Probably the first thing I should say before we get into this is that this type of project is not for everybody. If you don't have a decent grasp of automotive mechanics or if you don't have basic fabrication equipment (welder/drill press/cutoff saw/etc.) then you are probably better off buying a premade kit and installing it. At times during the project I wished that's what I was doing!

When I first started planning a suspension lift I only really wanted 2" or so-just enough clearance to mount P235/75R15 tires. The factory rear springs were sagging bad enough that P225 were almost a stretch of the imagination. When I finally decided I might as well go for 3" I priced a Rancho kit-almost bought it too! I looked at Skyjacker and OME(with a budget boost) but I just couldn't free up the funds. The kits ranged in price from $915 CDN (Rancho) to $1225 CDN (Skyjacker) which was a tad rich for my blood. Then I found the Internet! With a little lurking on the internet I made my plan. I figured if worst came to worst I could still buy the premade kit after the dust finally settled.

You're probably asking yourself "Why is he starting in the back? Why not up front?". I wanted to do the back first because I wasn't sure how much height my plan would raise the rear so I wanted it done first and then match the front to it (personally I hate vehicles that sit low in the rear!) I decided I would keep the factory Cherokee rear main leaf and add some leaves to it. Searches of my parts collection revealed that I still had the complete rear spring packs from my 1986 Dodge D150 sitting around from its conversion to a 3/4 ton. I measured the leaves and found that the main leaf of the Dodge pack would be almost perfect as a 2nd leaf for the Jeep pack if I cut the eyes off it. Our cutoff saw made short work of that little project. I then went to town and got some replacement center bolts. I also stopped at the GM dealer (yes it really hurt my pride!) and got a pair of spring shackles from any 88+ GM pickup (GM part # was15640442). I had read on the 'Net that these shackles would provide 3/4" lift over the factory Jeep shackles and as a bonus their added length would improve both ride and articulation. So home we went and started tearing into the Jeep!

Of course you know to support the Jeep on jackstands and obey all safety warnings and precautions right?

The D150 spring pack was a 5-leaf affair-the 5th being a thick short overload spring. I decided to leave that one out and try all 4 of the other leaves stacked with the factory main leaf, knowing that I could always take them out fairly easily. I installed the rear shackles at the same time-boy was this no fun! The sleeves in the original shackle eyes froze to the bolts and I had to draw the sleeve through the hole in the shackle box-thank God it was very close to the same diameter (maybe .030-.050"?) When I put everything back together I didn't spare any antiseize!

While the leaf pack was disassembled I painted the individual leaves with a graphite paint called Slip-Plate that I got from the local Case dealer (where my brother works.) You brush it on to the leaves after you have cleaned all the rust/oil/dirt off and let it dry for at least an hour (the longer it dries the stronger the film gets). When it is dry you can rub it with your finger and see the graphite coat your finger. According to the can the more burnished it gets the slipperier it gets. I wanted to do everything that I could to reduce inter-leaf friction to improve the ride.

When I set the Jeep back down on the ground I was very surprised to see a 4" lift! Actually the ride isn't that bad either! You definitely won't think you're riding in a Cadillac but it's really not harsh-just firmed up a little. I reassembled it to start with the factory rear sway bar in place but it cornered so well that I removed it (that plus I needed the brackets to make bar pin eliminators!) Something definitely needed to be done about the shock and brake line lengths though. I purchased some shocks for a 1987+ Ford F250 and adapted them to fit. As I alluded to earlier you use the factory rear sway bar-to-axle plate mounting brackets to mount the top of the shock back to the Jeep-it works like a charm! This photo (although poor) shows them installed:

The lower mounting eyes have steel sleeves in them which must be pressed out and the bushings reamed with a drill to fit the Jeep mounting studs. You will probably want to spray them with WD-40 to make them slip on easier. As for the brake line I purchased a YJ rear brake line from Chrysler (part # 52003607) to install-it is about 4" longer than the stock XJ line. Here is a photo of the 2 side-by-side:

Here is a picture of the rear shackle and the rear of the leaf spring pack-this picture was taken while the 5th leaf was off the Jeep. I had to figure out a way to make spring clamps to keep the leaves from spreading. I decided to spot-weld 5/16"x1" bolts to the ends of the bottom leaves and fab up flat U-type clamps to bolt to them. I am confident that the small amount of heat needed to weld these bolts on will not weaken the leaves appreciably.

Here is another picture of the rear suspension looking forward from the back. Note that I haven't cut off the center bolt yet. Also note that the 2nd leaf in the pack (the main leaf from the '86 D150) is still a little short at the rear of the pack. This shot gives you a good look at the tires also. They are Canadian Tire Roughrider M+S-probably better known as Big O Bigfoot XT's. I wanted something more aggressive than all-terrains but not quite as gnarly as mud tires-so far so good!

