Stabsthedrama

So I'm going to be doing the "Upcountry" lift here pretty soon, once I'm moved into my house. Just want to see some opinions.

I already swapped out all 4 shocks with some Monroe OEM ones (sensa tracks in the back - and whatever the stock yellow ones are up front.

I'd really rather not go through the hassle of swapping them out for lift shocks, even if I made some of the money back selling these, since they're so new. From what I've heard, ~3" of lift is usually ok with stock shocks, at least with light offroading, which is what I'll be doing. Also, if I find I need longer shocks, at least in the front I can fab up shock extenders to bolt to the bottoms, giving myself another inch or so, and maybe even make BPE's for the back to do the same.

These springs just dropped in price, so I got them for $70 after tax with prime for the set:
They apparently give 2-2.5" of lift.

The leafs I'll be getting:


(and bushings are sold seperate)

This will give ~1.5" of lift in the rear. With how bad the shackles on my XJ are looking now, I'd rather just swap them out completely, getting these: which are actually as cheap or cheaper than the OEM shackles. So 1.5-2" of extra lift.

So I'd be looking at 2-2.5" in the front, and ~3" in the back, plenty for 31's to fit.

Would I need to get an adjustable track bar? Is it worth welding some plating and relocating/redrilling the track bar mounting location on the axle side?

Will I be ok with stock shocks, especially if I build front shock extenders?

Tsaani97xj

It's your rig do as you want but saying that stock length shocks will be about maxed out with 3" of lift. IMO a new trackbar and proper shocks are mandatory. Been there, done that trying to save a buck. It is not worth it in the end. If you do proceed with your plan it will be drivable and won't fold like a taco but your shock life will be short lived and your ride will suffer both on and off road.

If you dont have the funds just try some patience and save. Long term you'll thank yourself.

SteveMongr

I suggest Doorman springs over Crown, and the Doormans come with bushings.

Could damage the shocks since they will be 'topping out'. When axles articulate, weight of axle And the force of springs will want to pull the shocks apart.

I advise against drilling the trackbar bracket, plated or not. Not advisable but, they make relocation brackets for axle end (picture), but it's the frame side ball-end that will be near or at its limit of movement, especially during suspension droop.

Expect to have to deal with driveline vibes. Not saying you need a SYE, but the added lift coupled with the change in pinion angle due to the lift shackles, can cause them.

Stabsthedrama

Well I guess I'll bite the bullet and buy new shocks all around. I could probably snag $60 at least for all 4 on CL anyway, since they all have only a few months of light use so far.

At least I already did them all, which is half the battle (3 out of 4 back shock bolts snapped, and the fronts were just as much of a pain in the *** honestly) - so it would be easy to do again.

Fred/N0AZZ

Or.......Just buy a Rustys Off Road 3" full leaf/coil/shocks/hardware lift package $438 (all made in NA) not in China like the others mentioned. Then all you will need is an Adj. Track Bar and your done if you have the correct wheels a 15x8" with 3.75" of BS up to a 12:50 width and no frame or lca rubbing.


This way everything matches the lift and a VG set of leafs/coils no sag in mine after 4 yrs. Here is a photo of mine with the Rustys 3" lift and 33x12:50x15" tires 15x8" wheel with 3.75" BS fenders trimmed.

Stabsthedrama

You've got a sick rig, but meh...some people might call me cheap, but after sinking ~$6-7k into an XJ - https://i.imgur.com/F93NPtS.jpg - just to replace literally every single frikkin thing on it and swap the engine BEFORE even getting to lift it - cash is king.

I'm going to just fab up some 1" shock extenders for the bottoms of the fronts, and either make BPE's out of the rear sway bar or just buy longer shocks just for the back.

I'm only doing a ~2.5" lift in the front and ~3" in the back, so it's nothing crazy....

I'd rather keep the stock look, meaning no fender trimming, and building recovery points through the stock bumper (as noted in the other thread).

