Homebrew Lift

[jeepxj2007]

I am in the phase of building a trail ranger and I have a dd right now. My daily driver has a 3" bl and 34"s, the rear never rubs, the front will on hard bumps. This is how I got it from the p.o. So now on my trail ranger I want to build something that has a low center of gravity because there are a lot of steep angles and what not around here, and I am building this thing to be fairly cheap. I was originally going to go with a 6" lift and 2" body lift. I am still sticking with poly bushings and a 2" body lift. My question is I am looking at something from the 2-3" range of a suspension lift. I will not run anytires larger than 33" and the rear is going to be a homeade box with very high fenders so that isn't an issue for rubbing. I have a belltech shackle in the rear, which I will combine with either add a leaf and the ranger pack or explorer pack...about how much lift could you estimate for each. Now is there something I can do to make the front match? In the 2-3 inch range...this is going to be a light use dd and mainly a beater truck in the woods. I want to replace the coils so I am sticking away from spacers. Is there a jeep coil that can get the lift I want and still flex nicer? Do I have to get new brackets because I really dont want to but dont want it to go everywhere on the road. Any advice?

 

[legoms013]

if your set on 2-3, yes you'll need new drop brackets. Or used if you can find 'em. Anything more than 2" needs drop brackets as the camber will be grossly positive = tires ----> \--/.

im not exactly sure on what brand makes a 2-3" drop bracket but if im not mistaken james duff might or maybe its rancho. But that could be expensive however if you buy 'em new.

Unless your steering tierod angles and such are just perfectly setup (horizontal) , a soft Jeep coil will produce less than desirable handling characteristics and will be "all over the road". Not to mention your tires will be unhappy. In fact mad at you if said steering components are just "dandy".

Check the tech library there is all kinds of stuff i didnt mention about coils and lift heights and flex.

Good luck, maybe someone else will chime in and hopefully add onto what limited knowledge I have.

 

[4x4junkie]

3-4" lift is the ideal range for running the Jeep Cherokee coils. Outside of that range it'll either be very difficult to align your steering linkage properly, or you won't have sufficient clearance between the axle & frame.

If you only want 2" lift, I would suggest sticking with the stock coils + spacers, or a set of leveling coils (in which case you could keep your stock brackets).