NewKindOfClown

Take a look at Zone and Rubicon Express if you want a good lift at a good price.

askingxforxit

I've got the Zone 3" kit, it's great but I needed a new track bar, lcas, extended sway bar links and brake lines. I'll also need to get shackle relocation brackets because the angle is horrible and rear riders like a dump truck.

SG Mason

Nice list, should be right at the top of the thread is it is not already

Now do you have one for tires and tire/lift combinations

NewKindOfClown

That all depend on whether or not you're willing to trim and how much

SG Mason

What I was thinking was X" lift with X" tires = no cutting. X" lift with y" tires =cutting the fenders and adding flares sort of list, and one for what back spacing is needed for what size tire. It is the sort of thing that noobs like myself would find very helpful, just like you lift chart

Personally I would rather not have to trim, but I think I will be doing a little just to get the look I would like. I don't plan on going anything bigger than 4.5" lift with 33s, but more likely I will stick with a 3" lift with 31s. The only thing about making plans is that they change

I have to wait till I start doing the rust repair on the fenders and quarters to know for sure. It could just turn out to be easier to cut the fenders than try to fix or replace them.

blacksmith1770

I miss understood a guy at the junk yard. I thought he was saying 2004-2009 Grand Cherokee. We were discussing LCA's and he said the WK was good for longer LCA's so I picked up a pair from a 2004. At least with the link you gave me it sounds like it might be a good to install them anyway. Thanks

codykrr

I have...to much out of my price range...and zone is not as complete...no Lca's

SG Mason

Going by NewKindOf Clowns chart LCA are not needed for a 3" lift only recommended.

codykrr

yeah, but for cheaper i can get the RC kit with LCA's...

codykrr

also getting alot of mixed info..I talked to some Rc guys and they suggest LCAs for a 3 inch, said a trac bar was not needed nor was front extended brake lines...

seems this stuff is really boils down to whos pockets are deepest, and opinions...

SC_digger11

Rough country is usually not recommended around here and most people will never buy from them. I got the 3" RC lift with LCAs and for my purposes (mostly on road/in and out of hunting and fishing holes and hittin a power line every now and then) it has been everything I've needed. 2.0 shocks ride better than I did stock too. However you absolutely NEED a trac bar at 3 inches. My left front stuck out an inch and a half further than my right

SG Mason

Well it seems you have your mind set on the RC lift. I will ask were you are getting your prices from, because the RC 3" lift series II lists on their site for $610 while the Zone 3" lift lists for $511. Add a set of RC adjustable LCAs for $170 you would be looking at $681 for the Zone 3" with leaf springs, a very comparable price. I am not sure if RC would and what RC would charge for an upgrade to adjustable LCA, but if they did the prices would be as close to a dead match as I think they could.

Then you still would need sway bar links, yes it is my opinion that you need them, and the same goes for the break lines. Not having breaks when you need them is something you want to avoid if at all possible.

I am not telling what to buy, or what kit is better because I do not know, I am just going by what I have read here and on other forums. With that said pretty much every budget lift kit is frowned on, but we have to start somewhere don't we, and not everyone has an extra 3 or 4 grand burning a hole in their pockets. I know I don't and if I did I may be tempted to put the extra money someplace else

I too am going back and forth but between the RC and Zone AAL kits. I am looking at the AAL kits because the leaf spring in my XJ are fairly new and it actually sit 1" higher than stock. I am lucky though and have a dealer near by for both kits and the prices are really close to what is listed on their sites so I don't have to worry about add shipping cost to my build.

SG Mason

So there you go another $120+ to add to the budget

One other thing I forgot to mention, make sure that you Jeep is in perfect mechanical order and that everything is solid before you start modifying it. It would really suck to get all the parts on hand to do a lift and find out that you have a cracked frame or some other mechanical problem

Before i even start mine I am adding a set of RuffStuff frame stiffeners, new brakes front and rear, and what ever else I can find that I judge borderline. The last thing I want to happen is to get into some place that none of my friends or tow trucks can get to and break down

JerrytheJeep

Your budget should always include another savings account, and a slot on your list that says "other expenses"

Are you going to dd your jeep as well? If you are you might reconsider frame stiffeners. In an accident, the body is meant to crumple, absorbing the kinetic energy of the impact. When you add frame stiffeners and the like, that kinetic energy is not absorbed, thereby increasing the shock of the impact to the passengers and other non attached objects inside your jeep.

At the same time, frame stiffeners are kind of important to the longevity of a wheeled jeep. I don't mean to put you off or talk down frame stiffeners, I just wanted to share something I have pondered for a while, seeing as I'll be dding my rig. Safety is kind of important you know?

SG Mason

My car budgets always have an extra 50% added to the top of the expected expenses, that way if I come in under budget I have some play around money for a trip, or other toys A suspension lift, wheels, and tires wont come till late summer at the earliest, but more likely not till next spring. I have a bit of body work to do and another project car I am working on. This is what the Stealth looked like when I got it.



All I need to do to it now is paint and the interior. Oh and new front wheel studs Changing the wheel studs on a FWD Stealth/3000GT is not a simple pound out the old draw in the new. You have to pull the knuckle, press it apart destroying the wheel bearing, then remove the ABS ring just so you can see the backs of the studs As you can see in that picture one stud is broken in the front, so to me that means replace all 20. I had the rears done in 45 minutes. When I found out I had to kill 2 perfectly good bearing to do the front ($80 each) I got mad and had to walk away for a bit and work on something else. That is when I went out and bought the XJ. Who ever thought it was a good idea to make it so you had to replace an $80 bearing to replace a $2 part was a moron


The frame stiffeners are part of a frame repair. I live in eastern Ontario Canada where they think salt is gods answer to snow, because of that I have a weak spot in my frame just behind the DS LCA. I am going to cut that out and patch it, then to come back up to Ontario standards I am adding the stiffeners. When I am finished I should be just above the stiffness the frame was out of the factory.

In the long run the XJ will be a winter DD/summer play toy, and the Stealth will be the summer DD and parked in storage for the winter.