Poors Man's Junkyard TJ Lift Questions

[TJ Sparky]

   Has anyone on this forum tried the poor man's junkyard 4" lift?          front/V8 Cherokee Springs            rear/Crown Vic Springs

   I want to do a 3" or 4" lift on my TJ and figure if I can save a few bucks and go the junkyard route why not. But then the obvious questions come into play. What is the ride like? Will it cause me probs in the future?

  On the more expensive side of things.....where is a good place to get a 3" - 4" lift in town? And what kind of price am I looking at?

  Thanks in advance

[parabs]

i think rough country has a 2.5-3" lift for 299.95 and that includes shocks and the springs are progressive rate..from what I read it rides similar to stock..

[Rubi03 jef]

the rough country lifts arnt to bad for the price . mines held up pretty good and im not gentle

but you do get what you pay for .

my brother has the 2.5 spring lift and 1.25 body lift and he loves it  rides nice and hasnt let him down .

[tubby]

You could always bust out the sawzall and highline the fenders if you want some clearance ?

Zone Offroad also makes a 2" coil spacer lift that comes with shocks and extended bumsops for under $300

I'd personally save up some money and get a "proper" lift before going to the junkyard and doing a Frankenstein suspension. There are a lot of sweet deals on suspensions online like Northridge or NorthShore Offroad that are very reasonably priced over local stores. Do your homework and good luck. I like the idea of having new parts over mis-matched used parts.

[JENSSEN]

I'd personally save up some money and get a "proper" lift before going to the junkyard and doing a Frankenstein suspension.

I have been down this road more than once, and honestly even tried with the big XJ at highriders. It's not worth it I spent so many hours building rear spring bastard packs only to have them fail over and over again. It's taken years to make the front work so-so and the rear to work great for two days,... Unless you have  you have countless hours for R&D don't go down that path

[Pookapotamus]

i have the v8 zj coils in the front of my xj, they only give you about an inch of lift and that is only if you do not have a bumper and winch in the front. and the ride is kinda crappy, go with an actual lift and dont bother with the junkyard lift.

[Bnine]

Instead of doing cheap crap that doesnt work well, you may want to consider buying quality components in smaller stages.

Do it right, do it once.

A good start is a 1.25" body lift, and 1" motor mount lift.

[4Banger_madness]

well i didnt set out on doing a "poor mans lift" in my tj but had lifted a v8 grand so i had stuff laying around so i used it i put the v8 springs in the front with the v8 shocks and took my stock front springs and put them in the rear. i gained about 2.75" with a warn 1200pound winch on the front, and have had no complaints with the ride and it performs reeal well offroad. my 33's hiting my body is all that limits the flex

[jpthing]

Poor man's tj lift:
4" lift springs and lift shocks=$400-$500
Aftermarket track bar  (fr)     =$200
longer rear brake line (YJ)?  =$30
Rear track bar bracket             =$30

That comes to around $700, the rest of the issues can be tackled without much in parts, relocate front brake hard lines, Drop t-case/skidplate with some longer bolts and spacers, extend swaybar links or buy aftermarket, etc.

This is not the best way to go but is adequate and cheap...It IS BETTER than many lift kits on the market which come with parts that fail, do not fit the jeep, or are worse than stock...of course there are really good lift kits on the market too, for lots of $$.

Lots of kits include control arms which are in many cases inferior to stock.
Lots of kits include front trac bar drop brackets which are unsafe and can fail.
Some kits include front trac bar relocation bracket for the lower end which are pathetic and fail.
Almost no kits include a new front trac bar which every lift of 4" or more should have.
Many kits contain "solutions" which create more problems (think fancy aftermarket longer brake hoses with fancy braided stainless covering that crack and fail in our cold climate...but theylook cool! Ahem RE cough RE)

Good luck jacking your ride.

PS Bnine is right, my jeep is on 35's and 5" lift and some days I wish I had 31's, 2" lift and a tummy tuck...it would be a lot more civilized, handle better, chew through wheel bearings less often, etc.