XxXJ99xX

Alright, so just recently I got a part time job. I am trying to save up some cash for a good SA Lift kit. I had a piece together in mind but I wanted some more experienced members to comment and let me know on if I'm going the right direction or not because I've only lifted one of my cherokee's and it was a crappy BB Lift. So here were my plans....

OME AAL's for the rear (stock Up Country springs are perfectly good) Hoping for 2" of lift
Rough Country Revolver shackles around 1/1.5" of lift
OME Front Coils 3" or if theres someplace I can get 3.5" that'd be perfect
LCA's from RC/Zone somewhere along those lines
And lastly a set of shocks and possibly some SB disco's from zone/rough country OME nitrochargers are way to much for me...

All around im looking for 3/3.5 Inches of lift. 3.5 Is preferred so if anyone else has a better thought on this set up let me know....I'm going to try and run some 31 Goodyear MTR's. With that set up I was around $500 but if anyone knows of better parts or cheaper just as good parts let me know..Thanks Guys.

emptypockets

I'll throw my 2 cents in for what it's worth.

First, skip the Revolver shackles. Nice idea in theory, but a lot of people have had problems with them in the real world. Secondly, if you really want to be a cheap bastard, like myself, buy used. I picked up my first set of fixed lowers used for $5 at the JY and my second for $40 on another XJ site. You can pick up used JK shocks, at least when I was looking at them last, for $30 for a set of four. I find the black tubed shocks are cheaper than the red Rubi ones, only difference is the valving though. I run without a sway bar up front and have yet to die in a fiery crash. I believe you can also use the main leaf off an S10 or Dakota as an add a leaf. I went with an XJ/XJ bastard pack and it netted me 3" in the rear. I had 2" lift shackles I was going to use eventually (again, bought used for $30), but used them on my other rig instead. I dunno, I like cheap, used and I don't mind piecemealing stuff. The way I see it, it gets money back into the hands of other folks who will most likely put it back into their rig. Ok, maybe I'm just cheap...

XxXJ99xX

Quick question, why are the revolver shackles bad? Just wondering...and I'm not that cheap. Unless I find an XJ in the junkyard with a lift I'm not going to pull one. If I could find a complete lift used for sale I'd consider it but I'd still like to stay with my stock leaf packs with an OME add a leaf. The rubicon shocks might be something I'm going to do though..

Byro

You can pick up a RC 3" lift for $260ish. Ive put one on a couple of friends Jeeps, they are DDs and light trail trucks. One of them has been running it for 2+ years and no sagging springs or any other ill effects.

XxXJ99xX

Hm...well its something to consider and it would keep the costs down alittle more. The only problem I have with that is that I probably wont have equal lift level on the jeep when I'm done with it. My springs in the rear already sit higher then the front so If I went that route I'd more then likely have to order half inch spacers or maybe even one inch spacers. I'd prefer to keep it all coils but it all depends on what happens espically with price and that, a 3.5" is really what I'm trying to achieve but I'm trying to get the best flex I can out of the lift that I'm installing. Thats why I was thinking OME for flex and for ride quality.

Bossokee

The design of the revolver shackles is cool, but it seems a little sketchy for something that essential holds your entire rear axle in place. Simpler is always more reliable

Atmos

why not just buy a decent little kit for about the same price? looks better than what you've got goin on up there and it's only a couple bucks over budget. just my .02
http://www.4wheelparts.com/Lift-Kits...pn=R%2fERE6025

Xj88

I agree on buying a kit..Prolly end up saving money and you'll have one place to order stuff from in the future. I started off with a 3 inch rustys kit which was decent. Been running it for a year and a half...just started this week on my new rc 4.5 kit with a hd rustys track bar and some new lcas. Id suggest going with full packs cause even though you have great leafs now eventually the aal won't be able to arch all the other leafs and it'll slowly sag.

emptypockets

You just don't really need 'em. You can acheive the same effect with a well setup suspension vs. spending the extra dough for trick shackles. I dunno, it just seems like a gimmick to me and a good chunk of the guys who run them end up ditching them. And I will say this, I know I'm cheap, but my XJ works great offroad with my homebrew lift. Long before we had companies that mass produced lift kits, people came up with their own ideas. Nothing wrong with either way in my opionion. (Not implying you thought that).

brorealz

If you dont know how to do a homebrew lift spending more money now can save you a ton in the future

XxXJ99xX

Yeah I guess so but they also sell something like this fr YJ's and TJ's and I havent really herd anything bad about them. I just want something thats going to maximize my flex along with help with ride quality.

The only problem I have with this lift is that It dosent come with shocks...thats just another $200 I dont want to spend because I have to budget in a set of MTR's into this as well.

Yeah I can understand where you're coming from. It's just an option I'm considering and thats why I wanted insight on all of this so I could get a better idea on what would work perfectly for my budget. And I can't agree more, I'd build my own XJ packs for lift but I sadly dont have the time to have my jeep down (which it sadly is now anyway) because I have to drive to work every morning now. Thanks though! I really do apperciate your opnion, after all its what I was looking for and the same goes for everyone else thats posted so far. Really apperciate all the insight guys

Atmos

that's ok you dont want RC shocks anyway! lol.
just save up and do it right the first time man. cutting costs now is adding up expenses later.
people build xj's with garbage parts all the time then when it comes time to replace everything a couple years later they realize they cant afford i to do it poorly twicet.
so their jeeps end up for sale on craigslist and I laugh to myself because they've only decreased the value and arent going to get even close to asking price.

XxXJ99xX

Well thats why I was thinking OME parts for the most part...It'd only be RC revolver shackles and maybe a set of zone shocks....We'll see what Happens I guess. I may just go to a zone aal lift but I havent quite decided yet. Although I have to say I never had a problem with my RC shocks from before...but never can tell on how there products have changed in the last year.

lonewolf411

Everyone is right about buying cheap and paying for it later. I pieced together my lift and it only cost be 300 bucks with control arms and an adjustable track bar. NOw on to the bad parts! The leafs i got used were on their way out and netted me 1.5 inch lift. The Black JK shocks i got used were fine for the rear but wayyy to short for the front! like they were exactly stock height for the front. The control arms had bad bushings and they were two completley different arms. The track bar didnt come with bolts and so now i need a bracket to install it properly (im probably just going to buy a new when when $$ permits). The only good thing i got were the front coils. Now that ive been piecing NEW good parts ive spent way over what i could of got a full 4.5 inch kit for. If youre going to piece together a lift please do your research and keep your gurad up for used parts that have seen better days. If i had to do it again i would buy a full leaf brand new kit from RE. This is in no way trying to tell you not to buy used parts. Just keep an eye for what is "USED" and what is "used"

emptypockets

I find it's the opposite for me. My main complaint is that my rear suspension doesn't work as well as I'd like it to. I know the stock shackles and JK shocks are limiting me a good deal. The front works well for what it is though. No, I'm not going to impress anyone or win an RTI contest with the amount of flex I have, but it works well on the trail, which is where it counts in my book. My current build is eating every spare penny I have hand over fist and sometimes I think it's just a lot more fun to build something that works well on the cheap.