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Topic: New and need help

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cs86
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New and need help
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Im new to jeeps and I want to put a 3" lift on my 99 sport. Its my day to day car so it wont be doing a whole lot of wheeling. What all do I need for it. I've read so many different things and i still dont know anything. Im sure this has been asked before, but any help would be greatfully appreciated, thanks



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aci4369
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First off welcome to the site!!!


My first question is how much money do you want to spend?    Here is a good list of the available lifts.  LINK

I would suggest, if you can afford it, to stay away from Add-A-Leaf lifts(Comonly labled "AAL"). All they do is add a leaf to your existing lift.  If you get a lift that say "with Leafs" that means that you are replacing the existing ones with an entirely new set.  The reason for this is that AAL sets rely on the original leafs for a lot and will sag after a year or 2.  Ask me how I know.  If you get full leafs you will thank yourself in the long run.

3" lifts are about the limit before you have to start replacing a lot of other things as well.  So I would steer clear of going higher unless you want to put more money into it.  I will warn you, some people need to add some of these things at 3 inches, but most don't.  The thing that I am talking about are steering, slip yokes to the drive shaft, longer control arms, break lines.

If you can afford it, I would personally go with the RE (Rubicon Express) 3" lift with full leafs.  Either the "Super Flex" or "Super Ride" would do you fine.  If have yet to hear ANYONE complain about a RE lift.  They are a little more expensive but you will never have to replace or fix any of their parts.  The kit will also come with longer control arms, break lines and things like that.  So these kits are all inclusive except for steering and drive shafts (which you will probably not have to mess with).

Those are my thoughts.  Others will have their opinions, but that should get us started in the right direction.


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'99 XJ, 5.5" lift, 33" MT's
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Chris99XJ
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Hello & Welcome

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1999  XJ  SPORT,  4.5'' LIFT,  32'' X 11.50''  TIRE'S



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choppergar
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welcome from lakeview mi

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Gar Pratt
dogwonk
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aci4369 has laid out a good outline for you. He has pointed out most of the things that you need to think about.

Other things to consider would be what size tires you want to run and if you want to upgrade shocks for ride quality after lifting it.

I run the Rubicon Express (RE) 3.5" SuperFlex system. I do have a slip yoke eliminator. I am able to clear 33" tires with minimal trimming. I upgraded my shocks to Old Man Emu shocks for a better ride and I have an aftermarket swaybar that helps tighten things up too.

My XJ is my daily driver, but it definitely rides more rough than a stock Cherokee. I also wheel my rig. I wouldn't have it any other way, but please be aware of what you are doing before you spend your money. If you will rarely to never be offroading it then you would probably be better off going with a lift that is made for ride quality.

Motion Offroad, a supporting vendor here, can answer any questions you have. They are knowledgeable and have GREAT customer service. They won't sell you something that you don't need just to get money from you. They want you to enjoy your purchase and your Jeep!

Good luck! Oh, and don't forget to post up pics!!!

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cs86
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First off thanks for all your advice. A can spend about 150-200 for the lift before my wife gets mad. I dont really want anything to big. Ive planed on new socks. As far as tires go it wont be any bigger then 31.
I was looking on ebay at a 3 spacer kit for the coils but I dont know how well that would work. I havent seen anyone talk about them. Dont want to get something thats not going to work

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LEAD_NOT_FOLLOW
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First off DO NOT run 3" worth of coil spacers on the front. It's stupid and whomever sells that kit could care less about your saftey. With 3" worth of spacers you've got VERY little of the coil bucket keeping the coil in. Flex it out any and you'll have the coil fall out. Heck hit a big enough pot hole and the coil might fall out.

If you want 3" of lift, you'll need to replace the front coils with a longer lift coil to do it "safely". With only a few hundred bucks your only going to be in the AAL range. I'd recomend saving $$ until you can afford a kit with new leaf packs for the rear, but I guess you can always start out with a budget lift kit and add a new rear leaf pack down the road if you wanted to. I think we've all been there at somepoint and made a lot of changes to our lifts to get them to where we want them to be. Typically I say do it once and do it right the first time though as it's cheaper in the long run.

Here is a kit that would fit in your price range and is 3" - CLICK ME

And here is a kit that is just a tad more expensive but also includes a new set of shocks and is 3" - CLICK ME

With both the above kits you can run a 31" tire without much/any issues.