It'll basically look completely stock but will fit 31's no problem, and be a bit more capable off road.

BlackHart

http://www.4wheelparts.com/Lift-Kits...&t_pn=EXP53111


im running these in the rear and bronco springs up front (would not recommend bronco springs) but am very happy with my rear spring choice. shackles will be in the near future for it, but besides that they are nice and not too rough of a ride in the rear

Stabsthedrama

Just took the next step for lifting - removed the rear sway bar. I didn't even take the wheels off. Just unbolted it and cut it to take it out.

The mounts (the only things I actually need) are still bolted onto the U bolts, so when I swap out the leafs I'll take them and use them for BPE's to get 1-2" of extra travel out of my rear shocks.

I'm going to do this lift on the cheap, as well as add sturdy recovery points through the stock bumpers - no matter how many naysayers.

XJmike0122

Look into JK shocks. They are cheap and would be fine for that amount of lift.

Tsaani97xj

Rubicon take offs is a good suggestion on the cheap. BPEs likely will not give enough extension.

Fred/N0AZZ

I couldn't even run 31" tires on the correct rims 15x8 with 3.75 of BS without rubbing till I trimmed the fenders with my 3" lift. If you don't have the correct rims you may have to have other things also like LCA's and most likely an adj. track bar. For sure going to have and bump stop it all the way around.


But hey its yours and you know best so won't bother you any more.

Stabsthedrama

Ok so I'll trim fenders - not a problem. Was thinking about avoiding doing that but meh, don't mind doing that. I will also bump stop it (the stock rear ones are completely gone anyway) - also not a problem - easy enough.

Hopefully I will still be able to get away with stock shocks, though - making bottom extenders for the fronts will be easy, and can give me an extra inch or more, and the BPE's look like they'll give me at least an inch. I think that should be enough, given that a lot of people are doing 2 - 2.5 inch lifts without even considering anything other than stock shocks, so a 3 inch lift with extenders/bpe's should be ok - only way to know for sure is try it and see how it copes off road.

As far as a track bar - ugh. Really don't want to spend ~$200 on a stupid track bar, especially since I have a new Moog in already... Moving the mount hole and/or getting a bracket doesn't seem like a good idea though. I might just have to get a JKS...

Basslicks

As far as your rear shackle choice goes, you'd be better off going to your local autozone and picking up a set of "drop shackles". They are marketed dropping the rear of pickup trucks that have an inverted-shackle setup... so a longer shackle for them would put the shackle end of the spring further up into the wheel well. On a cherokee, the longer shackle =lift... 25 bucks for the same design you're getting with the Rough Country. I've run them on mine and they work great. The only thing you'll have to do is cut down the bushings a little because they're too wide. I just cut the "stickout" off of 1 side on each shackle and it fit perfectly.

Stabsthedrama

Huh, good tip. Checking online at least, it looks like advance and AZ both have varying brands but are both $40, which is still a good deal cuz the RC ones are $50+$9 s/h on Amazon, and as you said - they look exactly the same. I'll check in store sometime this week.

Steve you were right by the way, these Dormans seem a lot better reviewed, and coming with bushings is a plus:
Only problem is it's a total crap shoot of how much they actually lift. The results seem to vary wildly, probably because people are stupid and either don't do proper measurements before and after, and/or they don't consider that they were drooping already. Some say it brings it to stock ride height...some people say 5 inches of lift. It seems to be ~2 inches though, which is about what the Crowns were too...

I just don't know if that will equal out with the coils I just got (Moog cc784's) - which apparently lift ~2 - 2.5" with or without the drop shackles? It seems the minimum lift from drop shackles is ~1.5".

I'm thinking I'll just get drop shackles, throw them on, and if the back is a bit too high it's whatever since it will probably settle back down 1-2 inches over ~10k miles anyway. If it settles down too much, I could even just set the shackles to the next setting up.

SteveMongr

Be wary of cheap lift shackles, they can fold over.