Stabsthedrama

Recently got my 89 Renix up about 3 inches, and even more from sag (3-3.5 in the back and about 3 up front, and the back will settle to ~3" over time to even it all out perfectly.) I had saved at least 1 writeup from here doing the same, but modified the parts slightly.

All the work done myself, as always. The leaf springs were an absolute nightmare.

Before pic
After pic

Progress Pics

Driver's side front bolt wanted to play games with me. Had to cut the bolt through the sleeve on both sides, but the weld nut broke so I had to cut an access hole. Sucks I had to go a lot higher than I would have liked to - but since there's a slight slope to the bracket I needed to to get the nut out since it was still attached to some of the bolt.
______________________________________

Parts (prices when I bought them):
- $95 (each)
- $44
- $56
- $67
Total: $357

I won't have to trim fenders, but for 31x10.5's I might wind up throwing in some adjustable LCA's just so they're narrower. Already pulled the skirts, painted inside and stuffed pool noodles in.

I Installed some BPE's from the rear sway bar I eliminated for an extra .5" shock travel in the back, and got some Bilstein 4600's from the JY for like $15 for the fronts which are 1.5" longer than stock.

All in all it came out exactly like I wanted it to. Don't need to do a SYE, drop transfer case, or even adjustable LCA's or track bar, but still refreshed the suspension with all BRAND NEW parts on the cheap, and can now fit 30's (or 31's with lca's) since I needed new tires anyway.

BlvdKreeper

I'm doing something similar. Except I'm using oemHD leafs and I got a set of used jk wrangler shocks from a 2015 for $40 on Craigslist. I got 2 inch shackles and spacers as well. I'm sticking to stock spring for now hopefully they're not saggy.

sycoglitch

The proper shocks are Rubicon shocks to have them for a 2" lift. Possibly Sahara trim too but I can neither confirm nor deny those allegations. Make sure to get the physical extended and compressed lengths of shocks and measure accordingly while flexing

Stabsthedrama

I know that's not the "proper" shock for it, but without doing any crazy offroading with it I'm definitely not worried about it for now. I'll run these, and if they blow up they blow up - I don't really care. If and when they do I'll upgrade to some 5100's all the way around.

sycoglitch

Lol no, Wes saying just measure first after lifting. You may be able to use something more standard. And plus setting bumpstops even on a smaller lift is important to prevent this

Straydawg

Subscribing, can you add more pics? And nice job!

Stabsthedrama

Ya I can add more pics with some more explanation now that it's all done.

And ya I need to add/set bump stops especially in the rear - the one side is totally gone. Will find some at the JY this weekend.

Fred/N0AZZ

For $438 you could have bought a complete Rustys 3" full leaf/coil package that included shocks and all new hardware. All of there springs are made in NA and VG quality as far as holding up and ride quality.

Stabsthedrama

I understand that - but I bought these piece by piece over the course of a few months.

I usually go by the buy-once-cry-once mentality with a lot of things, but in this case I was still in my apartment when buying the first few parts as they went on sale, and just held onto them until I got into my new house and garage.

If I went with rusty's kit, I would have still needed extended sway bar links, and my stock shackles would have still been completely rusted out - and with a 3 inch lift kit already acquired, I would have basically needed to spend more on stock shackles than these lift ones were, or wrestle them out of a junkyard.

Also I had already replaced front and rear shocks a long time ago since 1 front and 1 rear already ruptured. ~$50 for 4600's up front and sensa tracks in the back ain't too shabby. I know they're not ideal, but I won't be doing a ton of offroading either.

So all in all, I'm still happy with my choices. I spent ~$100 less than the Rusty kit, but also got the sway bar links and shackles. That would STILL leave me with $50-$100 to spend on LCA's, an adjustable track bar, or shocks, and still just about match that price.