'95 XJ 2" lift ideas

[S.SmithDVM]

Good morning everyone!
Yes I have searched through the forums, and can't quite find the answers. Some of the discussions end up a little far out in the weeds
So I just picked up a really clean 95 two-door, but the springs really need some love. It looks like somebody recently replaced the shocks (when it actually needed springs), so I'm hoping to get away with reusing. I want to replace front coils and rear leaf packs, I want to add about 2 in of lift, and would like to go with a little heavier spring. I intend to use this as a hunting and fishing rig, but will occasionally tow a light trailer locally and use a hitch mounted dirt bike rack.
So does anybody have recommendations on springs and coils that'll give me about 2 inches of lift and be heavier duty? Thanks!

 

[IslanderOffRoad]

Old Man Emu sounds right up your alley, if you don’t mind spending a bit

If you want to do it low buck, coil spacers and longer shackles.

 

[Evan03]

7" free arch crown springs. For thecrear and have a 1" lift block or zero rate adaleaf on hand or cut some of the leafs from the wore out pack and place them in the new pack to tune lift height.

Id just run 2" spacers in the front to get the height

Hell i wouldn't be afraid of 2" lift blocks in the rear. Maybe im the devil i dunno but id go cheap as possible to get2" bexause youl likly change it later on.

If you haul tools and recovery gear the 7" free arch crown springs wouldnt be waisted and you coul get more lift later on from a shackle relocation

Shocks might work but i dont know for sure.

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[Vince]

Maybe im the devil i dunno but id go cheap as possible to get2" bexause youl likly change it later on.

I agree. Go as cheap as possible because you will be changing it for something bigger in a year or so. My first lift was a Rusty's Offroad 2" Add-A-Leaf and spacer. It was great. I didn't have any disconnects at first so the stock shocks were fine. I lowered the hardlines of the brake lines to get a bit more travel from the brake hoses.


I doubt if a year went by before I sold my 2" kit with the assembled leaf springs and the 235/75R15 MTs on my stock wheels to someone else wanting to achieve the same. It was a good starter lift. I learned a lot about off road driving that I would have otherwise missed if I had gone to a more capable spec in one go. It also helped me justify the investment in gears and TrueTracs when I went to a 4.5" lift and 33's.


At $109 (Sep 2021) it's cheap, but it does the job. You will also need new U-bolts. It is worthwhile getting a spare pair of spring centre bolts in case you mess up the pack assembly.

 

[Phil]

I never ran Old Man Emu gear but everyone who has (and not removed it to go bigger) seems to love it. I think it is available with heavy duty rates as well, to support your trailer or hunting success or dirt bike.

I went 3” and 31’s on my little Jeep, which I guarantee will not be going any bigger I would recommend, if you are going to have it all apart, at least inspect and consider upgrading all four control arms to aftermarket units with fresh bushings. Also, your steering joints may be 25 years old. Consider at least new, good quality, stock replacements. You know, while it is apart and will need to be aligned anyway. And, panhard bar/track bar.

 

[Vince]

I intend to use this as a hunting and fishing rig, but will occasionally tow a light trailer locally and use a hitch mounted dirt bike rack.

Lift springs are usually built for flexing not for loads. How heavy is the combined weight of the dirt bike and hitch mount? A human powered dirt bike won't be a weight problem for an XJ.


You can build XJ leafs to carry loads but they don't often flex well. Lift packs that flex well tend to lose their arch if over-loaded. OME did a heavy duty kit for exactly this reason. One kit flexed very well, the other was better for load carrying.


I have known people using some of the top lift kit brands be disappointed to find their lift kit sagging in the rear after a few camping trips carrying a lot of gear. They didn't factor in the total weight of the gear they were carrying or where it was distributed on the Jeep. A trailer for a motorcycle would be better for your rear leafs.

 

[S.SmithDVM]

Great tips so far! Thanks.
I expect to have approximately 100# in the cargo area semi-permanently with dog boxes and gear, and up to 200# regularly. IF I put the dirt bike on the hitch, that could be around 350#-400#.
Change opinions on suspension upgrades?

 

[Vince]

I guess that you'll be carrying the weight equivalent to three people distributed over and behind the rear axle.


In the UK, the recommended maximum noseweight for a trailer being towed by a stock XJ is 130Kg (286lbs). Trailer noseweight is on the hitch, so it is a reasonable guide for rear overhang loads. The 200lbs rear overhang load for the bike is well below the noseweight limit for my XJ.



When you start adding passengers the load on the springs increases. If the load is too great, the curvature of the spring will flatten out. If they stay permanently deformed after removing the load you know you went too far with flex+load. A cheap fix is to add extra leaves from an old spring pack to restore some lift height and increase the load capacity but the Jeep will have less articulation in the rear suspension.

 

[Tim_MN]

What is the budget ?

I have built several low cost leaf spring packs for a budget boost. They are also called bastard packs if you use Chevy S-10 or Ford explorer leaves in your Jeep. I used a stock XJ Cherokee leaf spring pack and added a 2.5" Rubicon express full-length add-a-leaf. It worked very well, but I needed a bit more room for 31's, so I installed an additional single XJ Cherokee leaf into the same pack. That netted 3.25" of lift, excellent pavement ride, flexes very well off-road, and it handles 250lbs in the receiver hitch rack and another +100 lbs of tools in the cargo area. It also tows trailers very well. This set-up has worked so well, it is now installed in another XJ.

