First off sorry if this is posted in the wrong spot.

I am completely new to working on cars. I have a basic understanding of mechanics and tools so I have been doing a lot on my 88 xj as far as working on/fixing the engine and small things on the car. I am now interested in giving the thing a little lift and upgrading steering and eventually a lot of other things.

So... I know nothing about lifts, or anything else. Is there anywhere(other websites, books, articles, etc.) where I can start reading about how different parts of the car work and what parts are involved? I read the build forums and they look cool but all I read is with acronyms and technical words and it just looks like chinese. I hear words like shackles, long-arm, coils, blah blah blah. I want to learn about all this stuff but don't know where to start. Please help me learn this stuff.

Thanks.

 

Your in the right spot.

Just a bit of basic information here..then you can ask questions as needed.

Front suspension is composed of coil springs (surely you know what coil springs look like), the coils provide the height for the front of the vehicle. The shocks (located right next to the coils, dampen the ride for the front of the vehicle.


Your front suspension also has 2 upper and 2 lower control arms. These keep the axle attached to the jeep. After about 3 inches the angle that the lower arms sit at is so steep you need to upgrade to aftermarket control arms which come with a bend in them to avoid contact with the shock mount on the axle. Also, after about 4.5" the angle at which the arms sit is so steep it causes a harsh ride and a loss of articulation..the fix for this is long arms.
Long arms move the rear mounting point of your arms further back down the jeep. Most long arm kits come with a cross member that goes in place of your existing transmission cross member that has your control arm mounts coming off of it. There are different versions of long arms (3/4 link, radius arms)..but thats another story.

Up front you also have a sway bar (hot topic around here) which many will argue is unnecessary. The sway bar mounts to the front "frame" rails and then has links that attach to the axle. The sway bars purpose is to keep body roll to a minimum when cornering, etc. Removing the sway bar allows for full suspension articulation.

The rear suspension is composed of Leaf springs (they are the long curved pieces that go from the frame to the Shackle near the back of the jeep. The shackle is what allows the leaf spring to pivot up and down as the suspension compresses/decompresses. There are also shocks back there that dampen the suspension.

As far as lifting goes a cheap "Budget Boost" is composed of coil spring "Spacers" and either a rear add-a-leaf (aal) or an extended shackle.
The coil spacers are a piece of polyurathane (typically) that go above the coil to provide extra height in the front (dont want to go above 2, maybe 2.5 inches on these). An add a leaf is simply another leaf spring that fits inside the existing leaf pack. The extended shackle simply moves the bottom mounting point of the leaf spring down..raising the rear of the vehicle.

More complex lift kits come with brand new coils (taller) and new leaf packs (more arch for more lift).


As far as steering goes your front steering setup is referred to as a Y link setup. The drag link attaches to the steering box, runs from the pitman arm off the steering box to the passenger side knuckle. Then the tie rod (which is where you set your toe adjustment) runs from near the end of your drag link to the driver side knuckle. You also have a track bar which runs from the driver side "frame" of the jeep to the passenger side of the axle, the track bar simply centers the axle under the jeep.

 

I'm not the OP, but I am a newbie, and this helped me understand many of the questions I've had lately, so thank you very much for taking the time to explain it so well!

Squelchtone

 

Yes sir, I was bored at work...no biggie!

 

This is off a TJ wrangler, but its exactly the same on an XJ..it identifies a few components up front:

 

Thanks for the explanations.

I don't plan on doing the whole rock crawling or off-roading thing all the time like a lot of people so I don't plan on going above 3 inches on the lift or giant tires. I go to baja to surf and fish so the end goal is just to have a vehicle that can handle the rough roads and some off-roading down there.

So... you said with a 3 inch there isn't a need for any modifications or new lower arms? How much difference is there in ride with new coils made for a specific lift height versus the spacers? And how do you know when to get new leaf springs instead of just adding a new one? Like I have seen people get all new springs and others just add a leaf.

Sorry for all the questions, but thanks for the info.

 

Eric Zappe's book is a good place to start too with lots of pictures, descriptions, and example builds:


Also, the Bleepin' Jeep videos on youtube are pretty useful.

 

Eric's book is pretty good for beginners. Has all the basics in it plus a little extra