goatherder

Its a 97 XJ...and here's what I got:

Rough Country 3" AAL kit, factory shackles,
RC 2.2 shocks,
RC angled control arms and double shear track bar. (with Clevite bushings). New ball joints, new front hubs and new U-joints in front axles and both driveshafts.
Rear driveshaft rebuilt and balanced.
Rear D35 w/ 2 bent axles swapped out for Chrysler 8.25 w/ one bent axle. That bent axle swapped out for a strait one.
Drum brakes swapped out for ZJ Discs.
Aussie Locker substituted for spider gears.
New SOLID diff covers on both ends...cause they really are solid (being cast iron and all).
New rubber engine and trans mount
1" X-fer case drop (yeah, I know. but its the ONLY thing that killed MOST of the vibes after a whole lotta muckin around w/ wedges)
Flipped over tie rod.
Steel front bumper with a 9000lb Chinese wench stuck on it.
15x8 aluminum wheels with 31" DuraTrac tires.
Precision alignment by a local tire shop that supposedly know WFT they're doing.
Diamond plate rubber on the back bumper (for dog traction).

So this thing rides like hell. Every little bump in the road is felt, and every single rock on a gravel road. Front end slams and everything but the upper control arms & swaybar hardware are new. Whole Jeep goes BANG when you hit a small pothole. Feels like its rolling on solid rubber tires and no suspension.

Wife is looking at me like I spent $6000 on a turd...and wishing I'd either slow down or speed up but somehow make it quit slamming 'cause she has to pee. Dog is in the back clawing up the rubber mat and trying to hang on...

Any suggestions to help me get this thing sorted out would be appreciated. And if you're going to trash-talk Rough Country components then back it up with some logic (or I'll think you're a 'tard) I don't do dogma...and I need to understand.

caged

how is the front lifted? rough country coils or spacers?

here's where i would start...

replace rear leaf pack with somewhat quality pack and new extended shackles. go either deaver or rubicon express...

if rc coils in front, then maybe go with a better shock like either rubicon express twin tube or bilstein 5100.
or at least check your shock bushings.

check upper control arm bushings in the axle while you're at it.


my 99xj rides like hell too, it has add a leaf with stock shackles and the dogs hate it. it's getting RE leaves and coils this summer.

XJmember

My 3.5" RE leafs and coils are very stiff, on paper the 3.5" coils are 240 lbs/in. Maybe he should look into OME coils and springs at his lift height.

goatherder

In retrospect what I SHOULD have done is leave the damn thing at stock height, cut the fenders and install Notch Customs fender flares. Bolt on the 31" tires and go.

Tsaani97xj

HD Offroad Engineering no-lift shackle relocators will make a big difference in the rear. For the front unfortunately short arms suck lifted with the XJs design. CADs or Longarms but both really need a bit more lift to fit properly. Try adjusting your tire pressure and ignore factory specs. My last set of tires road like crap at anything over 24lbs. I had the same experience with my first 3" lift and now sit at 5.5 fr 5 rear with CADs and relocators and it rides decent and not harsh.

jmm0122_

Better shackle angle in the rear and nicer shocks will help. OME or Bilstein will give you a more comfortable ride. CAD would help with the control arm angle as well, but basically lifting a Jeep is going to make it ride like a tank unless you want to spend a bunch of $$.

n00g7

Add a Leafs are pretty rough in my F-150 unless I have around 300lbs in the bed.

McCaffrey

Any chance you removed the steering stabilizer? Even with an issue-free and well behaved setup you will feel every tiny bump in the road without it.

PurpleToxin505

Soo I had that kit, and still run the rear shocks. It doesn't ride the best, I found it more bouncy. To start off itll never ride like a caddy, leafs will forever ride rough and without long arms the front will be pretty bad. Try the shackles re-locators and better shocks. I not run RE 3.5" springs and long arms with 5100s in the front. the front rides amazingly, then the back hits with its crappy RC shocks(2.1s) and stiff leafs.

XJlimitedx99

Unfortunately this is what happens when you lift your jeep, even with all the bells and whistles it will never ride as good as it did stock.

When you lift it the control arms go from being parallel to the ground to angled so when you hit a bump the energy is transferred up the arm into the body, instead of the suspension.

For the rear I'm assuming you have a terrible shackle angle because when you put the AAL in the leaf pack becomes a little shorter and the shackle becomes more vertical.

To fix the rear you could buy shackle relocation brackets and longer shackles.

Not much you can do for the front. Do you have rubber or poly bushings? Rubber will be a little more forgiving. Also make sure that you have your oem coil spring isolators in place.

With a little more lift you could run control arm drop brackets which would bring the arms back to near horizontal.

Those things along with good shocks will get you the best you can get as far as ride quality goes.

I was having the same issues with my XJ last year with 3.5" of lift. The jarring, teeth clenching, head pounding slams, even over the slightest bump at any speed. I went to 6" of lift on long arms and the whole works and my jeep rides much better than it did with the 3" lift.

PurpleToxin505

Or he can go long arms. I'm at an RE 3.5" and have a great angle.

XJlimitedx99

long arms are absolutely a better option, but they're not for everyone.

Edit: also, your angle is good, but not as good as stock. They still have some slope to them. How's the shackle angle look?

McCaffrey

For some reason I got lucky with my RE 4.5" shortarm kit. The front is still super plush.

Tsaani97xj

It's all relative but RE 4.5" are moderately low spring rate at 164lb.

PurpleToxin505

Stock shackle for now so probably a 90. Need the leafs to sag a lil so I can do relocations and longer shackles.