I did experience some driveline vibes after lifting-I ended up using a 2.5 degree shim backwards (fat end forward) as I needed to turn my pinion down. This has alleviated 95% of the vibration as I only get a light vibration under hard acceleration. Also my rear driveshaft is none too long and right on the edge of binding the front slip yoke. I looked into a slip yoke from a '91+ YJ as an interim fix until I can find/fabricate a slip yoke eliminator kit but the Chrysler dealer wanted big coin! The YJ yoke has longer splines as well as better clearance for severe angles. I am now trying to find a part # for this yoke right from Spicer and when I do I will post it here.

I also plan to replace the rear axle in the Jeep with a Dana 44 from a trailer-tow package XJ or a Metric Ton MJ-when I do I will redo the lower shock mounts to raise them up to the same height as the axle tube-this will require a change of rear shocks again but it will eliminate 1 more place for the snow/mud/rocks to drag. Pictures to follow just as soon as I acquire 1!

This was the easy part (at least that is what I had figured!). I ordered a pair of front springs from a Grand Cherokee with the Up-Country suspension package (Chrysler part # 52089141) with the intention of installing them first to see how much lift they would give me and then fabricating spacers for the rest of the lift. I was actually kind of disappointed to find that the springs only provided 1.5" lift by themselves ( I would strongly recommend that you borrow/rent/buy a set of spring compressors-they make this project so much easier!). So back to the fabrication area! I found some 3" heavy pipe (actual OD 3.5" with a 3/8"(!) wall) and some 1/4" plate that we had in the iron bin. I used a 3.5" hole saw to cut 2 circles out of the plate and then used a 2" holesaw to cut holes in the 3.5" circles. Knowing I wanted 2" tall spacers I used a cutoff saw to cut the pipe into 1-3/4" lengths. Then I stacked the circles on the pipe and had my Dad weld them together. Voila! Free Spacers! To install these spacers (and actually to install the springs themselves) you have to remove the bumpstops. On my '89 they screw out with a Channellock pliers. The spacers then fit snugly over the bumpstop tower. I put my spacers on against the factory coil spring isolators-I think it would be quieter to sandwich the spacer between the unibody and the isolator but I think when I add my front bumper I will have to add another isolator to compensate so then I will have a spacer sandwich!

Below is a photo of what the spacers look like installed:

Here is a photo that possibly shows it better:

The picture above shows the stock sway bar links still installed. They were reused because they were all I had at the time of reassembly and there was no way I was going to drive the Jeep without a front swaybar. However I soon found that they were too short-one or both sides rubbed the coils on deceleration or braking causing a rattling sound. Also if you compressed both sides of the suspension at once they made a weird sound as they passed over the coil windings. I was going to extend them with coupling nuts and studs (I saw this on another website but I can't remember whose) but I could not find the nuts. I also wanted the ability to remove them quickly if necessary but in keeping with the rest of the project I did not want to spend a lot of money. I finally scrounged enough parts to build replacements-these were constructed in the spirit of
"There Is No Such Thing As Overkill!" Here is a picture of them installed on the Jeep:

The hardest part of the whole deal was finding bushings-I wanted to use a bushing similar to a spring eye bushing or a smaller version of the control arm bushings used in our Jeeps. My brother works at the local Case dealership-I was poking through his parts department one day (amazing what you can find in any different parts department when you're not really looking) and found a cabinet marked "Bushings". Inside were various sizes of rubber bushings with a metal sleeve inside and out. Unfortunately the smallest ID that he had was 5/8". After I did some more searching to no avail I decided that I was going to have to use these. When I went to pick them up I found the pins that you can see in the lower mount-they are a Category 0 three-point hitch lift pin. They are 5/8" x 4" long and come with the linch pins shown in the ends. I had to use a die grinder to enlarge the holes in the lower mounts to 5/8" to make them fit but lengthwise they were perfect. On my '89 the lower bolts were just a Torx-headed bolt and slipped right out-I have heard of them being splined to the mount on other years so you might have a problem removing them on yours.

After finding the bushings I had to find some pipe to make the actual links. These bushings were 1-1/8" OD which seems to be a weird size-I had to scrounge through every iron pile we had to find a piece with the right ID. The vertical pieces are 1" x 3/16" wall pipe. I made them to be 4" longer than stock from center of the lower pin to the flat of the "U"-shaped piece at the top-this worked out to 8-1/2". The "U"'s were made from some rectangle tube we had that the bushings fit snug into-we then whacked one side of the rectangle off in our cutoff saw and welded a 3/8"x 2" carriage-head bolt into each one.

You will notice that the top bushing is currently held to the "U" with a 5/8" bolt-these will be replaced with 5/8" x2" clevis pins and hairpins to complete the quick-disconnect ability.

Here is a close-up of the lower mount:

This photo is taken on the passenger side-due to the length of the lower bushing I had to bend the pin forward (away from the track bar bracket) slightly so that the link could slide easily off and on. I had no such trouble on the driver's side.

Here is a closer look at the top mount:

Again this is shown on the passenger side-clearance is tighter on the driver's side due to the track bar mounting bracket. I had to turn the bolt head-side in for clearance. Note that these bolts are only temporary-I will be changing them to 5/8"x2" clevis pins with hairpins to finish the quick-disconnect feature off.

