my 3.5" lift from metal cloak rides like a Cadillac. over the freeway I drive everyday that is torn up with construction, it rides better than my infinity that is about ready to break my back.

What tire pressure do you run in your tires? such a large tire with a stiff sidewall probably needs to run at a lower pressure. I run at 30psi.

 

$1600 for a 3.5 short arm kit? It better ride like a Cadillac .

 

First of all thanks for all the replies.

Regarding the front end:
>3" RC coil springs with no spacers..factory isolators are in place. I wonder what the spring rate on these things are?
>LCA's are the RC bent pipes with rubber Clevite bushings. These are virtually new
>UCA's have not been touched and may well have 203K on them. I need to examine these further
>Tracbar is RC double-shear made for 4" lift - I modified the mount to raise the pivot but need to raise it further as it sometimes smacks my fancy SOLID front diff cover. But only sometimes - this ain't the biggest of the problems.
>Steering stabilizer is probably clapped out and in need of replacement.
>Tires have whatever air pressure Tire rack shipped them with; probably 35psi. Maybe I need to decrease this somewhat.

I think what I'll do first is go underneath and put a wrench on every single fastener. Maybe something is loose someplace.

 

Do you get bump steer? How the angle of the track bar compared to the drag link? Should be the same. RC springs are extremely soft. I had more body roll with my sway bar hooked up with RC springs. Than my buddy on some random spring out the JY that game him 3" with no sway bars

 

">Tires have whatever air pressure Tire rack shipped them with; probably 35psi. Maybe I need to decrease this somewhat. "

Absolutely check these. I had a shop put 40 psi i some 31s once. Thing rode like a wooden wagon.

 

Regarding the rear:

RC Add-a-leaf is almost full length and puts the rear shackle damn near vertical. AND these rear springs squeak like hell. I've pressure washed them and it stopped for like a day. I did not replace the spring bushings but they appear to be OK. I have a pair of longer shackles; I might try to build some relocation brackets and drop a leaf or two off the spring pack in order to maintain the current ride height.

I'm currently out of funds to throw at this thing; so replacing these RC shocks & springs with something different aint in the cards. I can do some fabrication work, cause I've got a bit of talent and all the welders (plasma cutter too). So I need to work with what I've got...and try to somehow improve it...for now.

 

My vote is 100% for tire pressure. Even if everything else that people are saying is wrong, it shouldn't ride as poorly as you're saying unless your tires are over-inflated. Read up a little on off road tire pressure. There's a formula that I stumbled upon a while ago that will get you in the ballpark of what you should be running based on your tire specs.

Yes, everything else should be fixed for ideal ride, but start with the easy stuff.

 

I didn't pay 1 penny for my kit. But I would recommend it to anybody who wants a good kit. and if I had to go out and shop for one today, I would spend the $ for it.

 

Also, which length shocks did you buy? I know from experience that if your RC 2.2 shocks are nearly fully extended at all times, then the jeep will ride like it has no suspension.

 

One more thing- I would bet on something being too tight rather than loose. Check all 4 control arm bolts in the front, both spring eye bolts in the back, and the U bolts. Over tightening can really mess with ride.

FYI- I have 33s but I used to run at about 20 psi. Now I run about 25 in the front and 23 in the rear.

Feel free to PM me if you want more info.

 

I know when I replaced my leaf packs and put all new LT tires on, it took 500 or so miles before everything started to ride better. Those first 500 miles it was pretty rough.

 

agree with tire pressure. (31's i would start at about 28psi, 33's at about 26psi).
and shocks, if they didn't replace shocks with proper length for the lift, they will top out making a hell of a bang.

and for the record, i have a jeep with rubicon express (4.5 and had a 5.5) and they both ride like a caddy. second jeep now has 7.5 (rear is 2 inch RE shackles and 5.5 leafs, front is skyjacker 8 inch coils).

 

I agree on the tire pressure and shock length suggestions. On 235/75-15 (29") I ran 32 PSI and still wore out the center sooner than the sides on the rear tires. Dropping to 30 in back helped. For 31's I'd look at 25-27 in back, and certainly no more than 30 in front.

I you adjust pressure and verify you have the correct length shocks, and nothing else seems wrong, I'd look at dropped control arm mounts. they are about $180 a pair, but will return your control arms (upper and lower) back down to a close-to-stock angle, and it will ride much better. Many lifted XJ's suffer from "pogo stick" syndrome after a lift due to control arm angles.

 

That's because they're mid-arms not long, they don't go back to the crossmember.

 

Yeah they only catch the first bolt of the cross member. I'm only at 3.5"