mike10114

So, I want to put a minor lift on my '85 Cherokee.
But I do not have any amount close to what Suspension kits cost.

I have been told that Ford coil springs will work for the front half of the lift, and spare add a leafs will work for the back.

My question is will this work? And what model of Ford will provide how much lift.
And also can I lift it 2"-3" with out having the do any other type of mod. Like the brake lines and the Transfer case drop kit?

gpXJ

Up to 3" you 'should' be fine without having to do a Tcase drop. I say it like that because every rig is different and you never know until you do it. Your break lines should not be an issue up to that point.

You can use front coils from a V8 ZJ, rear leafs from a Dodge Dakota or Chevy/GMC S-10 added to your XJ leafs until you reach the desired height. Possibly the Ford coils you speak of would come from an F-150? I might have read about someone using those, not sure though.

HockeyFan

http://www.lunghd.com/Tech_Articles/...udget_Lift.htm

I did this and used S-10 springs in the back and new Grand cherokee springs in the front. I already had spacers in the front that gave me about 2-1/2 inches in the front. With the new coils I ended up at about 4-1/2. I mix every other leaf with the stock springs and got the same in the back. Now the down side. I had to drop the TC an inch and the front didn't last long. In about 3 months its down to about 3". I'm getting ready to switch to a drop pitman arm, adjustable trackbar, and order 4-1/2" springs for the front so I can do away with the spacers. The back has held up fine. For the money you cant beat one of the cheap ebay kits in my opinion. Just keep in mind what your getting. What starts out as a 3" lift will likely settle into a 2" lift. If I had to do it over again I would save my money and get a quality kit that comes with everything.

93XJRay

use grand cherokee v8 coils instead of the f150 coils, they ride wayy smoother. this will give you about 2". use these and a 1" spacer if you want 3" in the front. for the rear you can make bastard packs out of chevy s-10 or dodge dakota leaf springs. depending on the way you layer them with the xj main leaf you will obtain different amounts of lift.you could even do a 3" or 2" add a leaf in the rear. since you have an 85 you wont have to worry about an sye or t case drop. you could probably pull off 5.5 - 6" without one if you correct your pinion angle properly. older jeeps respond much better to lifts than newer jeeps. usually anything earlier than 96. mines a 93 and i have no driveline issues at 5". also i have stock brakelines, but they are however altered to be able to flex without breaking any of them.