Lifts, which one?

[provin1327]

I know there are body lifts and suspension lifts, and I sorta know how each works. Body lifts use bushings and such to lift the body for more tire and ground clearance, while suspension uses the leaf springs to lif it? (that one im not so sure about) I hear that one is way better then the other, but I forgot which one it was now, and that worse one looks very bad after a while, it starts to sag or somthing. What would be the minimum worthful lift for a jeep yj?

[Kodiak Spirit]

as far as YJ's go, they are on leaf springs, and most 4" lift kits will get you on 33's and a 4" plus a 1" body lift will get you on 35's with a little fender trimming.

there are some kits better than others, I went with a Currie "soft ride" 4" kit with rancho shocks, and those leaf springs have been doing me good for 5 years now.

The cost of lifting a YJ is so much less than a TJ the difference would almost pay for a set of 33" tires as well.

Plus, no death wobble worries, and you can do the lift yourself with a couple of jack stands and a jack, plus regular tools. no welding required. and you can lose the track bars and the sway bar, they just get in the way.

I ran with the 4" and 32's for a while untill I saved up enough to upgrade my axles, then I just added a 1" poly body lift and cut a lil sheetmetal, and got my 35's.

[provin1327]

whoa whoa whoa, easy on the terminology. So you can combine lifts, would a 4 inch suspension be good, how high are body lifts, would it be better to do a body and suspension lift, the 5 inch like you were talking about?

[Desert Jewel]

the suspension gives you better articulation - the body lift gives you better clearance. yes, you can combine them.

[SAR Jeeper]

A suspension lift will raise your Jeep, FRAME and BODY. Diff's and axles stay the same height. A body lift will raise ONLY the BODY, leaving the frame, diffs and axles the same height.

A suspension lift works by replacing your leaf springs, with new springs that are more arched (more bend to them). Disadvantage is that a arched spring will flex less than a straight spring.

A body lift will not change your Jeeps ability to flex.

BOTH lifts will allow you to run larger tires, raising your entire Jeep.

I think the ultimate goal is to clear the largest tires you can while keeping your center of gravity as low as possible.

Another inexpensive option is the shackle lift. This essentially moves your springs away from your frame, creating lift. I think they make up to 2" shackle lift, but most will not recommend that. A 2" shackle lift will be shackles that are 4" longer than stock. Quite honestly, they look funny. Someone will also probably pipe in about the change in pinion or caster, or something like that. Don't know too much about that.

[HeloMech]

my stock YJ springs are horrible. My "extra" cashflow seems to be more and more limited lately. I bought my YJ with stock suspension, but 31" tires on it. I bought the jeep for the snow so I wanted to be able to put chains on it. So, long story "short"... I just threw on a set of the 2" shackles. Gave me the clearance for a set of chains or cables to fit on the tires.

Eventually I'll do new springs and lose the shackles. For now, it was an $80 fix to my problem... err, my problem with the jeep... errrrr, ONE of my problems with my jeep.

also, I don't go rock crawling or offroad anything more extreme than a dirt forestry road with my adventure pass. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[Kodiak Spirit]

HeloMech, we can fix the limited wheel thing for ya, come out to Calico!

[DEADMEAT]

I just took off some 2" lift shackles off my 80 CJ. they do give you the extra lift, but you will loose some of your steering. at higher speeds you will get the wobbles. if you have the money i would recommend new springs, and maybe a 1" body lift after that is you still need the clearance for your tires. lift shackles are the cheap way, but you get what you pay for.

[HeloMech]

I have the 2" shackles as stated above. I don't get ANY wobbles or anything noticeably different in the steering. I drive up to about 75'ish without any issues... well, other than the time it takes the 4 cylinder to GET it to that speed!