Installing A Rubicon Express 3.5" Lift | How To Lift a XJ 

Those are stock wheels and tire off a JK. Size a 255/75r17. I think thats close to a 32” tall tire

Hey Drew, I know you quit the channel, but just thought I'd say, we miss your content. Hope all is well.

thank you so much for this comment! I am soo glad this video helped you out. Comments like this inspire me to keep making more videos. Thank you so much

I agree this video is super installation of this kit. I’ve watched it several times so far. Will review during my installation.

I just used a bottle from tea popped a hole in the top added a hose to fit on air removal plug. Works great for the last 5 yrs

Thanks man. Thanks for watching

thanks bug

But I can add this, measure from the hole to the center and the shortest length goes to the front approx. 23”

Glad it helped!

Jenna Hart thanks. Jon was a lot of help.

its a great lift! thanks for watching

I'm glad the video could help. Saudi Arabia! That's awesome! Thanks for watching!

Thanks mans! OME makes some good stuff

Thanks man. I appreciate the kind works.

Let us know how you made out on those 33” tires

How does yours ride? Mine is like a rock. About to have the whole lift inspected for shortcomings

How did it turn out. Mine rides like a brick. Wasn’t impressed. About to try drop brackets, shocks and different coils more than likely

Dan Hambrick yeah I think he got everything from a zj for the conversion. Where we live is split by the river. Illinois is just 2 mins away from me in Iowa.

Yep, the brakes are from a 98 v8 ZJ.

@@jon1913 what all did you have to pull from the zj to make the conversion work?

Hksfarm I’ve seen people use them and I’ve used them on my XJ. I don’t know if it’s the shocks I’ve installed in the past or what but it always seems like those brackets are to narrow then the shock bushing. The shocks we installed in this video were the same way, about an 1/8” too narrow. That makes me think that those brackets work for some shocks and not others.

extended brake lines would be a good investment. depending on were your jeep is from, you may want to buy new bolts for the leaf spring eyes that bolt the spring to the body of the jeep. they sometime like to get stuck in the bushings.

@@TheOffRoadCorner What size are the bolts, the leafspring? Thanks, and great video. I'm In the middle of receiving my order. Everything was backordered.

I’m not actually sure. The owner of the jeep bought everything so I don’t know.

The shackle angle might be slightly more vertical than factory but not much

You will get a slight driveline vibration, but it's not that bad. A transfer case drop would remedy it tho.

Rusty’s sells a cross member that lowers the TC 1” without giving up any ground clearance. It is also stronger.

The ride is firmer than stock but good for the price.

it seemed to level the suspension out. the jeep was sagging in the rear before the lift and its sitting level now.

Jon got the twin tube shocks with his lift. He says the ride is a little stiff now but has been softening up.

The Off Road Corner thx

I purchased without shocks and got some Quadratic 3 1/2” - 4” hydro 7 shocks for a softer ride

The shackle angle could be better. Their almost vertical at ride height. Those relocation brackets will give you a better ride with a better shackle angle.

@@TheOffRoadCorner Did it sit level front to back with 3.5" coils?

it might be slightly higher in the back but will settle with time.

The RE are pretty good. They seem to work well with the lift. I don’t have any experience with bilsteins shock. I’m wondering if they are worth the money also. I would hope they are way better than stock shocks purely because they are so much more expensive.

We have some bilstein 4600 on a ZJ and they work great.

Mr Automatech he’s running stock JK wheels and tires. Tires are 255/75r17. Standard tire size would be close to a 32x10

The rear sway bar wasn’t reinstalled. The kit doesn’t come with new sway bar links because most people just pitch the rear swaybar. I don’t notice a difference with or without the rear swaybar installed

Another Question (s): (I am interested in installing this same lift kit on my 2000 XJ)1) How does your friend Jon's jeep Ride and Drive now?2) Did you guys end up needing to install the "Slip Yoke Eliminator Kit" into the NP231 TC?3) Did you need to upgrade to a Aftermarket Adjustable "Track Bar"?Thank You Sir!!

1. Yes Jon daily drives his xj 2. We didn’t install the SYE. I don’t think it’s needed with this lift. 3. He hasn’t upgraded to a adjustable track bar. I don’t think it’s needed unless you want to adjust the front axles position left to right.

There 255/75r17. That makes them roughing 32” tall 10” wide

Not really because usually the new springs are a heavier spring rate

I tightened everything up with the wheels on and the weight of the jeep sitting on the ground.

The Off Road Corner ok thank you i couldn’t find it anywhere on the web so helps a lot thanks

No problem. Thanks for watching

Mine seems to be opposite. Driver side is shorter than the passenger side. But my jeep leans to the driver side.

@@TheOffRoadCorner hhmm... if replacing the suspension in the video it should have corrected that right? I'm just wondering if it's common, bc I noticed my old passenger rear shock was compressed before I took it off. Then when I installed the new one I noticed it was also compressed

Right. It could us a full weekend to complete.

Lucc 701 this kit doesn’t make any changes to the track bar what so ever. In my experience changes to the track bar only re-centers the axle to the body. My thoughts are that if you don’t have death wobble now, you won’t have death wobble with this lift.

@@TheOffRoadCorner that's my understanding of a track bar too. I've read when you lift xjs the front end wants to pivot to the passenger side enough to cause vibrations (death wobble) and an adjustable track bar pulls it back properly. Since you put on the RE I'm looking at, thought I'd ask if you've had this happen highway driving. I hear the higher the lift the more necessary the track bar, maybe 3" isn't enough to pull it out of whack.

