Also alignment, lift, and tire size, type, and balance.

A lot of different factors.

 

ummm you'd rather put spacers and blocks under your jeep than new springs? what?

 

op, if you've got the coin, go with an old man emu 2.5" kit. it'll really put you at about 3"

buy new control arms.

get an adjustable track bar. any will do, but buy the nicest you can afford.

to avoid death wobble, replace all your steering ends and bushings and such. if the previous owners of your xj were anything like mine or most others, they have never been replaced and you probably have a whole lot of miles on them. if they're not bad now, they will go bad quickly when you lift it.

 

You bet. IF you are only talking 2 to 3" of lift. I would rather have the nice ride along with good off road performance. With good or new stock leafs, with longer shackles you have the potential for more flex in my opinion Over a 3in pack. Also with small angled blocks it raises your rear pinion for a better overall angle.

Getting new 3 in springs over blocks and spacers has no advantage unless you are hauling something. In my opinion, or just want bragging rights.

I have had both.

And this is my DD along with a ton of off roading.

 

have nothing bad to say about the other things, I have a 1.5 spacer with zj v8 springs to give me 3" and a 2" shackle with my upcountry leaf pack.

but, blocks is the worst advice to give, unless he wanted a strict mall crawler which by the post he made, isnt. he wants an actual good off roading capability, he has a better luck with getting a 2" leaf pack and a 1" shackle for a good ride with the right lift,

 

have you ever ran real aftermarket leafs? What springs and shocks?

I find it hard to believe that blocks and a spacer is going to perform better than a top of the line lift

 

I have bought a few sets over the years. 3" springs, 4" springs for my cj, but no new packs for my xj, currently.

I do however install lift kits and such for part of my living.


Blocks have a large miss conceptions. They can do fine off road. Depending on the application. The huge block lifts of the old days got the bad reputation.

If you have a 1.5-2in block spit out. They you have loose bolts. Blocks 3"-4"" are installed from the factory on many models.

They work fine. For off roading I would not go over 2" on blocks.

A little longer shackle as you know can help leaf movement.

As far as "top of the line lifts" I just give a LOL

People remember this is metal. And its hard to beat factory leafs.

Most aftermarket leafs are cheaper in my expierence. Not all, but most I have ran across. And they will usually sack out before a factory leaf pack does. If both were new.

Not saying that anything is junk. Or that aftermarket kits won't work great.
But we are just talking a OP who wants a 2-3" lift and wants to keep his stock ride. And so I gave advise according to his particular application.

 

why a big LOL for a top of the line lift? I really feel like you're just trying to justify your cheap lift ways. You will beat a stock ride if you spend the money on nice parts. Bottom line. OME springs and bilsteins are going to kick the **** out of his 15 year old metal. maybe you never put anything on nicer than a rough country lift but please don't spread info on how nice blocks are. If you're happy with em that's fine and you can say so but some poor guy is gonna read that and go with them and be disappointed.

 

i agree with the spacer but not the stock leafs they have no arch to them so when u put a bigger shackle on them they will be past flat almost bent downward on the end... now the blocks part he is correct almost any diesel truck has block stock go look under a cummins like 3-4 inch blocks... they tow, offroad, speed, cruise blocks when used propper and not stacked or 8 inch blocks are fine however just get the old man emu kit bilsteins and nice arms and a rockcrawler track bar or clayton ..... no rc parts even if theyre control arms are built nice their bushings suck,track bars suck, leafs are short, people say the coils are to stiff but if u ask me they are to soft....

 

Blocks on a big truck aren't as bad, as they have stout leaf's. Xjs however are smaller softer leaf packs. Ever hear of axle wrap? Ome and bilstiens ftw!

 

X2 my front rc springs are soft and my aal in the rear rode horrible berfore my shackle relocators. I might as well not even had springs

 

this is actually not true i work on trucks all day 3-5 days out of the week diesels specificly theyre leafs may be stiffer but not biger and their torque makes up for this imsure u see them overloaded all the time saggin *** and still towing fine they have factory blocks and have little to no axle wrap and if u havent worked on diesel trucks they actually do have axle wrap stock in some forms.... their isnt as much leverage to be worried about with a smaller block the bigger the block the more leverage is placed from the axle causing wrap.... the smaller the safer dont go bigger then 2 inch in my oppinion.

 

Towing and wheelin are two different things. I dont know what deisels you have been under but the Leafs are typically 3"wide 1/4" thick. Bigger blocks contribute as you stated. Bigger blocks add more leverage which adds more axle wrap. To each his own, i would not run blocks.

 

I used to dd on 31s, they arent very big for a tire but will still allow you to go a lot of places and still drive fine on the street every day.

dw can happen with no lift even, the lift height will effect it once you get to about 4 inches on short arms and stock steering components.
with a 3 inch lift your fine just check your front end joints and bushings, get it aligned balanced ect and you're good to go

 

The lol is because most people do not have a clue where OME or any other spring comes from. If you knew you would be either pissed or say lol like I do.

The fact of the matter is blocks are fine. Whether or not you agree means nothing to me. I know this to be true and do this on a professional basis? Not just internet talk.

The taller the block the more leverage axle wrap characteristics have on your springs. This is why when I said 1.5-2 inches I know what I am talking about.

Also when I said stock springs I said new or comparable to new.

For this application only I am speaking.