What lift for a XJ?

[95eg6p]

Vehicle: XJ on 31x8 15's

I did do a search in this section and didn't find out what I wanted to know so bear with me and here it goes.

I'm thinking of a 3 inch lift according to my research for reliability and use.  
What in your opinion would be the best set up for my XJ?
It can be a budget lift that's reliable or a kit that's the best bang for the buck.
Something that doesn't sag in 2 years.  

It will be a daily driver but sometimes a camping machine but still good for our Calgary snow.  It will be mostly driven as  a pavement princess with a cool factor.  

I'm probably missing something but since I'm a noob I'm allowed..  

Thanks for the help guys and see some of you next week at the Show and Shine

[TL-Iguana]

I have my XJ lifted on a Rubicon Express superflex 4.5" kit with some coil spacers up front to level it out. Its been up for 2 years now and is still as tall as it was the day after I lifted it. My girlfriend has her TJ lifted by RE as well, and its performing really good too! I cant say much about the other kits out there as this is my first lifted Jeep, but I can certainly say Ive been really impressed by the kit so far. The XJs are known to have a lot of driveline vibes when you lift past 3.5 inches, and mine was the same, but with some degree shims under the rear leafs, and the transfer case drop installed until I get an SYE it has made the vibration virtually unnoticeable. Im really happy with the kit I got, and the price was right too. I think all said and done with all the shocks and after tax it was about $2200. The powdercoat on the springs is just starting to chip now, but otherwise, there has been nothing noticeable in terms of anything going wrong, just have to keep in mind that when you lift it, its going to need more routine maintenance, as the stock parts are going to wear quicker

I hope to have it out at the show an shine this year, so Ill have to keep my eyes open for yours!

[apeman]

Thats not exactly correct...the 96-down xj's are less prone to driveline vibes...the 97+ XJ's are more prone, just the way it is...actually the reason is because of the shorter output shaft on the t-case but we dont need to get into that...avoid tcase drops altogether, it puts alot of stress on already crappy motor mounts, and should be used as a temp fix, not "until i get a sye, but its been 2 years"..a sye conversion can be done easily and shouldnt be the missing link, alot of damage is done...pinion bearings, output shaft bearings,u joints, motor mounts, and just plain annoying vibes. you should be fine with just 3" lift anyhow....
For a 3" basic lift, look for full 3" coils in front not spacers, and either a 3" leaf pack, or AAL...not blocks...or shackles and blocks...no blocks.
Atleast then when you decide to go bigger you can go to 1.5" spacers and 1.5" shackles (which will add to pinion angle in the rear) . However at that point you will also be pondering lower/upper control arm, SYE, cutout flares, lockers blah blah...start with what is going to work for you, but start with a good base, that way if you want to add on you can. If not you have a great suspension that works with 31's and no crappy blocks and spacers to deal with.

Im sure JPThing can chime in with some old hockey pucks thaty work as coil spacers for sale

[Zombie]

Im sure JPThing can chime in with some old hockey pucks thaty work as coil spacers for sale

to be fair, he said to use hockey pucks as bump stop extenders in the front I think, not spacers, or something like that.

[JackstandJohnny]

go cheap.
just about every company on the market makes a budget lift for a Cherokee that consists of 3" coils, rear adda leaf and new shocks.
thats all you need for 31s
companies like Zone, RE, Superlift, you name it all make a cheap 3"
go down to national or modern and i'm sure they can set you up with something priced fairly for what you're looking for. just say you found out about them on the jeep website or something and they'll treat you good.

[95eg6p]

go cheap.
just about every company on the market makes a budget lift for a Cherokee that consists of 3" coils, rear adda leaf and new shocks.
thats all you need for 31s
companies like Zone, RE, Superlift, you name it all make a cheap 3"
go down to national or modern and i'm sure they can set you up with something priced fairly for what you're looking for. just say you found out about them on the jeep website or something and they'll treat you good.

Since you said to go cheap what price should I not spend more than on a budget kit?  If I buy online should I purchase off a company or Ebay?

Thanks JOhnnyC or anyone that wants to chime in.

