Bought a stock 97xj, my front strut in showing signs of needing replacing so I've started wondering about a 2inch lift. I've got a boat I haul as well and want a suspension that will handle the weight better and not sag the rear along with maintaining ride quality. Can some of the jeep veterans offer up some advice? I've been doing reading and haven't really come to a conclusion as far as shackles leafs. Also I don't plan on going higher than 2". Thanks everyone!

 

How big is the boat?

 

Firestorm, the boat is 18ft bass boat. Right now the rear squats about .5 inches to 1 inch I'd say

 

Your XJ doesn't have struts. It has coil springs and shocks, just to be specific.


A 2" lift will serve you well. You can get by just fine with spacers up front for $50 a pair, and longer shocks. In the rear I'd suggest getting Old Man Emu medium duty spring packs. They should be around $120-$140 each. Get new bushings as well. I have the OME standard duty 2" spring packs, and wish id have gone with the stronger medium duty. Heavy duty may be overkill, and your Jeep will ride like a diving board without a load in the back. Medium duty is probably the best compromise.

 

If you just want to level it under a load, without unduly affecting what ride quality we get with XJs, I would look into air shocks for the rear.

 

Thanks for the advice, I'll check out both options price wise and go from there. I've heard good things about OME, ultimately I'd like to get a better stance out of it so I think leveling while raising the rear a tad will be my choice. I'll keep you updated and post some pictures. Gotta get ride of my sagging headliner as well!

 

Don't waste money on spacers for the front. Look into a quality 2" OME kit with properly valved shocks or as stated air shocks. Your coils are stock so spacers Will just be a waste of time and won't ride ride. Your can even order stock ZJ (IIRC) coils which would give you about 2" lift in the front or look for the right spring rate

 

Yeah, it's always nicer to get new coils instead of spacers, but I wouldn't say spacers are a waste. I've had spacers in the front of mine for 3 years and it rides very well. I also tow a 5x10 trailer fairly often loaded with several thousand pounds of stuff and it rides and drives great. If he's on a budget he can do spacers now and new front coils later.

 

Thanks for all the input everyone! I really appreciate it, I think I'm going to look towards the ome shocks. I don't mind spacers but I would eventually want to go the ome route from the sounds of it so I would rather just go ahead and do it "right" the first time. So much I want to add on to the jeep but suspension is first on my list. Then looking towards bumpers and roof rack

 

Doing it right the first time will save you a lot of time, money, and headaches in the long run. OME has some nice products, I think they would be a great choice.