From: beaubien@hardy.u.washington.edu (Scott deBeaubien)
Subject: Re: Lifting a JEEP Wrangler?
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 20:09:53 GMT

In article <1992Oct9.220023.14270@jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca> q1hl@jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca (Nameless CS Student) writes:
>In article <Bvv7E6.6Dw@cup.hp.com> dhepner@cup.hp.com (Dan Hepner) writes:
>>More arched springs will result in more wheel travel, useful when
>>traveling over rough terrain.  Spring shackle changes, or adding one 
>>block above the spring and below the diff, will all constitute fairly
>>inexpensive ways of raising the fender well to clear larger tires.
>>On jeeps with the spring below the diff, it is possible to move it
>>above.
>
>PLEASE SAY WHERE I CAN GET THIS KIT!  I've been searching *forever*
>for a spring mount conversion to put my springs ABOVE the axel, but
>most off-road shops just look at me like I've got 2 heads or
>something....  I know they exist, but where?  (I have an '88 Jeep
>Wrangler/YJ)  Please send MAIL, as the newsgroups sometimes scroll
>between reads.
>

No such kit exists.  All the jeeps I've seen with this "over the axle"
spring conversion have been strictly custom.

... stuff deleted...

>Well, with a 2" add-a-leaf lift and a Rugged Trail RS5000 shock on
>each corner, I can now feel every crack and pebble on the pavement.
>Mind you, I can also carry over 1000 lbs of people and equipment
>off-road without even *thinking* about ground clearance or bottoming
>the shocks. :-)
>

Two things:  First, your machine still would not "bottom" the shocks,
that's what bump stops on the frame are for -- to prevent you from
damaging your shocks -- and if you've just got an add-a-leaf with
stock shocks -- then you can't "bottom" your shock; Second, just an
observation, these stiff suspensions that we jeepers have on our rigs
are similar to the suspensions on sports coupes (ala MG and Datsun 2000)
a friend once observed "I can feel a dime at 5 miles per hour, but I could
sure drive right over a 3" bump at 70 miles an hour with no problem"
He owned a sports coupe my '85 Scrambler with a Rancho 2.5" and extended
shackles and 33" tires should handle a 5" to 6" bump with no problem :).


>>Significant lifts require modified steering and driveline parts.
>
>What is significant?  

Rancho says 2.5" is the max you can go, thus, their 2.5" suspension
lift kit.  Superlift sells a 4" lift kit that comes with the drop-down
pitman arm -- this is to keep all your steering components as close to
horizontal as possible.  This is the way the system is designed to be!
If your center link is not horizontal, your steering may experience 
abnormal stresses which manifest themselves as "pulling" or wander.


>What do the mods entail?  The drive shafts
>(front and rear) are both telescoping, and the steering shouldn't
>require more than a simple adjustment to re-center the wheels- the
>Jeep steering seems *designed* for high-lift use: the wheels are
>connected by a tie-rod (which controls toe-in/out), and the wheels
>are turned via a "center link" which runs from the right wheel to
>the steering arm on the left side of the vehicle.  Raising the Jeep
>should involve no more than lengthening the center link to adjust
>for the (marginally) greater distance between the right tire and
>the steering arm.  6-inches of lift would require less than a
>half-inch of adjustment, well within the adjustable range of the
>center-link ends.
>-- 
>Chris.

(see above).  And as to drive shafts, in a suspension lift, you not only
change the angle of the driveline, you change the length as well.  This
IS significant as the yoke only has so much tolerance beyond which, well
let's just say if you got airborn on a vehicle that was overlifted and
you came down real hard and bounced, you might find your vehicle not
drivable anymore as the yoke will pull out from the differential.  This
is the reason (I think) why Rancho only goes 2.5" where Superlift goes
4" on a suspension lift.

I'm not a mechanic so I don't claim to be really technical or anything.
I am just a jeep lover who has done a lot of modification to my own rig
and I've done a lot of looking around at the various after-market products
that are available.  As to the original question as to what is the "best"
way to lift a rig?  My answer is go talk to someone at one of those
after-market 4WD places and let them give you their opinions!  It really
does depend on the application.