@Lucc 701 Jon says the jeep hasn't had any issues yet. the only thing he has noticed is a slight vibration during acceleration. this is due to the change in the driveshaft angle. And you're probably right that 3" isn't enough to require any track bar changes. my DIY budget 3" lift and Jon's 3.5" RE lift work without adjustable track bars. Death wobble is a strange thing. Really any change to the steering and/or the suspension geometry could produce death wobble. I'm currently dealing with some pretty bad death wobble on my 05 Ram and it's completely stock. It has the same steering and suspension setup has the XJ. that tells me that stock or lifted, death wobble can happen. I checked out that IRO lift. if it was me, I'd go with the RE lift. I've dealt with lifts that include add-a-leaves in the past and I never liked them.

@@TheOffRoadCorner man I greatly appreciate your input. Death wobble on a stock suspension I didn't think was possible. Definitely didn't think an 05 ram would have the same setup as a solid axle xj. I agree since the leafs are stock I didn't want to mess around with the add a leaf so was spending the extra for full replacement leafs. The iro lift I was looking at is the premium one but comes with adjustable upper control arms, adjustable track bar, TC drop spacers that the re lift doesn't. Some say these things are necessary, others don't so thanks again on the knowledge. This is the iro lift I'm looking at. With the full leaf replacement it comes to $1,050 plus $140 in shipping. Not sure how much your re lift cost in comparison depending where you got it from. www.ironrockoffroad.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD

No problem man. I'm here to help. That lift kit looks pretty complete. I like how adjustable it is. The RE super ride lift comes with new fixed lower arms (with rubber bushing)and you reuse the stock uppers and track bar. I check the RE website and looks like this kit was about $800. So youre paying more but youre also getting more. $1200 for a brand new adjustable suspension seems like a great deal. HAHA, you might have swade me.

255/75 r 17. They are real close to a 32” tall tire

Rachel Bowen I didn’t charge him anything. He is a friend of mine.

Yes. the change of the drag link angle due to suspension height change causes the front tires toe-in.

You can do your own toe in alinement

The rear swaybar is undersized for even the stock suspension. Most lift kits don’t make drop brackets to reconnect the swaybar so most people (including me) just remove it.

@@TheOffRoadCorner ok I still have mine o n and i have a 4.5 inch lift seems fine

@@TheOffRoadCorner might take off and see what happens

I haven’t installed a sye kit. The jeep rides better than factory now.

The Off Road Corner thanks bro

Jon has upgraded his xj’s rear brakes to the disk from drums

Adjustable track bars don’t cure death wobble unless you are replacing a wore out track bar with a adjustable track bar. Although alignment can cause death wobble, the alignment has to be WAY off for it to cause death wobble. On this lift the toe-in hardly changed. Definitely not enough to cause death wobble.

@@TheOffRoadCorner I own a 2000 Jeep XJ that is Stock and well cared for, one owner with 76 Thousand miles on it when i picked it up. The Jeep went down the road fine for Month's, but was about 8 yr's old and the Suspension was worn out rear Leaf Spring Shackle rotted and banging. So not wanting an off rd ride i swapped out the rear leafs and Shackles with new Stock Replacements. That move put the Jeep in a nose dive. Next move i made was to buy New Springs for the front 2 inches over Stock Height and 4 new Shocks/ fronts for a 3 inch lift along with new front lower control arms/ new longer front Brake lines. That move made the Jeep look perfectly level. The first time i took it for a test drive when i hit about 35 MPH the Jeep had Death Wobble so bad it ripped the (Track Bar mounting Bracket right off the Axle). So i bought a Replacement Bracket re welded it to the Axle and installed a New Adjustable Track Bar and had a Pro Line Up done and never had that problem again. The only change i made was to lift the front 2 inches. Still has Stock Steel Jeep Rim's and P 235 75 R 15 inch tires. I'm no Pro but just by doing the work you can see the higher you raise the front the more the Stock Track Bar pulls the front Axle to the drivers side when your lining up the Bolt Hole. Didn't seem like a big deal, but for me it was. I've put another 40 Thousand miles on the Jeep since doing the work and all is well. Paid ed 38 Hundred for the Jeep in 2008 spent about 7 Hundred on Repairs another 4 Hundred on New Rubber just this month and it's been my Daily Driver for the last 12 yr's. I'd say i got my money's worth. Keep those videos coming Thanks.

These Jeeps are amazing. Suspension geometry is huge to keep the jeep handling great. Changing parts can hinder that like changing spring heights with addressing other parts like trackbar or control arms can change handling easily. Thanks man! More videos coming!

@@nobsatthistime . The death wobble is more from of worn out control arms and the bushings. Track bar diagnosing for death wobble have a friend sit in your jeep you under neath have your friend turn steering wheel back and forth just a bit and see if you have movement between bushing on track bar and the bolt if there is even 1/4” that can be the cause of death wobble.

david zion nope. There is a little vibration on accel and decel. It’s not enough vibration to be worried about.

@@TheOffRoadCorner I thought there was a risk of the drive shaft dropping out when flexed with 3" or more lift.

david zion I haven’t ran into that. If had my jeep at full flex with the tires spin and haven’t had a issue.

I don’t think there’s an order that is better than others. I’d save the control arms for last if possible. It’ll keep the axle under control while installing the other parts.

We left off the lower arms until we installed the coils. Then installed everything else. Just loosen up the bolts on the upper arms to help with removal and installation of the coil springs. Then tighten and torque all of the bolts after it is on the ground with the wheels installed. We used blue locktite on all of our bolt threads to help keep them secure.

SYE isn’t needed. 3.5” lift is probably the limit before you need a SYE

@@TheOffRoadCorner well it's my first lift ever sonic need advice the rubicon express sits at like 4 inches though? Wont this cause bad vibrations in my driveline

At 4” you might notice a very slight vibration but it won’t be bad. Just noticeable.

Thanks man! Comments like ours keeps me making videos. Thanks for watching!

Thanks man! Thanks for watching