2" coils spacers work well and are inexpensive.

 

[S.SmithDVM]

So, will it work to do an AAL or build a bastard pack if the original leaf spring bundle is flat?

How much left over stock did you get with just the RE AAL? And did it handle the weight you described or did you have to add the extra XJ leaf to get there?

 

[Evan03]

I basterd pack a brand nee crown heavy duty leaf pack. My jeep is pretty heavy this rides well and handles thecweight. I got about 2" out of this pack after adding leafs. There's 6 leafs total

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[Anak]

Great tips so far! Thanks.
I expect to have approximately 100# in the cargo area semi-permanently with dog boxes and gear, and up to 200# regularly. IF I put the dirt bike on the hitch, that could be around 350#-400#.
Change opinions on suspension upgrades?

This sounds very much like my XJ, both its daily driver configuration and when set up for camping.

I am running Old Man Emu leafs and have no complaints about them.

The front is mystery coils and aluminum spacers off fleabay with cheap Pro-Comp lowers and some other brand (I can't recall, but they are nothing special) uppers. I think I have 3 to 3 1/2" of lift. Tires are 30".

The only future plans (in this aspect) are an upgrade to WJ brakes which will bring 16" rims along with it, so tire size will change to 30.5" (245/75r16).

I am happy with this amount of lift. It works well for a DD and it gets me where I want to go off-road. My off-roading is mostly old mining roads. Rock crawling is another ball game. I have another XJ that I may build for that purpose. That will be long arms and 35s, and it won't be a daily driver.

 

[Tim_MN]

See this thread >> https://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1073516

So, will it work to do an AAL or build a bastard pack if the original leaf spring bundle is flat?

How much left over stock did you get with just the RE AAL? And did it handle the weight you described or did you have to add the extra XJ leaf to get there?

Every Jeep is different, but I have boosted several flat XJ leaf packs with an additional leaf, XJ and Chevy S-10. When I did the first AAL, RE 2.5", it went into an OK condition leaf pack that was not fully flat. The lift was about 2 inches as I recall. I added an additional XJ main leaf with the spring eyes cut off because I wanted to have 3 inches of lift and a bit less squat with a full load of cargo.

The good thing about an AAL is if you don't like it, or you get a newer less saggy set of leaf springs, you can remove it, and/or transfer it over to a different leaf pack. Anybody installing a set of leaf springs will be glad to get rid of their old ones, often for nothing, or in trade for helping with installing their bigger lift.

 

[DustyWagoneer]

I did the OME suspension on mine, and have been pretty happy. I have to carry around some weight from time to time, and it has done well.

Loaded down.

 

[75SV1]

I have a '00 with a 2" lift. I was trying to keep it on a budget. Well, I way past that budget.
I went with 2" coils from IRO for $109 and 1.5" Up Country rear leafs. Then KYB Monomax(??) for a YJ for the fronts and some 2" white box rear shocks. There is the over kill as WJ Big brakes, and Ruff Stuff 1-ton GM cross over steering. Upper and lower CORE adjustable control arms. Ford 8.8 rear (adds 1/2" to height).
This handles well for me, and I was happy with the results. It had a bit of a Cali rake to it. I kind of like that. Then I added a Bad Dad Fab hidden winch and bumper. The rake is now very noticeable. I haven't added the winch in there yet.
I am now thinking OME front springs and possibly some pucks to get it level. I would think about OME rear springs. I do have a set of 3-1/2 OME that I planned for a build. They are dual rate springs. Look at some GM trucks. I think they have a similar setup.
I actually like the 2" lift. Its easy to get in and out of for me. My butt is about level with the front seat when standing. So, for a DD and light trails, it is good.
Mine I feel a bit of sway in the rear, compared to the front. I have some Bilsteins to try on the rear. Then I might upgrade the rear sway bar. With the Bad Dad Fab bumper and frame stiffeners, I have a OME front sway bar for a WJ to put in there. I am getting some rub on the stock sway bar. I also have Polly urethane bushing installed for the front sway bar.

 

[Rob Mayercik]

- the OME 2 inch kit and 30s makes for a very capablx9.50 tiree rig that rides as comfortably as stock and looks like it should have been built that way by Jeep.

Well-worth the money for OME...

 

[dj99xj]

I *JUST* installed my own DIY 2 inch lift this past weekend on my '99. I pieced it all from Iron Rock Offroad. I got the 2" HD coils (I run a winch and bumper and it was dragging the front down), and the 2" full length add-a-leaf kit. Also got new U-Bolts from them too. The stock spring rate on the front coils is 145 lb/inch. The new ones I got are 200 lb/inch and actually leveled the front out nicely with my crazy bumper. I installed new Monroe shocks in all 4 corners while I was in there. Ride and handling are great!

 

[linksvu]

I'm curious about the 2" from OME a couple have mentioned... all I've read is, at the least, the OME rear springs will get you 2.5" above stock height since they come at 3.5" and you have to remove a leaf to drop it.

Unless I'm missing something, I don't believe 2" can be obtained through OME unless the rig has a lot of rear weight (i.e. bumper, cargo, and larger spare tire).