3" Lift and ride quality
 

On my XJ, I have 3" Skyjacker springs and OME Nitrocharger sport shocks. I have MT Baja STZ tires, and they aren't aired up too high.

The ride quality is brutal. Every bump in the road is like hitting a parking block.

My shackle angle isn't horrible but could be better. I've got shackle relocation brackets waiting to go on. I'm also going to add longer shackles and coil spacers to get up to 4.5" - 5", as that is the necessary height for control arm drop brackets, which I also have waiting to install. I'm hoping this will improve the ride quality enough that I don't have to worry about my passengers suffering post-traumatic stress disorder from the frightening and painful jolts and bangs that occur whenever my tire hits a pebble or a twig.

My buddy just bought an XJ that already had a 3" lift installed. He described it as being like riding in a shopping cart - every small bump is violent and feels like it's going to knock parts off and tooth fillings out. I'm not sure what components he has. I'll know more on Monday when I see it. Maybe the roads were smooth where he test drove it, but he's very disappointed now. He can't afford to drop more than another $500 to fix it. If it costs more than that, he's gonna sell it and get a Honda or something.

I've never owned a really nice car. Every vehicle I've had has more or less been a beater. I know what a nice suspension feels like, I've just never owned a car that had one. So I'm not judging this based on some skewed perspective where anything that rides rougher than a new Caddy is bad.

All the reviews I've read about the springs and shocks I bought describe them as having nice ride quality. So what's the deal?

I'm wondering if this is the way it is for all 3" lifts. Is it normal for a lifted jeep to respond to every small bump on the road like there's hardly even a suspension? Do they all ride like the axles are welded to the frame, or what?

The Old Man emu shocks are great shocks, Skyjacker springs are fairly soft so you should have a decent ride. How are your bushings on the control arms, axle , and springs ? what PSI are your tires at ?

My 3.5" lift also rides like a shopping cart. Haha I like that one. My shocks are basically non existent because of how shot they are, and my shackle angle is less than desirable. When I upgrade I was also thinking shackle relocation brackets, control arm drop brackets, and I'm probably going to bite the bullet and buy some bilstien or other nice comparable shocks. You can find buy 3 get one free sometimes.

anything's gonna suck with short arms. no if's and's or but's. you can change out the shocks for quality ones or try different coils. but short arms are still gonna ride like a dump truck

With the drop brackets you'll be fine with short arms. Just get good shocks and you can offset any coil. This of course is all relative when we're talking about an XJ's on road driving quality.

short arms are still short arms
if a stock Cherokee rides like crap, why would it make sense to spend money to re-achieve that on your lifted jeep :dunno:

Stock Cherokee rides great. Every single one I have been in. Soon as you lift it with stiff springs it rides like a truck.

Front springs mainly.

How do we know this? Because a 3" bb rides as good as stock. You do the math.

I have bilstiens. Jeep still rides like a truck. ITs the front springs mainly.

Was a cadilac with stock springs, was a cadilac with budget boost. Soon as I put 3" spring on, rode like crap.

Love it off road, but not on road.

Just about every lift we install at work that has to do with aftermarket springs makes the jeeps ride like crap, trucks also.

You can set the shackle angle at exactly 45, get the best shocks known to man, still crap.

I just lifted a wrangler last friday 4.5" Holy cow was it a rough ride!!!! A little too rough. But they love it!!! Probably going to get on a fourm and tell everyone how great it is. LOL

My Zone 3" lift I installed rode harsh at first. Give it a while it will soften up alittle. I did my 8.8 swap a few weeks ago and noticed my rear shocks or trashed, thats where part of my crummy ride comes from the other part is shackle angle. I want to long arm this jeep but I am still debating getting another inch of lift by spacer or new front springs.

My RC 3" lift runs fairly smooth. Still with short arms. But you have to take in account the fact that everyone's opinion on a smooth or nice ride is different. Just because another person says it has a "nice" ride, doesn't mean it will be nice for you.

My wife's truck a 2003 Ford1 ton Diesel 4x4 Crew Cab long bed with a 2" lift on it and 500# in the bed or pulling a trailer rides as well as my Lincoln.......almost:yes:

My XJ before the lift not a bad ride, after the lift quite a bit rougher ride.

in what universe :blink:

every stock Cherokee I owned road like crap. I did every upgrade to make it ride decent. then I finally went to long arms and it road 10x better. drop brackets are a BS upgrade and whenever I see them I just want to laugh

Please explain in detail how long arms would improve ride quality. I'm dying to hear this.

If I wanted a car like ride I would be driving a car.