Add A Leaf Ride Quality

[6spdYJ]

6324: Huey and Cobra Avionics O level / 6042: IMRL manager

[TipsE-Z]

Got ya. I did IMRL for 5 years for my shop. Sucked. Hope to see ya on the trail sometime!

[DirtBall89]

I am really happy with my 4.5" Rubicon Express Extreme lift. It replaced a 4" Rough Country lift and the ride quality of the Rubicon lift is MUCH better than that of the Rough Country. I also did a 1" body lift (which is the maximum recommended to avoid body tub cracks). My tires never hit and for a YJ the articulation is much improved.

I think you will be very happy with the Rubicon Express products.

[TipsE-Z]

Good to hear it. I'm going to start looking for one and maybe slowly piece it together or maybe get lucky and find a used one! Ha

[dirtman13]

You won't be disapointed with the RE springs. I was able to piece together my kit cheaper then their asking for their complete kit.

[TipsE-Z]

Nice. I guess it's time for some ebay browsing.

[6spdYJ]

ebay, CL and MJR!

[TipsE-Z]

So I'm still reading, studying, and trying to figure out what is the best route to get my Jeep out of it's young adult stage and into its adult height. I've been doing some reading and am thinking of doing the 7" RE SOA kit that includes the Extreme Duty Springs and Shocks. I don't know how to weld, but I'm planning to buy a mobile welder soon and start trying to teach myself. I guess my questions are this:

Any mobile welder recommendations?
Has anyone ran this lift or had experience with it?
And what is the advantages of a "ladder bar" for axle wrap?

[OU812]

I have a cheapie harbor freight welder that I make brackets and stuff with. But I have some serious welding ahead of me on my hotrod project. A guy who lives down the street from me is a professional welder. I talked to him for a few minutes the other day and it is pretty cheap to hire someone to come weld for you if you can prep everything in place. I plan on building my motor mounts and transmission cross member and tacking everything together and hiring someone to come burn it all in. For stuff like welding axle perches and such that could be unsafe if done wrong I would rather pay someone who knows what’s up. The guy down the street from me charges $100 for the first hour and $60 per hour after that. If I have everything prepped and have a full hour of stuff for him to weld than it’s pretty reasonable. I would still like to take a welding class at the college and buy a nice 220 machine that is capable of this kind of work. But till then..

[TipsE-Z]

I had planned to leave the perches to a pro but am wanting to do some little things like adding onto a bumper and sliders on my own.

[Tumbleweed13]

I believe you mentioned that your jeep is a daily driver. If thats so, GET A LATTER BAR! Axle wrap on a SOA kit is a serious issue. Make sure its a true triangulated latter bar. A cheap one will only prolong the inevitable.

[TipsE-Z]

After getting visiting with some friends back East I'm leaning away from this now. A friend has a TJ with about 7 inches of lift and said it's basically pointless to go that high. He sais 4 to 5 inches in plenty. I'm experienced with this a little, but not so much in the build aspects. Thoughts anyone?

[dirtman13]

I agree with your friend. 7" is way too much. I think you will be happier staying around 4-5" Remember you want to keep your center of gravity lower.

Being new to the Jeeping thing I suggest you figure out the type of wheeling you plan on doing and build for that. The last thing you want to do is start throwing parts at it and then later find out it needs to be redone because you want to get a little more hard core. You would be amazed how much a well build 4” leaf sprung suspension can do.

As for the welder. If you don’t plan on doing a whole lot after the Jeep is done Scott’s suggestion is a good one. I have a Readywelder (portable welder) but only trust it to get me off the trail. I would not use it to build my rig. Hobart makes some great welders that are very easy to use and are beginner friendly. That's what I used on my build.

[TipsE-Z]

Thank you. I plan to do rock crawling only and maybe driving into some hunting spots. Sand and mud are fun but I don't care for how hard they are on a rig. I was looking at a portable welder for the same reason, just to get me off the trail and maybe use it to weld up a front bumper once I got good at it. The perches and all of those items I'd planned to have a professional do it but I'd never really given it a thought of having someone come to me to do it.

Thanks for the input Chuck and Scott. And by the way Chuck, that picture in Petersons hardly looked like the Jeep I just met, looks like you've been busy.

[6spdYJ]

With a YJ your most important things to focus on are the Dana 35, T/C slip yoke and the 3.07 gears. Open the spring clamps, get a set of 1" longer shackles, pull the rear panhard bar and swaybar from the front and you'll be shocked how capable your rig already is. Like Dirtman 13 said, keep the center of gravity lower. Get a set of TJ flares and run 33's.