we are thinking of lifting my dads xj, i am selling my xj and want to help him with his...so you lift pros weigh in here! whats the pros and cons. we wont do any crazy offroading we love to camp and we both like the look of a lifted jeep....thinking 4.5 inches of lift. any input fellas

 

If its goin to be a mall crawler I'd go with 3"

 

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if you do lift it, put a good lift on it. no one lifts a jeep and then never wants to off road it. trust me, once you have that little lift, you going to do a bit of off roading, and then you're going to want more and you'll have to do a bigger lift, etc.

I started with a 3" RC lift, and now i'm looking at 4.5" long arm lifts and stuff. just get a good lift now.

 

OME, or OME/DPGoffroad hybrid lift.

 

This is his DADS XJ, and I don't think his dad will do any wheeling. A good 3" would be perfect with some 31s for a nice DD. Forgot to add, don't use spacers. I hate mine, and it is a terrible ride.

 

Pros: more ground clearance to get back in a better camping spot, bigger tires, you'll be less likely to get stuck, and if you do a heavy spring pack in the rear you won't sag as much with all that camping gear.
Cons: raising your center of gravity may be fixed by bigger wheels and tires, lower mpg, if you don't do tires it will look funny, stiffer ride.

If you don't plan on doing any wheeling but want the look of a lifted jeep you could go with a spacer from .5" up to 3" in the front and a.75"- 2" shackle or blocks in the rear. With blocks you may get axle wrap. For me I would go with a 2" spacer and a 2" shackle and run 30x9.5 or 31x10.5 but you will rub a little with 31's.

 

Spacers wouldn't affect the ride much just at the control arm angle.

 

I have to agree with the others who say go with a 3" and 31's .

It will take you plenty of places. I've taken my XJ up a few trails when I've had people tell me you need 5" of lift and 33's to make it up them an to expect body damage. I made it up every trail with no issues While sporting a 3" lift , 31" tires, rear locker, And rock sliders. I made it up them all with no damage , An I avoided every bypass ! If you have a good spotter, an know how to pick a line you will surprise people .

 

I tore up my new 31's being on a 3" lift. The old flare bolt strips dug into the tires with the flex they never did that to my 30's. I guess if your on a stock back spaced rim and 31's it won't be to bad.

 

What's the normal weight capacity on 3" spring packs? I've been shopping around and couldn't find specs... For example, the RC 3" packs/coils...

 

Your asking for sag with RC, If you dont want your lift to sag look into OME, or Rubicon Express . If you go with RE get some Bilstein 5100's

 

If I don't get new lower control arms, will my axle be off center?

EDIT:

Also... I noticed RE doesn't offer the 3" lift, but a 3.5". Will this cause me to re-gear, or do any other adjustments in my drivetrain? Sorry for the thread jack BTW.

 

A longer lower control arm is not required at 3" but it is a good investment the stock ones are as flimsy as an empty beer can , You will have to adjust the same stuff for a 3.5" lift as a 3" lift (Tracbar, Tcase drop, Alignment )

31's and 3.55's isn't bad, The axle will be off centered unless you buy a and tracbar or install a trac-bar bracket which will push it back over. You may or may not have to install a Tcase drop most 97+ need them the pre 97 XJ's are a Jeep to Jeep basis .

 

I know there's a thread for this somewhere... But no sense in spreading this around, when you already have someone that knows what they're talking about.

So... With a 3.5" lift. I should factor in (additional) Tracbar, T-Case drop, and alignment (given)? I have a 98, and have never done a lift before. The control arms come with the RE lift I'm looking at.

I've also read a T-case drop can be counter productive. This true?