zackwilliams

Looking to lift my 96 2dr xj about 3 or 4 inches. What are the pros and cons of a suspension or body lift?

winston427

You can NOT body lift a XJ, they are a unibody structure. Suspension lift is your only option.

zackwilliams

Thanks man, I had no flippin idea.

BuckB91XJ

It's okay Zack. We actually get that question a lot form guys new to XJs. Everybody knows Body Lifts are a much more inexpensive way to lift a rig. We are here to help and you won't ever get flamed in the face here on CF. The only dumb question is the one you don't ask that ends up costing you a lot of wasted dollars. Post on up with whatever questions you have, Bro!

broncofire75

I can add a bit to Buck's post. Search is this best advice I can give you.


There is at least 1 other thread that has the same name.

Just be glad you posted this on CF too lol. Most other places wouldve had a hay day with thus. It's cool though I considered a BL way back when too.

bishop letov

Thats what made an Xj so different from the other Wheeling rigs out there, the fact that its unibody. Feel safe in asking whatever question comes to mind without the fear that you would get on other forums...

Use the search feature because it has a wealth of info. I use it and notice that youll find someone had already chimed in on a particular subject and they offered something that may just be what you were looking for but in the Rerun of the question they havent for reason such as they are on vacation or havent been on the forum in a while... Always search first and if that leaves your question unanswered or have a question not covered by what youve read then by all means post...

jd4x426

x2 on searching you will find that there are a lot of differnet lifts out there and alot of different prices just shop around and look for the best price the most widely used brands are rough country rubicon express and rustys all are decent lifts re being the best out of the 3 and rustys and rc are much lower priced and also decent kits these are just examples there are tons of different brands

whowey

I have never understood people's fasicnation with body lifts... sure they are cheap.. but to do one correctly, its as much work as a correctly installed suspension lift. And it ends up looking like crap anyway.

Donnie_K

And you don't get any added ground clearance or wheel travel for it... people just do it so they can fit bigger tires under a truck that'll never see mud. To each their own I guess... Kind of glad that's not an option on XJ's

EndlessMtnFab

On one of the SWB Jeeps ... a body lift is a good thing.


A small amount (like 1 or 1.25 inches) gives the tire clearance. If you can stuff the tire up further without hitting .. you may be able to shorten your bumpstops a little bit for extra travel (assuming the shocks can handle it).

It will allow you to tuck the transmission & transfercase higher (in turn letting you put a higher clearance crossmember in).


And it's less of a Center-of-Gravity change compared to an additional inch of suspension lift. A suspension lift .. you're raising the frame, trans, body, engine, etc. That's all pushing your COG higher. With a 1 inch BL ... you're only raising the tub/body so it's less weight "up high". This assumes that you already have some kind of suspension lift with a higher spring rate to control the additional COG height.



But ... as already said .. you cannot do a BL on the Unibody jeeps (Cherokee, Comanche, Grand Cherokee)


Welcome to the learning curve. Search well.



Joe

aircruiser

i did the procomp 6" shock prototype body lift way back in the day. was like an extra set of suspension but like an AAL on an xj, it eventually sagged..

BamaXJ

^ laughed haha.

But yeah, even IF XJ's weren't unibodies, you'd be better off with a suspension lift; which lucky for us, is the only way. Increased ground clearance goes a long way.

mudford

There are lots of reasons to do a body lift on a 4x4. I had a 4" suspension lift on my F-150. I wanted to run in the 35 in super stock class in mud bogs. Truck needed more lift to clear 35's. It was easier to add a 3" body lift than to pull out the old lift and buy a whole new one and put even worse angles on the driveline and buy new driveshafts.

The classic bronco guys use them so they can upgrade to EFI. Without a bodylift it not possible because of the height of the EFI plenum.

A suspension lift doesn't give you anymore ground clearance. The differentials are the lowest point and the only thing that raises them is bigger tires. I know a suspension lift raises the frame up to give you more clearance which can help out alot, but a body lift has its usefulness too. Not on an XJ though.

FlexdXJ

I can think of one in particular. The good thing is a suspension lift doesn't look bad like a 4 inch body lift on a big ole Chevy. My buddy tried to convince me he had a one inch body lift on his old XJ back before i had an XJ! I knew better though!