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ChevelleSSLS6
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aci4369 wrote:

First off welcome to the site!!!


...
I would suggest, if you can afford it, to stay away from Add-A-Leaf lifts(Comonly labled "AAL"). All they do is add a leaf to your existing lift.  If you get a lift that say "with Leafs" that means that you are replacing the existing ones with an entirely new set.  The reason for this is that AAL sets rely on the original leafs for a lot and will sag after a year or 2.  Ask me how I know.  If you get full leafs you will thank yourself in the long run.

3" lifts are about the limit before you have to start replacing a lot of other things as well.  So I would steer clear of going higher unless you want to put more money into it.  I will warn you, some people need to add some of these things at 3 inches, but most don't.  The thing that I am talking about are steering, slip yokes to the drive shaft, longer control arms, break lines.

If you can afford it, I would personally go with the RE (Rubicon Express) 3" lift with full leafs.  Either the "Super Flex" or "Super Ride" would do you fine.  If have yet to hear ANYONE complain about a RE lift...

Those are my thoughts.  Others will have their opinions, but that should get us started in the right direction.



 x2... my 2" add a leaf is saggy after a year and a half.  It was saggy six months ago, so after a year it was starting to get saggy.

Up front I have 2" spacers, and they work fine for the application.  As Lead_Not_Follow said, don't run 3" more spacers.

 

Before starting the project, hit every nut and bolt under the Jeep with wd40 every day for at least a week.



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My Fleet
1996 XJ "Snowball"- 3.5" lift, bunch of little mods.  I hate pegleg rear axles!
1974 AMC Javelin "Jade Grenade"- 360v8, 4sp, green inside and out. Underfunded Project.
2009 Kawsaki Vulan 900 "Rocket III"- Summer DD
aci4369
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If you want to use spacers up front to save a little money that is fine.  I have 2" spacers up front in my XJ and they are fine.  But like Leadnotfollow says, don't buy 3" ones if you value your life....


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'99 XJ, 5.5" lift, 33" MT's
'11 Dodge Charger

I miss the days that they made toys that could kill a kid.

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aci4369
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I just thought of this, but you could buy a used one if you don't mind having a used one on your vehicle.  I know some people if you are interested...

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'99 XJ, 5.5" lift, 33" MT's
'11 Dodge Charger

I miss the days that they made toys that could kill a kid.

*Support our Troops*


My Pics and Specs

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ChevelleSSLS6
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aci4369 wrote:

I just thought of this, but you could buy a used one if you don't mind having a used one on your vehicle.  I know some people if you are interested...


I did this with my bb... brand new but the guy sold his jeep before he installed the lift.  $99 and a few days later, a UPS truck pulled up and it felt like Christmas.

 



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My Fleet
1996 XJ "Snowball"- 3.5" lift, bunch of little mods.  I hate pegleg rear axles!
1974 AMC Javelin "Jade Grenade"- 360v8, 4sp, green inside and out. Underfunded Project.
2009 Kawsaki Vulan 900 "Rocket III"- Summer DD
xjryder
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you could also look at the jeep parts postings on here . I bought a 4" fabtech add a leaf kit for my 98 XJ it doesnt sagg I havent had the issues when towing my 6x10 utility trailer , but I spent alot more than $300 on the kit and your wife would definately be mad mine was until the first snowfall LOL WELCOME TO GLXJ

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cs86
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I found one on ebay thats brand new for $500. ChevelleSSLS6 how much is that one that u know about.


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aci4369
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The lift that I was talking about the one that we just took off of MysticfireXJ's XJ.  We rebuilt it for him while he was in Iraq.  Link

If you wanted this one, it was on the XJ for 2 years.  It is a 3" Rough Country AAL lift.  You would have to get 2" spacers for the front or new 3" coil springs because we reused his.  The lift would come with 3" AAL for the rear and all 4 shocks.  Here is a pic of what it looked like on the XJ when we took it off with 31's, which it cleared fine.  It has the fenders taken off, but no triming.



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'99 XJ, 5.5" lift, 33" MT's
'11 Dodge Charger

I miss the days that they made toys that could kill a kid.

*Support our Troops*


My Pics and Specs

My Build Thread
 
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