99 Purple XJ

I currently have 3 inch RC coils in the front of my 99 XJ if i put a 2 inch coil spacer in the front will i be able to get away with stock control arms?

4x4cherokeexj

Im guessing you could but its not recommended.

ericfx1984

not really... it is NOT a good idea

that being said there is a way... 3 ways actually

1.) not the best way but the simplest---
--- shim the lower control arms as far forward as you can

2.) use a rotary tool (Dremel) and extend the shim slide, shim the arms to proper length

3.) lengthen and beef up the stock control arms... this should only be done if you are a capable welder... there is a guy that did this, he also angled them for better clearance... just and idea... I am not judging the guy who did it, nor and I condoning this

a cheaper option might be to pick up a used set of JK front lower control arm and shorten them as needed...

99 Purple XJ

Would any of the control arms off of a 98 v8 ZJ work are they any longer?

93gc40

ZJ and TJ arms are the same as XJ. WJ arm would be long enough, though.. It will work, but at 5" Control Arm the angle is so steep the ride is horrible. Even with correct adjustable arms. Anything above 4.5" I recommend CA drop brackets or Long Arms.

99 Purple XJ

Ok so i read somewhere that rear lower WJ control arms will work im not really concerned about ride quality but would they fit?

jebmccall

i ran my 99 purple xj for years at 4.5- 5 inchs of lift with stock arms.youre caster will be off, and so will the centering of the gtire in the wheel well. it did jsut fine for me until i got around to buying some aftermarket arms. it rode like crap. recently i di the drop brackets on my 97 with 5.5 inch lift and it is a night and day difference in ride, off road ability, and on road handling.

96_xj

Here is my experience:

3" stock arms
4-5" stock arms
4-5" adj arms
6" adj arms
7" adj arms w/ stretch
7.25" long arms w/ stretch


Short arms are not what you want.

reasoning:

1) puts a nice bow in your coil springs which will sag them.
2) steering is off due to caster
3) limits droop
4) ride sucks
5) factory arms are weak.

atleast get proper or adjustable short arms. I loved my short arms and with the stretch it rode really nice

07Negative

I'll be selling my upper and lower control arms in about 2 months. They're Rusty's. Nonadjustable though.

JoshMan88

I have a 1996 Cherokee sport with about 4.5 inch lift and it has no upper control arms. I don't know if they are needed but everytime I hit a pothole or something it bounces all over the road... Any suggestions?

Hoooper

WTF? You have to have UCAs. If you didn't the axle would majorly rotate and destroy things. Quickly. Any chance you can get a picture? Must have radius arms.

JoshMan88

I just bought it today and really know nothing about it, but I have the lowers and no idea why there are no uppers. But im guessing that is whats causing the problem. Do I just buy stock or what?

SeriousOffroad

Please post pic of the front axle.

Garvin

The 4.5" lift kits usually don't come with uppers since they rely on your stock ones. The lowers are longer in these kits to correct the caster due to the lift.
Technically, you can get away with shimming the lower control arms out but that usually hits its limit at about 3" of lift (there's only about 1/2" of plate in the lower arm). Assuming your springs are true 3" and you get a total of true 5" lift, you will need lowers that are 0.87" longer and uppers that are 0.21" longer to keep the correct caster.

Here's a list of lengths for control arms...

LIFT......LCAs......UCAs
Stock...15.75"....15.00"
2"........15.92"....14.88"
3"........16.09"....14.92"
4"........16.33"....15.03"
4.5".....16.47"....15.11"
5"........16.62"....15.21"
6"........16.97"....15.44"
7"........17.36"....15.74"
8"........17.81"....16.09"
9"........18.30"....16.50"
10"......18.82"....16.96"

JoshMan88

For some reason there is only an UCA on the left side as you can see in the picture. Don't know why he took the right one off... Hopefully the picture helps you guys. I appreciate it!