3.5 inch lift

[smccollamjr]

No matter how much prep and PB Blasting you do, I’d have a plan b for work Monday morning. There’s always that one thing you weren’t expecting. Good luck, XJs are a ton of fun.

 

[Splash]

Wow, a clean stock Briarwood. It's already a classic, going to be more desirable in the future cleaned up and made mechanically perfect. If you start modifying that classic, some years down the road, I suspect you will regret it.

 

[Drastik]

I did the RE 3.5 last year in mine. You can get the kits with track bar, different shock packages etc. I did the short arm super ride setup with quick disconnects also. You will probably need a SYE also. I have been very happy with mine and my use is similar to what you described.

Is it common consensus that an SYE is necessary for a 3.5in lift?

I was hoping if I kept it at 4in or lower I could avoid that extra cost.

What say ye ?

 

[RCP Phx]

Is it common consensus that an SYE is necessary for a 3.5in lift?

I was hoping if I kept it at 4in or lower I could avoid that extra cost.

What say ye ?

It's more dependent on the year.... 97+ are very likely, to 97 not so likely

 

[tumble]

In my 1997 and 3.5" I had to do a t-case drop. I had bad vibrations from 50-60mph. I used the Rusty's crossmember that incorporates a 1" drop and it solved the issue. I've got a SYE in my parts bin waiting to be installed.

 

[Rob Mayercik]

Every one of these tends to be different, though it is true that in general the earlier (pre-96) models tend to be a bit more tolerant of small lifts in terms of vibes. 97+ (and any 96s that have the 97+ tcase design) will be less tolerant.

My '92 showed vibes when I put the original 2-inch lift on it, had to have a 1" tcase drop added. However, I've gone from that original 2 inches all the way up to 4.5 and not had any further vibe issues, even with a stock rear shaft.

How long has it been since your driveshafts have had new ujoints installed? If it's been a good long while, you may find vibes just by the lift changing shaft angles and altering the wear patterns...

 

[Drastik]

Interesting, thanks guys.

I've got a 99 so it looks like I'll need to plan on biting the bullet and doing a SYE at the same time as my lift.

 

[macgyver_7_6]

Mine's a 99 with a skycrapper 3" lift. Only has a tcase drop. Does great.

 

[jsparhwk]

that is a great looking rig, I love the briarwood / xj wagoneer!
don't cut up the body for tires! I had a 3" with no SYE, drop pitman or tcase drop and didn't have any suspension issues as a DD.

 

[MichXJdad]

Same here I've a 2000 with a 3.5" lift and 1" tcase drop doing just fine.

 

[Pleasuretek]

I have a 2000 xj, with the RE 3.5 lift, full rear spring kit also from RE, and beefier tie rod. Riding on 32s. On my daily driver. I like the kit a lot, easier to install than a long arm kit for sure (I'm not crawling or going super fast through the desert). It gets me where I want to go. Make sure you know about death wobble issues and how to correct it if you are installing yourself (for me it was mostly caster adjustment). Also a steering box brace would be helpful, I kept stock pitman arm, steering box ended up leaking a few months later, replaced box and put in a brace.

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