thegee

Hi everyone,
So i lifted my cherokee with a skyjacker 2 inch budget kit ( front spacers and rear shackles ), i also installed medium duty new rear leaf springs. My jeep looked nicely leveled first ( front and rear ), but after several miles driven the rear looked lower than the front. Apparently this seems normal leafspring going down a bit.

My question is:

If i install skyjacker 2,5 inch rear leaf springs on it and keep the 2 inch front spacers will it be ok for the drivetrain ? ( lifted leaf springs are better than shackles, no ? )
I know that it will be an easy install and fit properly and the rear will stand a bit higher first.

What do you think about it ?

SG Mason

It is not so much a build as it is a get it so it will pass a safety chech with out having to spend more for quarters than I paid for the whole XJ. This year it will stay at the height it is now if I can and I would like to put 31X10.5 15 with a more aggressive tread pattern yet still has reasonable road manners.

I will be cutting out, welding and grinding smooth the rear arches, the fronts I will cut weld and grind smooth most of it, but I plan on leaving a few tabs to hold the modified inner fender. Because of the amount I have to cut I don't thing any pre-made flares will fit so I will be making a set of tube flat flares like these on NAXJA



Not my image I just really like the look and job he did.

cweed24

I'm getting ready to make the jump from my rough country 3 in lift to a re 4.5 coils in front and maybe some sort of bastard pack or aal out back because my rear springs are pretty new stocks with 1.75/2in shackles.unless someone knows where to get full packs that would fit the bill

Second I'm going to buy bilstien 5100s to go with it and I was wondering what length to get . I've read a few things about running longer shocks for more down travel and wanted to know how long to go, if there are any downsides ect

Any advice would be appreciated thanks

SeriousOffroad

You cannot just throw on a longer shock, the extra body length will limit your up-travel and you'll ruin the shock in no time flat.
Get the correct length for the amount of lift on your rig.

sycoglitch

Yup. Longer travel shocks require loosing up travel and cause booming out faster. You'll need to add some bumpstoppage so as to not bottom the shocks out

bhennessee1

thats partly true, but for me, and anyone running large tires on small lifts, the tires are gonna be limiting travel before the shocks.

cweed24

Probably not worth it then, what about the leaf packs? I'm leaning towards new full packs probably re 3.5s.
Do they start out higher and break in to 3.5? I have the lift shackles but I'm pretty sure I still have the stock ones somewhere too

cweed24

I have to stick to the 31s I have for now until I can afford a re-gear 3.07 on 33s would be a dog

Plus I have bushwacker cutout flares so I'd probably be safe

sycoglitch

This is true. In this case he only spoke of a taller lift and longer shocks. Not tires. I agree bumpstopping properly for larger tires so they don't rub

sycoglitch

Yea, re 3.5s sit alot taller until they break in. You can put sand bags in the back for a month and it should help. Everyone does have different results

cweed24

Alright that's just about everything answered I'm ordering 4.5 coils 3.5 leafs and 5100s from serious offroad. I thought I'd get bagged on shipping the leaf packs but it's only 41 bucks! I wish I found them this time last year cuz I would've saved a lot.
Thanks everyone!

SeriousOffroad

BRILLIANT!!

sycoglitch

That's such a bad idea, you should go to quadratec....:P bwahahahahahahahahhaha. Jk

blacksmith1770

I've completed my back, as mentioned earlier. Ive finally received my extended bump stops.
I'm not trying to rush through this project in one day but I don't want to rent the spring compressors twice. That is something I'd like to get done in one shot. Is there anything wrong with taking both sides apart at the same time so I can replace the springs at the same time?

ASEllis

Over the weekend I installed the Rubicon Express 3.5 Inch Super-Ride Short Arm Lift Kit with Rear Leaf Springs and Twin Tube Shocks on my 94 Cherokee Sport. Before it had a 2" budget kit that included degree shims for the rear axle (and the shocks and factory leafs were completely shot. All of this obviously came off. My Jeep LOOKS awesome - got WAY more lift than I'd anticipated. Problem is, the rear driveshaft appears to be at too much of an angle for the joint. I'm wondering whether degree shims will correct this issue, and, if so, what degree do I need? I'll be putting on 31" tires if that makes a difference.

Here's the kit I installed (it did not come with shims): https://www.4wd.com/Jeep-Lift-Kits-J...n=R%2fERE6025T

And hopefully my pic of what I'm talking about being the problem shows up. :-) Any help will be appreciated! Thanks!