uptownbill

hi - i love cars, and since living in new york city have not owned one for the past 6 years.

so for some reason, i bought a 98 Jeep XJ SE with 170k on a whim about a month ago for $1900. I've since put more money into replacing exhaust, new rubber, front brakes/rotors, and some other random small stuff.

i am the opposite of mechanically inclined, but am using this truck as an intro to light wrenching. I don't have any grand plans for the car, except getting it as functional as possible and a very mild lift (2").

the lift is what i mainly have questions about, because as you'll see in the below pictures the whole suspension system needs some TLC.

anyway, today I took a bunch of photos...


There it is... roll up windows, manual locks, but it's a 4x4 with the 4.0 so F it.


Apparently was a Red Cross Fleet vehicle


Under the hood, notice anything?

I found out today that the AC Compressor is missing.


Here's the connects that are zip tied to something else. cool! (sarcasm)


One of the shocks up front. nice spray paint...


Other side, pretty rusty


No idea what those arms and bushings on the right are for, but this is the kind of stuff I hate seeing out of order. It looks bent?


Leafs are basically flat. By the way, what's that thing in the upper left corner of the pic?


It's rotted out. anyone know what it is?


More flat leafs on other side



Rotted shackles

Since I have no idea how old these parts are, I am of the mind that I should be replacing just about everything I can. I want to get new springs, leafs, shackles, shocks, and anything else that will help the truck overall.

I have no plans to go wheeling in NY, and I just bought new 235/75/15 rubber so I think a 2" lift is plenty for me.

what's some good advice for lifting this thing in terms of method? Should i get stock springs, stock leafs, and then buy a kit with spring spacers/shocks/add a leaf? Or should I simply install a set of 2" higher leafs in back and 2" higher springs up front? With no spacers?

I feel like I can start from scratch here and replace everything, just not sure the best way to go.

would love to hear your thoughts, and also would love to know if you see anything in the photos I should look at...

thank you all in advance!

JPXJMOAB

Welcome to the forum! Looks like a nice Jeep to start with. As for your first question that little link is a sway bar link, it prevents excessive body roll while cornering. The second, rotted it rubber on the rear is a bump stop which prevents you from maxing out the suspension and rubbing parts/causing damage. I would recommend getting new leaf packs for sure being they are sagged and flat. Add a leafs do not last long usually, and blocks cause a lot of axle wrap. Over time they crack and are not a long term lift. You could get some OEM leaf springs and some 2" lift shackles being the shackles look pretty rusty. They make a 2" coil spacer for the front that would fit your use well. With a 2" lift you can fit 30" tires well, and at that lift you won't need anything other than springs and some longer shocks! Good luck with the build, excited to see where it goes!

Justin

JPXJMOAB

Here's a few links that may help you out:

Leafs:
http://m.quadratec.com/products/prod...id=56010+11+07

Shackles:
http://www.roughcountry.com/jeep-xj-...kles-1077.html

Coil spacer:
http://m.quadratec.com/products/prod...=16190+2000+07

Coil spring(if you went this route):
http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/10662.html

Shocks:
http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/11103.html


For a daily driven rig with no wheeling those are all you really need.. It's a pretty good foundation to start with. I wouldn't worry about the bump stops if you're just driving it daily on the roads.

andrewmp6

The rotted piece looks like one of the frame rails

uptownbill

Awesome thank you. Couple questions.

Any reason for heavy duty leafs? Are those oem height/specs?

And new springs vs spacers.... Any opinion on which to do?

JPXJMOAB

The HD springs are OEM but a little bit stiffer. If it were me, I would run the IRONROCK coil springs. They have a good ride and they'll be new just like the leaf springs.

2000_MI_XJ

The "rotted piece" is what's left of your bump stop. If you look at the pic just below that one, in the upper right corner shows what it's supposed to look like. If you're looking for a smaller lift, you could do an add-a-leaf in the rear and use ZJ front springs and lower control arms for 2"-2.5". That's what my XJ is equipped with and i'm currently running 32" JK wheels & tires w/out any issues. You should look into some badass front/rear bumpers so people will think twice about the park-by-feel in NYC.

JPXJMOAB

With big badass bumpers you're going to lose the lift installed at only 2"..

uptownbill

HA, yeah my bumpers are god awful I was going to look into that.

uptownbill

What do y'all think of Iron Rock shocks? I'm not gonna shell out the cash for Bilstein so looking for best bang/buck. Are Zone better than Iron Rock? or does it not really matter at this price point?

http://zoneoffroad.com/zone-offroad-...-wrangler/4979

JPXJMOAB

Both are a budget shock but I would personally go with iron rock off roads shocks. I put them on my girlfriends XJ and it has nice ride to it. Her jeep has a 2" lift as well.

2000_MI_XJ

Couple of simple bumpers of front would provide ample protection without adding a ton of weight.
http://www.olympic4x4products.com/im...bs-rock-xj.jpg
If you can track down a set of (4) red OEM shocks off a JK Rubicon you could run those after you lift too. There's plenty of how-to's out there and they bolyt up pretty easily.

uptownbill

heh, sounds good to me

i'm fine with driving a lady XJ

JPXJMOAB

Lol I just found a keeper, she loves XJs! We just got her a set of 31s. If you trim the fenders you can fit 31s.

uptownbill

nice

here's a dumb question.. do I need to buy 2 sets of shackles? front and back for both driver's / passenger's leafs?