I reused the stock sway bar bushings to connect the "U" to the sway bar-I will probably upgrade these to polyurethane along with the bar-to-frame bushings at some later date.

Here is another look at the top mount from the side:

How do they work? Great so far-no more noise from the front end. I cannot imagine making them fail-they are way heavy duty. If I could have found some smaller bushings (especially ID and width) I would have used them-oh well maybe next time right?

Once you have raised the front end you will find that the front axle is no longer centered under the Jeep. You can redrill the hole in the axle bracket where the trackbar mounts to it to recenter it but I took my trackbar off and used a press to straighten some of the bend to lengthen it. I had to increase mine 3/4" to compensate for the 3.5" lift but I think everyone is different. When you reinstall the trackbar make sure both ends are TIGHT!!! If they are not the happiest thing that will happen is that you will have a clunking noise up front. If the tapered end is loose in its bracket for very long it will egg out the hole and then you get to spend more money! A loose track bar can also cause the Death Wobble which is about as much fun as a trip to the dentist-trust me I experienced it big time! Mine came about because my steering stabilizer was completely worn out and I had one bad tie rod end (so I replaced them all). When I replaced the tie rod ends on the hollow tube (LH wheel to long tie rod end) I took the opportunity to beef the hollow tube. I had seen this done on another site on a YJ but I couldn't see why it couldn't be done on an XJ. I inserted a piece of 9/16" cold-roll solid bar into it to stiffen it-the piece I used was approximately 32" long and could have probably been an inch or two longer. This size is a perfect fit requiring a few love taps from a hammer to seat it into the tube. There has been some discussion that during the dreaded Death Wobble this tube actually flexes due to the enormous strain so I think strengthening it is a good deal for this reason alone. Bill Ansell sleeved his with a piece of pipe sized to fit the OD-details are on his web site-the link is in my home page. I think his method is equally as good-mine is just sneakier! I guess if you were really into it you could do both!

Also note that you will have to realign the front end after the lift (especially toe-in-it'll be way wacky)

As you can see in the above photos I ran this setup at the beginning with the stock XJ front shocks-they are short for the lift but not as critically short as the rear shocks. I wanted to wait to replace them until I could replace the front brake lines at the same time. I have now done both. I replaced both items with YJ parts. Here is a photo of the old XJ shocks beside the new YJ shocks:

I should have included a tape measure for reference I guess-the difference in extended length is about 4". The YJ shocks are about 2" longer at full compression as well. You will notice that the top mount remains a stud but the bottom mount on a YJ is an eyelet. Therefore I had to fabricate bar pin eliminators. Here is a photo of one: they are fabricated from angle iron welded to a flat plate backing and drilled with a 5/8" hole for the crossbolt into the shock and two 3/8" holes-2-1/2" center-to-center for mounting to the XJ shock pad:

Installation was easy-remove the old shocks-install the new bar pin eliminators-install the new shocks!

As mentioned above I also replaced the front brake hoses with YJ models to provide increased length. I ordered Raybestos part #'s BH38861 and BH38862 (as per Ed Stevens' web page). Here is a picture of the LH side hoses side-by-side:

The difference again is about 4"-all in the metal line part. You can see in the picture that the XJ hose has a 90 degree bend in the metal part-this conforms to the caliper. I used a tubing bender to roughly duplicate this bend in the replacements for better positioning. You can see it in this photo:

Here is another photo that possibly shows it better:

I would have liked to find something that had the same length of steel line as the XJ ones but a longer rubber hose. Oh well maybe later....

I have to preface this section by saying that I drive probably the roughest truck in the world as part of my job daily so my impressions of the ride may be skewed just a little! With that said I was quite impressed how well the Jeep actually rides now. Yes it is firmer than it was before but it is not horrible by any means-in fact it rides better now with people/cargo in it than before simply because the rear springs were so sagged out that it found the bumpstops very easily before. I haven't noticed any differences in its cornering capabilities even with the 31's mounted up and the rear sway bar removed. I will probably upgrade the front bar to polyurethane bushings at some point in time. I haven't flexed it up yet to check out articulation as I am still waiting to do some grinding when I have it all apart again-I have tried to climb a gravel pile in the yard and was surprised how well it worked but than I am easily impressed! It does droop enough to make the rear E-brake cables the limit in the back-I am sure the lower control arms are hitting the shock mounts in front as well. I will post photos after I get some more of the bugs worked out. So far I am extremely happy with the finished project-this winter will tell the tale for sure.

As stated in the rear suspension text I am looking for a Dana 44 for the rear of my Jeep. When I find one I will be regearing it to 4.11:1 and installing a True-Trac (I'm leery of lockers in snow especially since the rest of my family drives this on occasion)-I will be swapping the front Dana 30 at the same time to one from a '95+ (stronger axle U-joints) with a 2.5l (factory 4.11:1 gears) and adding a True-Trac to it also. I considered trying to build a Dana 44 reverse-rotation for the front-I might still try as it would be a good article.

If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me.