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[galster]

Hi I'm wanting to fit a lift kit so far looked at pro comp kit 2.5" front 3" rear costs £500 and OME kit 2" £700 has anyone got any advice on which  I should go for is it worth the extra for the OME

[garyf]

Don't go ProCrap they have serious issues with the bottom leaf spinning on the rears and taking your 2 rear tyres out

I have had to seriously doctor mine to make it safe, when I gett he pennies I will be changing the rears for sure

I know where there is a guy who has 2 secondhand rears by Iron man springs, the only issue is they are attched to a good suppposiedly recon rear axle and hes looking for £150 for the lot based in Market Harborough, pm my if your interested and I'll let you have his number

[David_LLAMA4x4]

Hi I'm wanting to fit a lift kit so far looked at pro comp kit 2.5" front 3" rear costs £500 and OME kit 2" £700 has anyone got any advice on which  I should go for is it worth the extra for the OME

 I can do you a Rough Country 3" all round for £ 455 including vat....

 Give me a call on 01938.850382 if you need one quick as I am out of stock but ptting an order in to the States this week and could easily get extra bits thrown onto the pallets.....

David

[JamesH]

Old Man Emu is in a different league in terms of longevity, durability and comfort. It should really be advertised as an suspension upgrade kit as it isn't designed just to provide lift. It is designed to improve the vehicles suspension and athe couple of inches lift you get is a byproduct of this. Look at the shocks on all the Africa expedition Landrovers, Toyotas etc. The majority will be OME and the Patrols used for the Long Way Down trip had their fancy racing shocks ($$$$) changed for OME after the first test because they wouldn't last as well.

If I were to start with a new XJ for long distance travel, road use, green lane type offroading and expedition / holiday / camping type use I'd fit Old Man Emu again. The only reason I replaced it was the desire for bigger tyres and more flex.

Rough Country gets good reviews amongst entry level 3" lift kits and is probably your best bet for the money.  If you want a true lift of 3-4" for more serious offroading and have a bit more cash then go for a Rubicon Express kit. Avoid Pro-Comp unless you want to be modifying all the parts to work safely, have a bone shaking ride and replace rear springs every year.

[Jeepthang]

If you have the cash then ship a Rubicon Express kit in from the US. I've got the 4.5" Superflex and can't rate it enough.
 

[Tank]

I had a Rubicon Express kit on my old XJ and that was an excellent kit with loads of flex and good on road too,but they are a lot more than a budget kit really

[BK]

heres a 3" rough country lift on mine,but in my honest opinon if you are gonna stick some weight in the back (ive got a gas tank)go for longer shackles or keep the standard shocks on cos when there is a full tank of gas and a full tank of petrol the rear springs compress a bit,oh and a must is sway bar disconnects

[mikesknives]

I'll let you know in about two weeks, I've got the full kit and caboodle in the garage waiting to go on.  Hopefully if I'm on the ball I might do some before and after shots.

I'm stuck on tyre choice though I've already got a thread on it but here seems like another good opportunity to get some ideas.  I'm definately going for BFG AT's but don't know wether to get 30's or 31's.

I can't see any to get an idea of actual size and I'd the choice to be hassle free if poss, obviously there is an element of bigger is better but I don't want to over wheel it and ruin normal road work.

What's the best way forward it's too big a wedge to get wrong!!

[mikesknives]

I'll let you know in about two weeks, I've got the full kit and caboodle in the garage waiting to go on.  Hopefully if I'm on the ball I might do some before and after shots.

I'm stuck on tyre choice though I've already got a thread on it but here seems like another good opportunity to get some ideas.  I'm definately going for BFG AT's but don't know wether to get 30's or 31's.

I can't see any to get an idea of actual size and I'd the choice to be hassle free if poss, obviously there is an element of bigger is better but I don't want to over wheel it and ruin normal road work.

What's the best way forward it's too big a wedge to get wrong!!

[JamesH]

Below is mine with a newly installed OME 3" kit and 31" BFG MTs.



It's not entirely hassle free running 31s, I had to trim the front bumper endcaps and fit some shim type wheels spacers. I also fitted extra bumpstop to the front and when the springs sagged a bit with age I fitted extended shackles and coil spring spacers.

I'd do the same again but for totally hassle free modification I'd recommend 30" tyres and is has the added benefit of affecting overall gearing less.

[GermanXJ]

Here is mine with a Rocky road outfitters 2" buget boost.  They have them in 3" too.  Real inexpensive, and you keep you stock springs/shocks so you keep the stock ride feel.  It also gives you good flex, and easy to fit in a day.

[BK]

In response to the tyre question,if you are doing a lot of road work stick to 30" tyres or do what im gonna do and have a set of road wheels/tyres in their normal size ans also have a set of cheaper wheels and offroad tyres for offroading,it makes sense,and WHY pay for bfg,s when you can get an offroad tyre for £60.00.....youll be crying when you rip a side wall out and you have £110.00 to fork out for a BFG.........but in the end its up to you,just trying to be helpful..............If you put 31" muds on you will find that every time you put it on cruise at 75 mph if you get to a slight hill itll gear down and rev its bollocks off!!.

for tyres try this guy www.sowdentyres.co.uk hes cheap and very helpfull

[mikesknives]

Thanks for the replies guys thats the kind of advice I was looking for.  I think I'll just play it safe and go with 30's.  As for the price there not to bad, when you consider my day job is running a skip hire company with 7 wagons and we get through about a tyre a week at around £230 a pop the odd side wall on a BFG isn't going to break my heart.  I was considering a set on MT's on a spare set of wheels for the offroading but we shall see.

[JamesH]

Do as much offroading as possible with the ATs, you'll learn lots more about finding grip. MTs make it much easier but they still clog up and slip and having driven my XJ for a year or so offroad on ATs I feel I can at least try a few things to get grip before winching or being recovered.

An XJ with an OME lift and 30" BFG ATs is a really nice combination of on and off-road. There are seveal times when I wish I still had a vehicle like that  

P.S. BK - where did you get the flexible plastic ducting used on your snorkel??

[Dave69]

gpt a 3.5" lift from FTE, paidna bit  more than from the states directly but i looked at the aftersales service if something went wrong.
 nothing has but i have the road flex with add a leaf in the back fitted to diesel springs. this runs fine but try and go for a full rear spring pack which i wished i had gone for. I am currently running skyjacker shocks which now squeak in an annoying manner so hopefully will be swapped fro RE items later. The budget kits do work well but it all depends on how you like tinkering with the spanners and if you want it to be cheap as a start to lift kits.

one thing with 3.5" lift i do get grief off the wife as the muck gets transfeered off the sills to her clothes, but there again the rear springs have sagged in just under a year so some extended shackles might be in order to balance things out.

as for tyres i run 235/15's in the AT pattern and they work realy well, i have a spare set of rims awaiting muds but might wait a bit before fitting some. The AT's make you apreciate what the jeep will actually do, the last event at ribbo a std xj did a very muddy horseshoe with std tyres and only bellied out due to lack of experience which does say something fot the jeep

[BK]

Do as much offroading as possible with the ATs, you'll learn lots more about finding grip. MTs make it much easier but they still clog up and slip and having driven my XJ for a year or so offroad on ATs I feel I can at least try a few things to get grip before winching or being recovered.

An XJ with an OME lift and 30" BFG ATs is a really nice combination of on and off-road. There are seveal times when I wish I still had a vehicle like that  

P.S. BK - where did you get the flexible plastic ducting used on your snorkel??

here ya go james http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Auto-Performan ... idZ2QQtZkm