How will this look?

[bryanjeep]

Help My Jeep is overheating.

How will my 2" shackle lift that I already have installed and my 3" body lift that is lying on my bedroom floor look on my YJ with 31 x 10.50 tires?

 

[jps4jeep]

It will look fine with the 31's you have. But 3 inch is a bit drastic!

 

[Tug-n-pull]

Muddy soft top forever?

1.5" of each would be the max for me. tug

 

[Snitty]

2 inch body at most... you CAN do 3... but that is pushing it

 

[bryanjeep]

I already bought that 3 inch a while ago for future plans w/ spring over. But I am tired of just having it my room. I want to put it to use now instead of later. Besides, I wanna work on my Jeep's look. I am tired of fixing crap. I dont do any climbing so it isnt like I am putting too much stress on the cab mounts. Do you think I will look ok with that much lift and 31 x 10.50 tires? :?:

 

[hi_c]

If you're asking "will the tires look ok", then yes. You will have some good space between your fenders. However, when manufacturers say that your shackles are 2" lift shackles, they're really only 1" lift shackles. Why? because they only lift one side of the spring. Trust me.

And on a personal note, lift shackles with no spring lift... doesn't look that good. I know, cause that's how my Jeep is set up, and I hate it. But when I get my lift this winter, it will look much better.

C

ps. click my website below to see pictures of my jeep with a shackle lift only. No body lift.

 

[bryanjeep]

I sactually have 1.5 to 2" lift from my 2 inch shackle lift. I took measurements. I like these shackles because they are cheap and give some extra clearance! I am gonna put the body lift on also, but I hope I have enough tire there to look right.

 

[RedWrang]

Not to start any arguments here, But I have had my 3 in B/L for over a year now and no problems at all. I built bumpers to hide the gap front and rear and cut and rewelded the brackets on my nerf bars to raise them. I know alot of people dont like B/L but I can run mine 80 miles an hour and never be scared of it. I have had people watch when I flex it or climb hills and the body never moves. So just my 2 cents worth. Go 4 it.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

I sactually have 1.5 to 2" lift from my 2 inch shackle lift. I took measurements.

If you're that worried about looks you would get rid of those ridiculously long shackles.

Lift shackles only lift half of thier difference in height over the stock shackles, so yours must be 3" to 4" longer than stock, and that is WAY too long.

Your caster is now way off and your jeep likely wanders a lot, not to mention the increase in rear pinion angle. The lift shackles will hit EVERYTHING when you go offroad, they greatly decrease your approach and departure angles.

Have you gotten the feeling yet that lift shackles aren't necessarily the best way to go about lifting a jeep Install some ful length add-a-leaves if you want some inexpensive lift, they will give some arch back to those stock springs and you won't have all the downsides of having long shackles. Stock springs with an AAL is actually the hot set-up for eventual use with a SOA.

 

[Snitty]

i'm all about add-a-leafs for lifting... VERY inexpensive... i did mine for less than a body lift or a shackle lift... even cheaper than a tank of gas.... but we all know that nowadays, you can buy a house for less than a tank of gas

 

[bryanjeep]

What is involved in adding add-a-leafs? Can I get by without driveshaft mods?

 

[sooowee]

What is involved in adding add-a-leafs? Can I get by without driveshaft mods?

I am not a big proponent of add-a-leafs on short wheelbase vehicles. I originally put add-a-leafs on my Jeep to get a "cheap lift" and was totally dissatisfied from the time that I first took it for a drive till I spent the money to do it right. Adding leaves to your spring packs will increase the spring rate, giving you a very harsh ride. Sure, there are ways of "softening" the ride by modifying the leaves etc., but, why go through all the trouble when you can just do it right the first time. Save your money and either buy a full lift kit, or buy some quality springs from a reputable spring manufacturer.

As for the body lift, I say--do it if it makes you happy. Just make sure that the bolts are torqued properly. I don't think that the approximate 4" lift you will have with the BL and shackles will look too bad with your 31's. Just think of all the room you will have to stuff them into your fenders...

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

I have not noticed a stiffer ride in my experience in using full-length add-a-leaves. It's not that involved, just buy 4 new spring bolts that go through the entire spring pack and an extra set of YJ front springs.

• Cut the eyelets from both front spring packs
  Place a c-clamp near the center pin and remove the spring bolt
  Release the c-clamp and save the top two leaves of each pack
  Support the Jeep on jack stands under the frame, letting the axles hang
  Remove the u-bolts and jack the axle up off the springs
  Place a c-clamp near the spring bolt and remove the spring bolt as menitioned above
  Place the add-a-lead in the spring pack according to length and install the new spring bolt
  Tighten the spring bolt and c-clamp
  Cut the spring bolt excess off after tight
  Reinstall the axles

This method keeps the main leaf of each pack attached to the jeep, which makes the install a lot easier. I've netted 1.5" of lift on each of the two YJ's I've done this on. You can get more lift if you use AAL's with more arch or stiffer spring rate, but possibly at the expense of a decent ride.

 

[Snitty]

i went to a junkyard and found some packs that had a desirable arch... i took out two leafs from each of my packs, and replaced them with 2 leafs each from the "new" packs

 

[bryanjeep]

But do I need to do any driveline mods with add a leaf or even steering corrections?

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

No steering or driveline mods needed with any of my AAL installs. You can even reuse the stock shocks if they don't limit your droop too much.