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Cheap(er)
Jeep TJ Lift
Written
by Chad T. (aka Owlman)
Specs:
1998 Jeep TJ Sahara
4.0L
5spd.
Hardtop and softop
Objective:
Lift
it 2-3" to gain more ground clearance and run 32 or 33" rubber
for the mild to medium wheeling I want to do, but to maintain
near stock on-road ride.
Sticker
Shock Time:
I priced out a 2" spacer lift and it was about $350 for the RE.
A lift with new coils was going to cost a lot more
1) BDS 3" lift system with shocks (KITTJ3A-BDS): $937.96
2) Rubicon Express 3.5" Superflex lift system (RE7003) : $1,180.00
shocks not included
Research
Time:
I started searching the internet and found a few guys who put
ZJ V8 front coils in the front of the TJ and moved the stock TJ
fronts to the rear.
It gave him 3" of lift (4cyl ST model).
I really didn't like the idea of the smaller diameter front coils
in the rear. so I did more research on the 'net and some spring
catalogs, and found out that late model Ford Crown Victoria (what most cop cars and taxis are) rear coils
are an "almost" perfect fit and give about 3-3.5" of lift in the
rears.
Now there are two routes I could have gone here, new or used parts.
I decided to go new because springs aren't that expensive and
getting the rears out of a Crown Vic. that could of had a million
miles of hauling people....well they would be pretty much done
for already.
The
Parts:
Off to the parts store I went and ordered the springs and a set
of Rancho 5000's from their 2.5" lift kit (shocks for a 3" kit
would have been fine to.
Some people told me that the 5000's were a bit soft for a TJ,
which is why I went with them, after all I was putting ZJ V8 springs
in the front and I didn't want a harsh ride.
Install:
I could go into more detail about the install but it was no different
then any other lift, and there are a lot of pages out there describing
all that.
The front springs (Moog Tuff Coils #CC-782) are only about 1/2"
taller then the stock TJ's, but much thicker and don't compress
as much under normal loads.
The rears (Moog Cargo Coils #CC-817) were a little more of a chore,
the CV springs were at least 1.5 times as tall and the bottom
loop needed to be ground out about 1/32" to fit over the TJ's
bottom coil locator (I ground them out just enough that they fit
real snug).
Once the springs were ready they went in without a hitch.
All the brake lines were plenty long enough, only thing tight
was the rear dif breather hose.
After bolting everything up and doing an alignment (it was toed
in a mile), I installed a custom made 1" T-case drop (lots of
vibes without) and away I went not even 5 hours later.
Results:
I
netted about 3-3.25" in the front and almost 4" in the rear.
The rear end sat about an inch higher then the fronts (with soft
top and 1/2 tank of gas) so I installed some 3/4" poly spacers
($50) to level it out more. Once I put the hard top back on it
sits perfectly level. If I only had a soft top I would have probably
gone with the 1" spacers.
On the road ride, I probably wouldn't have really noticed if I
didn't know better.
Off-road
(gravel roads and such) it was just as good if not better then
stock.
In order to do well on the trails with open diffs (LSD in the
rear of mine) the amount of articulation you have is vital. This
setup in combination with my driving style (mellow and steady
on the "go" pedal) has worked very well for me. Many
experienced off-roaders have commented on how well my otherwise
stock jeep performs on the trails.
Overview:
Things you NEED or NEED TO DO are:
1) Springs and shocks
2) Extended front swaybar links (I broke both of mine on the first
trail run), and you might as well get disconnecting ones.
3) A come-a-long to pull the axles over to re-attach the trackbars
(the front is no biggy, but the rear is out a bit).
4) Alignment RIGHT AWAY, do not do without this, it may cost you
your life, not to mention your tires.
5) Install extended bump stops in the front to prevent tire to
fender contact. I used 2 hockey pucks on each side (cause I'm
Canadian eh!), and bolted them to the lower spring cup. This limits
things enough that my 33/10.50R-15's only rub the flairs when
turning hard and fully compressed.
Things you SHOULD get when $ permits:
1) Relocater bracket for rear track bar
2) Extended rear sway bar links (although I just removed mine
completely as it is just tiny anyway)
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