XJ lift combination

[Johnniemac]

I was looking at the Rough Country 6.5" and have not heard anything good about it. Most XJers on line are raving about Rubi Expr. I'd like to have 6" or so of lift. Would a 3.5" + 1.75 spacers front and a 1" block rear sound ok? I'd love to have a Rock Ready kit but come on folks I only sell for JEEP, I don't own the company.Tomken has a fairly complete 4" kit for around $900 US. It has shackles in the kit for about 1"with a 3 to 3.5" leaf spring pack and front 4" coils. Any feedback is great. Thanks.

[4X4PLAY]

The Rough Country lifts are nice for the money...I'm putting a 4" in my TJ... for the TJ Rough Country lift, the only negative response I got when posting a simular question in the ramj+w newsgroup that it was found to be a stiff road ride but flexes out really well...
Good Luck!
Jeff

[sportsguy]

John - reading about lift kits online is a lot like bench racing - I'm sure everyone has taken Mom's Honda to Maitland and scorched off an 11 sec pass...

Your best bet is to speak with people, personally, who have actually used the different products. I'm taking on the phone or in person - ask them questions about how the set-up handled situations like the ones YOU currently encounter or want to tackle.

I ran BDS in my Cherokee (almost 4") and loved it - went everywhere I wanted a few surprising other places I never thought I could make it. Ran 31" GY MT/R's.

Rob C runs RE gear (4.5" Extreme Duty kit IIRC - his truck has been, IMO, top notch since the say the gear was installed - he'll tell you more.

Blake down in Bear River (doesn't come on the board) is running a full Rusty's kit - seems pleased with it.

I currently run RockKrawler gear on my Comanche and love it - solid product, no problems and I feel that if there were ever a concern, the company WILL back the product.

I guess my point is that we've all done the reading about it all over the Internet thng - the lasting impression I have is that it's still better hunting down info in your own back yard. I learned that everything I was reading needed to be put into perspective - some guys say Rusty's is crap - then you see them jumping their Cherokee 3 feet in the air and it's obvious why the part broke. At one time, RockKrawler got bashed because someone had a problem with a part they installed - never knew if the backyard mechanic mucked it up or if the part was at fault - no one was hurt, but lots of hateful chatter directed at the product.

I run the gear and would recommend it to anyone.

As far as your suggestion, your front end setup sounds fine to me (I'd personally go with a longer coil and shorter spacer), and the rear end is fine with blocks PROVIDED they are kept as SHORT as possible.

HTH some - I'm sure others will chime in with their own personal experience.

[littlemulticoloredwagoneer]

Rough Country is good stuff...espeacially now...lots of people who had problems have bought through outfits such as J.C. Whittney who has stock that is very old..there customer service is excellent.. Also the rusty's stuff is as awsome as it gets...built very stout..and I and others that I have sold product to have had no problems with at all other than getting more lift than promised..... Tomken you should stay away from completley...Just ask Kevin Beard... Spacers and blocks will get you the lift you desire but have negative effects as well..such as lost articulation and axle wrap.. Rockcrawler is a good product as well...I use some of there joints and will give a report on how they handle our salty winters come the spring......whatever you go with research it completely and talk directly to people who run it!! the same way you will!!

[Johnniemac]

Thank you for the input. I'll be trail about 50% of the time,balance highway @ around 80kms. I understand that I'll be giving up some ride quality.However I'd also like as decent a ride as possible.Regarding the 6.5" Rough Country kit; what else is required for a complete install? I have been reading about RubiExpr drop brackets for the control arms too.Comments?

[sportsguy]

Johnniemac said:

Thank you for the input. I'll be trail about 50% of the time,balance highway @ around 80kms. I understand that I'll be giving up some ride quality.However I'd also like as decent a ride as possible.Regarding the 6.5" Rough Country kit; what else is required for a complete install? I have been reading about RubiExpr drop brackets for the control arms too.Comments?

I won't / can't get into the entire list of items needed to be done to accommodate a lift of this height - track bar, relo the brake lines/extend them, breather tubs, watch your brakes when you mount up the bigger meats this lift will allow, etc.

I will say this - buy the MOST COMPLETE kit possible. When you break the 3" - 4" lift kit mark, the prices go up a whole bunch, as more stuff needs replacing.

You may need a slip-yoke eliminator kit to get rid of vibes caused by bad drivesahft angle sin the rear - this varies, quite literally, by individual vehicle - many kits inlcude a drop-t-case bracket to help with this, but watch for it anyway.

As for giving up ride quality - I can honestly say with the BDS gear I put in the Cherokee - the ride quality improved. Same thing happened when I put the Rock Krawler gear in the MJ. Improved ride quality.

That said, it may have something to do with the original gear was pretty much frazzled, so anything would be an improvement - either way both trucks handled better both on and off road and both were more comfortable.

For the Cherokee I used a kit, for the MJ we used bits and peices to get what I wanted, not an actual "kit" - just selected peices.

Just curious, why 6 1/2" of lift?

[Johnniemac]

I see many getting a 3" lift then a year or so latter going bigger. I plan on keeping the XJ indeffinately. I'll run 31's until I can afford axle upgrades. With the larger lift i can accomidate bigger meats as axles permit. 33s/35s sound great to me

[sportsguy]

Johnniemac said:

I see many getting a 3" lift then a year or so latter going bigger. I plan on keeping the XJ indeffinately. I'll run 31's until I can afford axle upgrades. With the larger lift i can accomidate bigger meats as axles permit. 33s/35s sound great to me

Logical.

Though it'll look kinda wonky, I think, with that much lift and 31's. To go to 33's, you should be fine on the stock axles (though others may argue). If you're the go anywhere, try anything and give 'er heck type, you WILL want other axles by the time 35's are rolling around.

I'm planning to run 33's eventually on my stock D30/D35 combo - I have no reason to beleive it'll be a problem. I go easy on the gas, though.

[Sandboxcowboy]

Skimmed thru the thread and im gonna say Rusty's is the stoutest lift ive seen for and XJ. Waaayyy overbuilt and u get what u pay for! great customer service from what ive heard!!

J.

[Big Willy]

I know that this has been posted before. But does anyone know the tire vs lift chart. I mean what size of tire fits with certain sizes of lift. A link to the post would be fine (I can't seem to find it ). Thanks in advance.

[Johnniemac]

I have noticed
1.75"/1" spacer for 30's (assuming that your springs are not sagged too bad
3" for 31's
4" to 5" for 32"
6ish" plus for 33/35s
Keep in mind that an inch of tire height only needs a half inch of lift. Also depending on how you intend to use it. I will have discos off and flexing as much as possible. That is why I want lots of lift. Less aggresive folks won't need this. The orange/Black XJ at APJs has the fenders cut for more tire room. That is another option too.

[subigon]

Chris try here: for your lift / tire chart
SCROLL DOWN TO JEEPS
4wheeldrive.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.oregonbushhackers.org%2Ftech%2Ftiresize.shtml#nosmileys

[Big Willy]

Thanks Subi ;D

[subigon]

Your Welcome - You don't have to be so formal Chris. You can call me Eddie.

[Johnniemac]

Sports guy. It is a HP30/8.25 w/o trash lok