I was looking for a 2” lift for my mostly stock ‘98XJ. The OEM springs were shot and needed replacement. After considering the advice from this forum, I decided on a Rusty’s 3” lift kit to help with the winched front bumper and rear tire carrier. BEST ADVICE EVER! Hopefully the review and notes can help someone else’s research.
Cheers! -Kevin



I finally got around to installing a Rusty’s 3” advanced lift kit with heavy duty front springs and adjustable control arms. The install went pretty well but I had to open the holes on the spring plate to accommodate the larger nut on the Rusty’s spring pack. (Note: I replaced the Rusty’s spring pack nut and bolt later in the process with a nut and bolt from a wedge kit. That nut was smaller so this step might be unnecessary). Also I pulled the locating stud and ground down the button end a little bit as it wouldn’t fit in the OEM mounting hole on axle spring perch (again, that bolt was also replaced with the wedge kit). I purchased the R26 and R27 shocks with the kit and the bar pins were damn near impossible to install. If i had it to do over, I would have purchased a BPE kit - this would have solved the installation issues. I wound up trimming part of the bushing with a knife just to get the flat end of the bar pin in the bushing.

The ride is a bit stiff as expected, but I imagine it will soften up eventually. There was a little bit of drive line vibration, mostly between 40 and 50 MPH in 3rd gear. I installed my spare 231 recently rebuilt with an SYE, and installed a Novak cable shifter while I was under there.

I ordered a Tom Woods driveshaft and installed it. Just note that if you are ordering a driveshaft from Tom Woods, you can buy it ahead of time by measuring your current configuration without an SYE and subtract three inches. Read the website carefully! I ordered it incorrectly by not subtracting three inches but caught the error about half an hour after I ordered. I called them immediately and they were very helpful at correcting my order. Great customer service! For reference, I used an advance adapters SYE kit in a late model NP231. In a ‘98XJ 4 door with an AX15, I needed an 34-3/4” driveshaft.

After installing the SYE transfer case and new drive shaft, I still noticed a driveline rumble. I knew this might be a possibility as I had watched the Tom Woods driveline video on YouTube. With the double cardan driveshaft, the rear pinion angle must be adjusted. I measured my driveshaft and rear axle angles and chose a six degree wedge from Iron Rock Offroad. The wedges left me with 1.8 degree difference to allow for wind up.

Night and day difference! The wedges cured the driveline rumble issues.

My OEM rear springs were frowning badly and were likely sagging about an inch. So I went from a -1” to a plus 3”, and the wedge kit adds an additional 1/2”.



Below is the before and after for entertainment purposes!