So here's the 3.5” lift for my 1988 Cherokee Chief I have put together, any inputs you might have, if I have put together a good system or not, would be appreciated greatly

The "before" pict
I found most of this stuff on Amazon
JKS 2200 ACOS Front Adjustable Coil Over Spacer System for Jeep TJ/XJ/MJ/ZJ $200 free sh
JKS OGS126 Adjustable HD Trackbar $196 free sh

ARB 2930 Old Man Emu Coil Spring $169 free sh
ARB CS035RA (3" HD) 4 + 1 overload, 137/257lbs/in s.r. 235mm free height Old Man Emu/Dakar Leaf Spring $125.69 ea. free sh
ARB OMESB57 Old Man Emu Bushing and Bush Kit35x2=$70 free sh

From Iron Man 4x4 Fab
EXTREME DUTY ADJUSTABLE REAR LIFT SHACKLES. 1.75" to 3.5." lift $145.50
EXTREME DUTY MONSTER MOTOR MOUNTS $99.50
Heavy duty control arms
Uppers $210
Lowers$224
IM total: $679 free sh
http://www.ironman4x4fab.com/index.html

Front Bilstein 5100 shocks $80 ea. free sh
2.0-3.0” LIFT PN BIL24-185622. 13.58" - 22.09" Travel Length: 8.51"
Rear Bilstein 5100 shocks $80 ea. free sh
2.0-3.0” LIFT PN BIL24-185639. 13.68" – 21.85" Travel Length: 8.17"

Goodyear Wrangler Authority Tire 31X10.50R15LT $148ea. x 4 = $592 (at Walmart) I'll find a decent used spare from somewhere, oh and I'm using the stock rims so I'm not sure if I will need spacers, but I'm pretty sure I will.

Tire Balancing Beads http://hdoffroadengineering.myshopify.com/ $8.40x5= $42 (seriously how cool is that)

XJ Standard Rockrails $215 (inexpensive rock rails, whats not to like)
http://www.ajsoffroadarmor.com/home.php

Grand Total: $2800
Purchase price of Cherokee Chief $1250, total project cost (before maintenance, gotta take care of the important stuff first ) $4050 this is before all of the maintenance and tune up stuff it will also need, most, if not all of which, will be accomplished by me

Edit: Also you might have noticed that I did not include swaybar QDs in my build, well I used to just simply disconnect my swaybar by undoing the nuts on my 92 (or whatever year it was, it was a long time ago), it really wasn't that hard, or time consuming a task to accomplish.

 

Seems to me like you're spending way too much on a 3.5" lift. Just for a quick example, you're looking at $370 just for the springs and spacers to lift the front. You can buy 3.5" RE coil springs from Serious Offroad for $110. And that's just the front. For what you plan on spending on just the front, I could put new coils up front, and new leaves in the rear, and have a great 3.5" lift.

If you want to spend 10x as much as necessary for a mild lift, go ahead, its your money. But I wouldn't spend near that much. If it were me, I'd buy a complete lift kit with new front and rear springs before I did what you're planning. I'd go with Rubicon Express, Zone, or Rough Country, in that order.

And a couple other things...airsoft bbs do the same exact thing as those balancing beads you found, but for a lot less money. And with the huge budget you seem to have, why not buy better tires than the cheapo Wal Mart Goodyears, and some aftermarket wheels instead of wheel spacers?

 

There is no such thing as spending too much on a lift.

I agree though, swap out that acos for full coils..also those Walmart tires have thin sidewalls

 

Holy ****. No you did spend way to much you could've gotten a good long arm set up for that price. Wow you're really over thinking it all. I lifted mine 4.5 for 120 bucks then 150 on shocks and then 400 on tires.

 

In addition to everyone else, you are overthinking this & paying too much.

Also, you said 3.5" lift. You are putting 3" leafs on with a 1.75" (minimum) shackle? Thats gonna sit over 5" man. Then you can add a SYE and Carbon fiber driveshaft to your spendy build list...

 

I agree, to a point. My argument is, why spend that kind of money on a mild short arm lift, when the same money could go to an awesome long arm setup, or upgrading parts like steering, brakes, adding lockers, etc in addition to the mild short arm lift. I've got nothing against spending money to lift a vehicle, but if it were me with that kind of budget, I'd be spending less on the lift itself and spend the rest upgrading parts to make it stronger and more reliable, and better tires than anything Wal Mart sells.
That's just me though, I work hard for the money I have, and try to spend it wisely.

