POCKEE999

Howdy all, as the title states i am new to the forum and yes i have a question about lifting my newly acquired 97 Country. I have been looking all over the net and narrowed my search down to the Rough Country 2.0 4.5 inch lift kit on ebay for about $459-$499 and i am ready to pull the trigger on it, BUT (and here's the big question) if i buy this kit would that be it or am i gonna need to buy anything else to make it legit. Now keep in mind this "RIG" will almost always be on the paved roads, I just want some thing that will be insane in snow and if so be it i decide to go light wheeling it will be capable.
All comments appreciated.

THANKS, JD

P.S I also already have a set of 33x12.5x15 Mickey Thompson Baja claws on some soft 8's

scheetz_21

I'd buy a zone lift they are great! And zone has everything u need but they have u drill a hole over 3/4 in for trac bar... But it works! I've done 6 of em and all great

POCKEE999

How many inches of lift is that kit and most importantly "HOW MUCH"

Jared W

You should be fine except for the obivious which is tires Id stay around the 31-32" range

Jeeptunes

what all is included in your kit i know that after a certain point u will need longer brake hoses which most kits dont have.

The Blacksmith

dont go 4.5'' lift if all you want is something cool in the snow.

4.5'' involves tons of mods, longer brake lines longer sway bar links, longer shocks, a SYE, adjustable track bar. etc

stay 3'' or under, and youll be happier with the cost, and how little you have to do

Jeeptunes

i am actually not lifting mine for the sheer fact that the xj is almost impossible to roll when it is stock and as long as u are in four wheel and have a decent tread tire you shouldnt have anyproblems

POCKEE999

To be honest guys i have been a fan of lifted XJ's for quite some time now and alot (75%) of my decision is purely cosmetic and I've looked at almost all the 3inch kits out there and they just dont "LOOK" as aggressive.Here's another question if i go with the 3 and then do like a 1.5-2 inch shackle+spacer kit would i still need all those other piece's or would that defeat the whole purpose of trying to stay under 4?

Jim_K

Once you go any higher then 3 it gets way more involved. If you want a more aggressive look trim ur fenders and get fender flares. Just my .02

Agent_Oragnge

as far a looks go there are tons of little cheats you can do to make it appear like a monster off roader. trim fenders, agressive tread patterns, custom bumpers and recovery gear, hell hit it with a BFH and give it a few dents. "trail carnage". all these are relatively cheap and will give you that "look".

Donnie_K

don't listen to someone telling you not to go 4.5". Let them be stuck with no support when they can't find the next upgrade they want for their 3" lift without having to add spacers. And soft 3" springs with 1.5" or 2" spacers is going to lean alot more than full 4.5" springs. 4.5" of lift is perfect IMHO

Anyway, I run a rough country 4.5" lift and love it. we got ours with full leaf packs. Order directly from rough country though, skip the ebay crap. go to roughcountry.com for the phone number, call them up, ask for jason. Mention this forum, and he'll hook you up with a good price. The kit will come with everything you need, though you should consider an adjustable track bar while you're at it.

Xj88

You can look into both rustys and RC, both are pretty affordable and both come with basically everything you need....being: coils, shocks, leaf packs, control arms, extended sway links, brake line relocaters or extensions (new longer ones recommended) and the other hardware youll need. I have a 3 inch sitting on 31 inch bfg mud terrain km2s and it sits pretty mean. I am actually around 3.5 inches. I plan on going to about 4-4.5 when funds permit. Ill prolly just add a shakle relocation kit and buy new coils and control arms.

The Blacksmith

yes, it dosent matter how you lift the jeep, over 3'' of lift, you need the control arms, the sye, the adjustable track bar, extended brake lines etc.

FAIL. He said he's going to 90% mall crawl and might go offroad, there is no reason for him to spend 800 + bucks to drive around town.

Its a ton of un needed money to spend for his particular needs.
As far as being STUCK.

I have the rough country 4.5'' x series 2 kit with the adjustable contorl arms, and full leaf packs.

The leafs are too short and the shackle angle is retarded, short arms at 4.5'' of lift are retarded, and even worse if someone adds drop brackets. which defeats the purpose.

I highly regret my 4.5'' short arm kit, I wish I went with 6.5'' long arms at this point, even 4.5'' long arms would have been a smarter option.

Just because a kit will net you x amount of inches of lift, dosent make it a good idea. Poor shackle angles and crappy short arms ruin the 4.5'' lift kit.

Omnipotent Octopus

FAIL? People spend 30k on a new car to "drive around town". I don't see what the big deal is spending 800 bucks. It's his $$$ he'll do what he wants.

Donnie_K

@The Blacksmith - BWAAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHSAHSAHHASHA, dude, your posts crack me up. seriously, how long have you been at this again?

The kit comes with the lower control arms, you don't need an SYE because it comes with a T-case drop (though an SYE later isn't a bad idea), you don't need extended brake lines because it comes with brake line relocation brackets (though swapping in some wrangler brake lines since they're longer isn't a bad idea either). You don't really NEED an adjustable track bar, you can relocate the stock one, but again, an adjustable double sheer is a good idea.

not to knock anyone's jeeps here, but to me, it's hard to tell the difference between a 3" lift and a stock jeep without extra mods. and in my opinion 6.5" is just too tall. But again, that's just my opinion.

When I originally bought my lift I had a thread on here asking if I should go with the 3" or the 4.5". Aside from the fact that the 4.5" really wasn't much more than the 3" cost wise. I was told if I was already thinking about going higher, just go with the 4.5". 4.5" springs are a HELL of a lot better than 3" springs with spacers on top. And have fun finding a bolt in long arm kit for a 3" lift, it's even hard to find an adjustble track bar for one. And before someone chimes in "you don't need an adjustable track bar at 3 inches", well sure, you can drive it with your front axle sticking 3/4 of an inch out the drivers side, and let your tires wear unevenly... or you can do what you need to do and center the axle back up either with an adjustable track bar or by relocating it. Also, if you lift the vehicle 3", you take 3" of slack out of your brake lines so you should still look into getting longer lines or relocating them... etc... etc... etc...

It's ok young blood, I'm not upset with you, we'll teach ya right. let your brain soak it up.

@the OP - Just whichever way ya go, go direct, skip the middle man... and also make sure you get full leaf packs.