'm leaning towards rubicon express since I've had some friends with good experiences there. My questions are, can I clear 33x10.5s on 4.5" without any cutting? And will SOA with xj shackles come out to about 4.5" in the rear? Thanks, Drew My initial response would be to ask why, for the type of off-roading you have described, you think you need 33" tires, or a 4-1/2" lift. I bought an '88 shortbed with a 4-inch lift, I hated it, and after putting it back to stock height I could go pretty much everywhere I was able to go with the lift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carnuck Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 On my ‘88 short box I went from 2wd to SOA rear with 7” TJ coils in front for softer ride and they sat only 5.5” taller with 33/9.5/15 tires on a daily driver. Extended lower arms (I should’ve run WJ curved ones because my tires touched the arm on hard corners at low speed ) and adjustable tracbar with YJ brake hoses (same year as my Comanche) and 3” longer front shocks. I had planned to put my Jtruck swaybar plates between the rear springs and axle pads to attach the stock rear shocks in place similar to where they were. I used D44 front springplates from the FSJ to clamp it all together. The rear brake hose was moved down the bypassed load level sensor arm’s bracket and the extra line capped off at both ends with a plug in the valve. I also went with AMC Eagle wagon rear wheel cylinders to increase rear braking (1/16” larger bore) with Grand Cherokee booster and newer XJ master cylinder. If you’re converting to 4x4, then ZJ tierod setup is beefier. The only front part I didn’t fix was the sway bar end links. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tj1 Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 I did an SOA with 4.5 in the front and clear 33x9.5s all day. ZJ V8 tie rod set up is a plus but if its light off road use than you should be fine with stock bars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carnuck Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 I did an SOA with 4.5 in the front and clear 33x9.5s all day. ZJ V8 tie rod set up is a plus but if its light off road use than you should be fine with stock bars Not the 2wd stuff prior to ‘89. The tierod on mine stripped at the center clamp then snapped as I pulled into my driveway without any abnormal off highway action. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tj1 Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 Not the 2wd stuff prior to ‘89. The tierod on mine stripped at the center clamp then snapped as I pulled into my driveway without any abnormal off highway action. Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkDang. ToucheSent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParadiseMJ Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 I put a ZJ V-8 tie rod on my MJ. Seemed to really beef up the steering, made it "feel" stronger. I thought I was imagining it until I put one on my son's XJ just because I was doing some engine work on it and I had an extra rod in my shop. When I gave it back to him he said "...and thanks for fixing the steering". Coincidence? I dunno! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carnuck Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 I think the thinner tie rods, and draglink actually flex and may be a portion of the death wobble. I saw a video from under the truck once that showed them flexing and I checked that clamp and discovered it was loose! It had been tightened and checked a couple days before when we were looking for the reason for the wobble. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyasko Posted October 31, 2017 Author Share Posted October 31, 2017 Thanks for a lot of great advice guys. The reason I'm thinking of going a little bigger on the lift is the departure angle with the long bed. I'm a little worried about dragging the rear all day and more lift would help a little with that. I've also got a set of 33x10.5s off my old Cherokee that I'd like to put on (they've still got 90% tread). I ran 4.5" on my Cherokee and it was always enough for what I was trying to do, just don't know exactly where the stock off-road ability of the Comanche is yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParadiseMJ Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Other than the fact that a SUA is a serious detriment to ground clearance (for me anyway) the MJ is much more nimble than the XJ. Especially with a D44 and an LSD. With 3" of lift and 31's I can go anywhere I want. Note: I don't want to go everywhere. I do a lot of snowy road driving and it can easily handle a foot of snow. I also like that set-up for highway manners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParadiseMJ Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 On 10/29/2017 at 4:37 PM, carnuck said: I think the thinner tie rods, and draglink actually flex and may be a portion of the death wobble. I saw a video from under the truck once that showed them flexing... I'm glad to know there is some modicum of "proof" of the beef feel other than my own feeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyasko Posted November 2, 2017 Author Share Posted November 2, 2017 On 10/31/2017 at 3:27 PM, ParadiseMJ said: Other than the fact that a SUA is a serious detriment to ground clearance (for me anyway) the MJ is much more nimble than the XJ. Especially with a D44 and an LSD. With 3" of lift and 31's I can go anywhere I want. Note: I don't want to go everywhere. I do a lot of snowy road driving and it can easily handle a foot of snow. I also like that set-up for highway manners. Just to clarify, you're running SOA but you've got it down to 3" or SUA with 3"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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