LOW Budget Build - CHEAP Rear Lift
02-09-2010, 11:53 AM
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Year: 1987
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0L
LOW Budget Build - CHEAP Rear Lift
When me and my brother decided we wanted to get into the off road game we realized that being a college student (myself) and a high school student with a part time job (brother) it would be on one of the tightest budgets an off road rig had ever been built on. Our only saving grace was our unlimited supply of tools and scrap steel from our parents construction company, and hand me down parts from our cousins XJ project. So here is the build blog:
Expenses to Date:
- 1987 XJ 4.0L Sport (STOCK) - $450
- Front lift coils - Freebie (hand me down)
- Front lift blocks - $50
- Rear lift - $30**
- Battery Box $10
So far that is aboutall that has gone into the project on our end, luckily Christmas came in the middle of the project leaving us with a 12,000lb winch and a used set of 35.00x12.50x15 on a set of rims with 6" of backspacing. And here is what we got:
** This is not a super interesting build except for the rear suspension, we were in a financial pinch and did not want to use lift blocks because of their tendency to crack and torque, so we put something together that I haven't seen before:
A day brainstorming at the bone yard yielded a set of coils off of god knows what, we had measured the distance between the top of the axle and the bottom of the frame to be about 8" and these coils sat at 13" uncompressed. When we got back I preceded to fabricate two brackets off of the frame and two off of the axle to hold the coils in place. We compressed the coils and threw them in there and with our new coil/leaf suspension we got about 7-8" of lift. So far it has flexed and preformed pretty well and the coils have stayed in place after 3 trips out to the Cliffs (Marseilles, IL). I know its not right, but it beats the hell out of blocks, and it cost all of $30 some scrap steel and a few welding rods. I will post pictures as soon as i can.
Expenses to Date:
- 1987 XJ 4.0L Sport (STOCK) - $450
- Front lift coils - Freebie (hand me down)
- Front lift blocks - $50
- Rear lift - $30**
- Battery Box $10
So far that is aboutall that has gone into the project on our end, luckily Christmas came in the middle of the project leaving us with a 12,000lb winch and a used set of 35.00x12.50x15 on a set of rims with 6" of backspacing. And here is what we got:
** This is not a super interesting build except for the rear suspension, we were in a financial pinch and did not want to use lift blocks because of their tendency to crack and torque, so we put something together that I haven't seen before:
A day brainstorming at the bone yard yielded a set of coils off of god knows what, we had measured the distance between the top of the axle and the bottom of the frame to be about 8" and these coils sat at 13" uncompressed. When we got back I preceded to fabricate two brackets off of the frame and two off of the axle to hold the coils in place. We compressed the coils and threw them in there and with our new coil/leaf suspension we got about 7-8" of lift. So far it has flexed and preformed pretty well and the coils have stayed in place after 3 trips out to the Cliffs (Marseilles, IL). I know its not right, but it beats the hell out of blocks, and it cost all of $30 some scrap steel and a few welding rods. I will post pictures as soon as i can.
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