cherokeefreak

Hey guys, Im kinda new and I couldnt find a thread covering this so I figured I would start one.

Does anyone have any builds that they have done by taking suspension parts off of other vehicles?? as in leaf springs, coil springs, track bar, control arms, differential gear swaps, drive shafts, T-cases, axles, shackles, ect. Pretty much anything you can think of that I can swap onto my xj that I got recently.

Ive got some ideas for a lift kit (i.e. Iron rock offroad 6.5 long arm lift) which im pretty excited about, but I just wanted to get a thread started on canabalizing suspension parts so everyone can get an idea of possibilities for a lift.

winston427

You can pull full size Ford F150 coils for about 4 inches of lift up front. They will be a stiif ride due to the spring rating.

BLKXJ 96

Im sure there are a lot of parts out there that will lift a Cherokee, and this is a good idea for a thread. Stuff like building rear springs is pretty stright foward and not much room for error, but when you start pulling parts of this and LCA's off of that. How do you know it is going to be strong enough to be used in the application your putting it under?
What if it fails, what if this is a street driven vehicle and you loose control and cause a huge crash.

lil'whiteXJ

I think most parts that would be used would be from heavier duty vehicles, so parts failing is no more of a risk than normal. Besides if someone said " you can use the steering from a Geo Metro." there would be a swarm of warnings and disagreements.

I think V8 ZJ springs are softer and still give the lift.

cherokeefreak

Ya i've heard about the ZJ coils and I think that would be a great idea. Ive also heard that you can use Ford Ranger leaf packs, has anyone heard of this??

winston427

The ZJ springs are good for about 1 to 1.5 inches.

You can aslo use the rear shackle off of "most" Ford trucks to gain 1 inch over stock in the rear.

ol"blue

The front LCA's from a WJ will work on an XJ. They are stronger than the XJ's stamped steel ones, they have a bend in them that gives more tire clearance, and they have better bushings.

Destro

My XJ is sitting at +4.75" in the rear with a spring pack from a 4X4 Dodge Dakota (1995). For about 3/4" less leave out the big fat helper spring from the bottom.

~K

winston427

For the steering, you can use a ZJ pitman arm. It is a 1 inch drop over stock and will help reduce the steering angle caused by a lift. As well as using a tie rod from a V8 ZJ. The stock XJ tie rod is a hollow tube that is weak and will bend easily when wheeling (I have already bent 3). The V8 ZJ tie rod is a solid piece that offers increased strength.

cherokeefreak

Hey thanks everyone for your input. Im excited to try the steering arm and pitman arm conversion for my cherokee. Does anyone know of any way to convert the back drum brakes to disk on a dana 44 without buying a new conversion kit and hub assembly? Is there any dana 44's out there that have disk brakes stock that I could pull out of a junk yard?