ok I have a 89 Xj with a POS tomken 6" lift that has gone south. I was going to do some betta testing for a fellow wheeler here in Ut, but his kit wont be ready for testing for a few more months. So I need a new lift before safari time. I want to piece it together heres what I was thinking, Big Offroad springs 6" or 8" I'm not sure yet, and either some RE drop brackets and adjustable arms or some RE TJ long arms with a custom cross member. Which way would you go and why? I don't want to buy a whole kit and the RR kits are too much $$, I just need the springs and arms.
XJ lift what would you do?
- Thread starter trpl xj
- Start date
- Location
- Bountiful, land of rocks
If you're going for a temporary lift, I'd just get some RE control arms and the 6" springs you mentioned. They'll work great for the short term and you'll able to sell them very easily.
It'd help to know what tire you're planning on running, but I'm assuming a 35". If you're staying with your 33" tires, you should be in great shape.
It'd help to know what tire you're planning on running, but I'm assuming a 35". If you're staying with your 33" tires, you should be in great shape.
- Location
- Bountiful, land of rocks
Hmmm.....permanent. I'd personally not run bigger than a 35-36" tire on any XJ without significant body/structural bracing/mods, so I'll answer from that perspective assuming you're keeping a D30, front and whatever you have in the rear.
Drop brackets are nice, Wayne{UtahXJ} runs them and bangs them sometimes. A nice long arm conversion is pretty cool, but I'd do that with just some heim or Johnny joint ends you can get from Rocklogic or Suka or someone--(get the absolute highest quality you can) and plan on running a limiting strap so on steep stuff you don't dump your junk.
I'm working on changing my lower control arm mounts on the front axle to change the LCA angle and keeping the short arm configuration. This does three intended things--1) cleans up the bottom of the axle so I can get rid of the bent to he!! ones, 2) gives me better angle for nicer ride on road {similar angle to like a 2" lift} and will decrease the need for my axle as it droops to have to drop further to climb weird ledges (it'll still do that but only on very extreme climbs--not nearly as often as it does now), and 3) keep the body/frame mounting point the same as it was engineered from the factory and keep the banging down from a drop bracket. There are some side affects that are possible, but I think I'm going to do it and see what happens and work out the bugs from there.
There are TONS of threads on this on the NAXJA board if you'd like some more reading----(Long arm vs. short, Long arm vs. mid arm, short vs. long, mid vs. mid, short vs. short, long vs. long, etc.)
Drop brackets are nice, Wayne{UtahXJ} runs them and bangs them sometimes. A nice long arm conversion is pretty cool, but I'd do that with just some heim or Johnny joint ends you can get from Rocklogic or Suka or someone--(get the absolute highest quality you can) and plan on running a limiting strap so on steep stuff you don't dump your junk.
I'm working on changing my lower control arm mounts on the front axle to change the LCA angle and keeping the short arm configuration. This does three intended things--1) cleans up the bottom of the axle so I can get rid of the bent to he!! ones, 2) gives me better angle for nicer ride on road {similar angle to like a 2" lift} and will decrease the need for my axle as it droops to have to drop further to climb weird ledges (it'll still do that but only on very extreme climbs--not nearly as often as it does now), and 3) keep the body/frame mounting point the same as it was engineered from the factory and keep the banging down from a drop bracket. There are some side affects that are possible, but I think I'm going to do it and see what happens and work out the bugs from there.
There are TONS of threads on this on the NAXJA board if you'd like some more reading----(Long arm vs. short, Long arm vs. mid arm, short vs. long, mid vs. mid, short vs. short, long vs. long, etc.)
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Mbryson, thanks for all the info man. I see you also replied to my post on JU. I don't plan on running anything bigger than a 35 so the front 30 should be ok I hope, The rear is a 35 but has a warn full float kit in it. and I have only broke one hub in the three years that I've had it. I have what I think is a good design for the long arms, and I have the skills and equipment to build it thats not a problem. Just trying to get a few opinions before I go ahead with it. I know this has been hashed a million times on other boards but 90% of that is here say, I heard, or I say once, or a friend of mine says,..... just a bunch of crap. Even JU is starting to turn into a pirate board. The guys here are mostly local and will answer your questions. once again thanks!!