 

Then old man emu is quality stuff.

Not cheap rough country garbage.
He could remove the iron man arms from there and instead go with a long arm radius or a 3-4 link but that would add an additional 400+

 

Calm down folks I haven't actually purchased anything yet, besides the jeep, and yes I do tend to overthink pretty much everything. Neither am I that rich, I retired from the USAF back in 2010 after 20 years of service, so while my income is modest I do have the advantage of having my retirement pension. I turned wrenches on jets for a living during my tenure in the AF but I don't have any fabrication ability, much less the equipment. Which means I will have to pay big bucks for anything custom made, but if it bolts on I can do that

Back to my budget, over thinking too much? no such thing, but neither is my budget unlimited, but chill I haven't spent any cash yet, I especially don't want to waste money on mods which result in a crappy build. Perhaps I am going about this the wrong way, I'm not dead set on anything, so fire away with the suggestions, the following tires will fit in my budget for example, oh and thanks for all of your input

Goodyear Wrangler MT/R Kevlar Radial Tire - 31/1050R15
BFGoodrich Mud Terrain T/A KM2 Off-Road Tire - 31/1050R15

 

Sweet, now thats out of the way...

For tires in that price range I'd also recommend Dick Cepek Mud Country's. I got 'em and they rock.

As for lift, I'd recommend OME 2" medium duty rear leafs. They'll sit at about 3" of lift installed. You might add a little lift via shackle to add a bit of height. [$250] + shackles?

Up front I'd recommend Rusty's 3" coils. Again, just add a cheap poly spacer to level it out, you don't need a $200 adj spacer. [$100] + spacers?

For a track bar I'd go with the RE1600. A lot of guys will recommend the IRO double sheer, its a great unit but perhaps overkill for a 3.5" lift. [$130]

For control arms (short arms) I'd go with RE or IRO, prices are about the same. [$180] for adj lowers

Get U-bolts from one of the companies you already ordered from to save on shipping. [$40]

For brake lines and bushings I went with rockauto. Brakelines for a 95 wrangler will work great for this lift. OME leafs use stock style bushings, so I ordered Moog OEM replacement bushings from here as well. A bit cheaper than OME poly bushings but will ride a little better and not squeak so much. [$80] total

That puts you at just under $800 total for a pretty righteous 3.5" lift with all quality components. Spend the extra money you save how you see fit (wheels?).

 

What about shocks^^? Tack on another 300 for good shocks.

 

Couple other things I just noticed from your thread.

1) yes, go with the Bilstein 5100's.

2) For balancing beads I got the .25 gram (super accurate) airsoft bb's from wally world. $15 for a 5000 count tub, only used about half. I put 7oz into each 32" tire.

3) You don't really need upper CA's for a 3.5" lift, unless you just want them.

BTW, my recommended lift is similar to what I did, except for a 4.5" lift. Check out my build thread for more details...

 

Yeah, I caught that. He already has Bilstein's in his list so I didn't think to make other suggestions. Only other shock I'd consider is OME's...

 

OP..your first idea was ok..and the pieces you picked are all top of the line quality pieces.

You could save some money and really not be in bad shape by dissing the ACOS and just opting for a full coil. Those Iron Man CAs are sweet..but are you really going to be beating your rig hard enough to need them? If your gonna be wheeling hard then go with them, you could save some money with some decent RE arms that will hold up just as good.

Have you considered going long arm? Much nicer off and on the road...

 

beat me to it! JK shocks are easy to find cheap and will work iirc

 

Ya I'm totally not dead set on anything at this point, just looking into all of the possibilities, which are many, I have been bouncing between doing a mild SA lift and a more extreme LA lift, the biggest question being getting the most bang for the buck. A SYE with a junk yard front drive shaft and the right LA lift is definitely on the table, if I can afford it which you seem to be indicating that I can.

Okay just did a quick search on Amazon and found a Rubicon Express RE9920 Long Arm Crossmember Kit for Jeep XJ for $273 and the Iron Man arms are $700, hows that sound?