[hps4evr]

go expensive. old man emu. thats all you need.

[JackstandJohnny]

haha, oh heeps.

basically, cheap in this case = simple.  3" lift of springs and shocks.  personally, i'd goto modern before ordering online. but go prepared, with quotes on price of shipping, etc for stuff from the US so you know how much is a legit price.  if they're within 100$ i'd usually go local; that way if things go bad, you can just talk to them.  most times they'll remedy the problem
that said, 400 - 500 for said parts if you look hard enough.  thats for springs and cheap shock. good shocks run more. thats your call though; 
also, google can be your friend. 

[Justink]

Quadratec is your friend
3" lift leafs
http://www.quadratec.com/products/16311_5302.htm
3" lift coils
http://www.quadratec.com/products/16114_1021_07.htm
Shocks
http://www.quadratec.com/products/16300_820.htm
LCA's
http://www.quadratec.com/products/16312_101.htm (optional but I'd recomend new ones)
Transfer case drop:
http://www.quadratec.com/products/76006_801.htm
All for $775.95 plus $70 shipping.

[hps4evr]

Quadratec is your friend

careful with quadratec, i used them before and found that shipping was more then the parts were worth. they are super easy to buy from though, literally click click enter visa done.
i think the issue was ups more then quadratec, so you may be able to use a different shipping company.
or stay on the canuck side and try northridge4x4.ca

my 2 cents

[95eg6p]

Should I be doing a TC drop with 3"inch rise?  Do I have to relocate anything since it's higher now?

I wanna try to avoid the TC Drop if I can.

[WagoneerXJ]

Quadratec is your friend
3" lift leafs
http://www.quadratec.com/products/16311_5302.htm
3" lift coils
http://www.quadratec.com/products/16114_1021_07.htm
Shocks
http://www.quadratec.com/products/16300_820.htm
LCA's
http://www.quadratec.com/products/16312_101.htm (optional but I'd recomend new ones)
Transfer case drop:
http://www.quadratec.com/products/76006_801.htm
All for $775.95 plus $70 shipping.

seems pretty pricey to me! Go with Rusty's if you wanna save some money. their 3 " kit is like $250 USD.

[raf2379]

depending on how much off-road trips you are planing on doing i would recoment the two Rubicon Express kits below.

if you gonna wheel only a few times a year and take the xj out to camping spots with lots of pavement driving then go with the RE6025 3.5" super ride with leaf springs.

if you plan on doing more off roading go with the RE6030 super flex kit with leaf springs, which has the super flex joint in the control arm and quick disconects for the sway bar. its a nice kit easy to install and Modern motors probably has it in stock, they did when i bought mine.

even with a 3.5" lift be prepared to install degree shims for the rear end, sye and a CV driveshaft in the rear. every jeep seams to react diferent to lifts, mine had slight vibrations which anoyed me after a few months and I ended up instaling shims, SYE and CV drive shaft.

[95eg6p]

I'm thinking it'll mostly be 95% in city and maybe a couple of times going mudding or camping in a year. 

So the RE6025 would be the best in this situation, do you remember how much this kit is?
Since I'm a noob and only think that I only needed a lift kit and now reading more about what you guys wrote, what are shims, SYE and why would I need to change the CV shafts?  How does this all fit in the mechanics/lift sysytem?

Thanks again for all those who helped

Cheers

[raf2379]

the RE6025 is listed on rubiconexpress web site at $584 and the control arms come with bushings, the RE6030 is listed at $760 which has super flex joint on the control arm and quick disconnects and bump stops, you still need to add shocks.

degree shims are installed between your leaf spring and axle spring perches to angle your rear differential up towards the transfer case, read up on drive line angles. SYE is a slip yoke eliminator, if you look at your stock drive shaft at the transfer case end you will see that the shaft slides in an out of the transfer case during suspension travel SYE eliminates the slip yoke and uses a fixed yoke and CV shaft is used in conjunction with SYE which allows the shaft to work at greater angles eliminating vibrations, and is the best solution to drive line vibes as oppose to t-case drop which should only be used temporarily as mentioned by others.

Someone correct me if my explanation is not accurate.