hello,
im planning on doing a budget boost on my bone stock 1987 cherokee. ive got a set of 31x10.5 tires for it and they fit now i just can hit any bumps haha. ive got two options for my lift: either use the 2 inch coil spacers and rear shackles i made myself or my buddy has 3 inch spacers and a rear 3 inch block he said hed give me. id love to get that extra inch but im hesitant about putting a block on my axle after so much bad opinions of them. what do you guys think?

 

A lot of ppl on here will tell you not to use blocks, imo if it is a daily driver and moderate trail use they will be just fine. I have used blocks in the past with no problems. Chrysler uses blocks as standard equippment on their 2500,3500 trucks. Do what you can afford as long as it is done correctly and it is safe.
Good luck!

 

I have done both a 2 inch budget boost (2 inch coil spacers, shackles, and 1 inch block) and a normal 3 inch (springs,lower control arms, track bar relocation and transfer case drop). IMO 3 inches is about the limit where you run the risk of it not being a budget boost anymore between trackbar alignment, lower control arms, and brake lines being close to being too short. I also ran into drive train vibrations with a 3 inch lift before I dropped the T-case an inch. I would go with the three inch but use longer shackles and smaller blocks and hope everything else lines up alright, every XJ seems to be a bit different in regards to axle allignment and drive train issues after lifting.

 

the reason they put blocks on those 2500 and 3500 series trucks is because the springs are soooooooo much more stiff and wont allow the truck to over flex and bend the springs backwards like a cherokee will. i would suggest doin a junkyard lift it will stiffen up the ride a lil bit but not horribly so, and then after that with the more stiff springs you could get away with blocks and end up with like 7 or 8 inches of lift on the super cheap

 

I would love to know how you would lift a daily driver xj 8 inches and keep it anywhere near the "budget boost" price

 

i cant do a junkyard lift cheap, every JY around here wants 100 and up for a pair of leaf springs. the only springs i could get would be dodge 3/4 ton springs and i dont think theyre 2.5 inches wide. i think im gonna stick with the 2 inch for nnow, i can always add another coil spacer and a small block for more lift afterwards.