Adding more lift

[I<3Mud]

Hi guys i was hoping i could aquire some info on something.

I got a 97 xj with a rough country 4.5" suspension system with long arms, rear locker and SYE. My buddy has 6" coils that are 3 months old and hed sell them to me for 50$ I also work in a fab shop and i could have shackles and or blocks made to lift the rear for cost of material. (20$ or so)

My question is. Will my 4.5" lift components still work comfortably with 6" of lift? i was told by the same friend selling the 6" lift coils that general rule of thumb is that you can go 2" up or down without having to change anything. IDK how true this is and figured id get some input. Another guy ive spoken too had 3" spacers added onto his RE 4.5" lift and said all he had to change was shocks and he wheels his rig daily with no lockers, no sye and short arms.

Im currently running near bald 35" Xterrains and i just ordered new 35" cooper STTs and i know they will be larger and ive already got trimmed fenders and offset wheels so i would just like to gain a little more clearance and height for the setup.

Thanks in advance!

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

i run 35s on 4.5" of lift and feel no need to go higher. castor is happy, and i have zero vibes.

but if you must...
your brake lines and shocks will need some attention all around. for the rear, i would look into shackle relocation brackets and new shackles before adding blocks. your front and rear pinions should also get some attention.

 

[I<3Mud]

my current lines have alot of slack. the only rub i have with these xterrains is full turn and flex i rub my control arms but thats pretty much harmless

 

[I<3Mud]

maybe ill stick to my 4.5" or just ad 1" spacers in it

 

[whitexj98]

more lift wont fix rubbing control arms

 

[I<3Mud]

yeah i realize that but at full flex/ full turns i come within about 1.5" of rubbing on my fenders, so i figured if its close with bald 35s that new 35s would have more potential to rub. only way to solve control arm rub would be steering stops or more offset rims. but idc about control arm rub its pretty harmless and i only get it at full turn and flexing

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

my MTRs measure out to a true 35 with the weight of the vehicle on it. most tires dont. bump stop, and tune the suspension to maximize droop.

 

[clean4drxj]

yeah i realize that but at full flex/ full turns i come within about 1.5" of rubbing on my fenders, so i figured if its close with bald 35s that new 35s would have more potential to rub. only way to solve control arm rub would be steering stops or more offset rims. but idc about control arm rub its pretty harmless and i only get it at full turn and flexing

Going with more lift will not fix you tire rubbing issue, proper bumpstops will tho..

 

[zachandandy]

More lift will allow for more uptravel, but it will also make the vehicle less stable by raising the cog. Your best bet is to bump stop.

 

[mike5679]

Bumpstop it, run the right length shocks, and your golden. you can choose whatever uptravel you want, personally I like 3" to 4" up and the rest down. IMHO lift height is for people to look cool on the street. What works on the trail and especially in rocks is what matters at the end of the day.

 

[zachandandy]

3" of uptravel is nowhere near enough to wheel at any kind of speed. I like to go fast where the terrain permits, maybe even catch a little air here and there. I can only imagine how 3" of uptravel before a hard stop would feel hitting even a small rut at 60+. My jeep has about 5" of lift and 35's and I run 2" of uptravel before my 7" prothanes make contact and another 3" up before my hard stop. 5" up and 6" down. In the rear I have 14" air shocks, 4" up before my progressive bumps that will compress 2". 7" up and 7" down. With where my shocks are mounted, full bump puts the tire 1.5" from the fender and full droop hangs the tire 20.5" below the fender. Crawls great, flexes great in the rocks, and will take moderate whoops at speed no problem. It's more than a one trick pony.

 

[mike5679]

zachandand-is right. 3" of uptravel is it a bit extreme even for driving over speed bumps. all Im saying is that limiting uptravel is a good thing, in its place. don't be afraid to run a LCG rig. they do well on the trail.

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

getting more than 3-4" of up travel out of a 4-5" lift becomes a highly involved affair. control arm rubbing is the least of the problem. our notoriously small front fender wells need a lot of attention to really stuff a 35 at full lock. sure, lots of offset is an easy fix, but thats a lot of leverage on the BJs, unit bearings, and axle tubes of a baby 30.

OP:
more lift is an easy band aid, but many here will attest to the idea that putting more work into your current setup and fine tuning it is a more worthwhile investment.