LEVELING kit - what, EXACTLY, is needed... & recommended?

So the Ramcharger is finally squared away for a bit, and my warranty is expired on the XK (although I have 24 mos. of payments left still :rolleyes:), so I'd like to raise the front end a bit, level it off, and go with a more aggressive A/T for the snowy days to come.

What do I NEED up front for a leveling lift, and will it require a new sway bar, extended brake lines, etc.? I've been trying to read up on some of the threads here, but I get confused between LIFTS, and LEVELING, and I'm wanting to go MILD with the latter... for now... Any particular brand of spacers, kit, etc. & source you can recommend?

Furthermore, what's good-sized A/T to squeeze in there, once she's level? I'm running 245's right now, but with a narrower sidewall, is there a good 265 serie A/T I can fit into my wheel wells? Thanks ahead of time!

For the price of having any spacer installed up front you might as well just go for a 2" lift kit (about $150) from rough country. Installing the rear is super easy and doesn't raise the price of installation much at all. Installing the lift kit should be about 3hrs of labor so what ever your local shop rate is. Then you can get a 265/75 tire in their no problem with 1" spacers. You won't need anything else it works fine with all the stock parts including the sway bar links. Not sure if Jon sells them but you can check out The Steel Armadillo website.

Edit: I still think for the money a 2" lift with 1.5" spacers is money well spent and a great return on investment.

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Originally Posted by Sal-XK

For the price of having any spacer installed up front you might as well just go for a 2" lift kit (about $150) from rough country. Installing the rear is super easy and doesn't raise the price of installation much at all. Installing the lift kit should be about 3hrs of labor so what ever your local shop rate is. Then you can get a 265/75 tire in their no problem with 1" spacers. You won't need anything else it works fine with all the stock parts including the sway bar links. Not sure if Jon sells them but you can check out The Steel Armadillo website.

Edit: I still think for the money a 2" lift with 1.5" spacers is money well spent and a great return on investment.

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Ok... if nothing ELSE needs to be changed, I can live with that. Does the kit raise the front end any, or am I left with the same rakish nose-down look?

My man here in Pittsburgh is THE 4WD expert of the entire city & county... but the number of lifted Commanders in the area - after mine is done - will be, two. :rolleyes: The kit no doubt comes with instructions, but is it REALLY as easy as everyone here makes it sound? I guess the assumption is, the XK isn't REALLY "made/intended" to be lifted; is that fear un-founded, or are their any hidden pitfalls one should be aware of going into the lift?

Thanks again!

Its probably one of the easiest things to do with the XK. Having watched Adam do my lift, I probably could have done that myself. There really isnt much to it at all and really shouldnt change anything with the XK or how it rides. I had 1.5 wheel spacers and 265/70 BFGs to start which suck, then switched to MTRs.

I did the Rocky Road lift and it was easy to do in the driveway. And yes, they level the vehicle and eliminate the nose dip.

The lift is easy and the XK can be lifted just like any IFS rear solid axle vehicle. Obviously the higher you go you will have more issues. The 2" lift and larger tires will put a slight strain on your components but that is normal and the least invasive of all the lifts. If you have a part that is on its way out even the 2" lift will speed that up. My advice is to change out any worn parts while the lift is going on since its coming apart anyway and will be cheaper to do at the time of the lift. The spacers really add a lot of bang for your buck as well. The wider stance looks great and changes the look of the XK instantly. The wider stance also improves the handling and the feel of driving the XK. Of course you can get the same from purchasing new wheels with the proper back spacing if your worried about spacers. But I ran hub centric billet aluminum spacers for years with no issues. If the proper maintenance and torque settings are applied they work just fine. Like I said before for the money evolved the 2" lift and spacers give you great bang for your buck. Also nothing dramatic or irreversible has to be done to achieve this. If your struts are worn out or wearing out and you have some extra money I would go with the OME lift.

Well, the old gal needs new tires - & I have this Fastman throttlebody for it laying around - so I reckon I'll go this 2" lift route while it's in the shop. Any recommended retailers? Anybody here a board sponsor that sells them, or the like?

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Originally Posted by The_War_Wagon

Well, the old gal needs new tires - & I have this Fastman throttlebody for it laying around - so I reckon I'll go this 2" lift route while it's in the shop. Any recommended retailers? Anybody here a board sponsor that sells them, or the like?

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Jon has the OME 2.5" lift on his site. Not sure if he sells the rough country but you can go here for that. I recommend spider track spacers. I know Jon can get stuff not listed on his website so you can check with him if you want. You can check out some tires reviews HERE

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Originally Posted by Sal-XK

I recommend spider track spacers.

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Are the spacers NECESSARY with factory wheels? :confused:

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Originally Posted by The_War_Wagon

Are the spacers NECESSARY with factory wheels? :confused:

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No their not needed with the right tire size.

Just so you know because some people mounting tires get this wrong. The relationship between the tire and the knuckle bolt (from the UCA ball joint) never changes. So if you mount your tire and it only clears the bolt by 1/8" your good. That distance never changes during suspension or steering travel. The mechanic tried telling me my tires wouldn't fit because it barely cleared that bolt. It was weird explaining to him he was wrong. So if it don't rub on the lift it will never rub.


Here you can see the bolt pointing down. These are bigger tires and would not fit without spacers. I just wanted to give you a visual of the knuckle bolt tire relationship.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...098D01JP-1.jpg

https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...4B2D12JP-1.jpg

Another vote for OME lift kit. For the tires, Discoverer AT3 and Grabber AT2 have 265s.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sal-XK

Just so you know because some people mounting tires get this wrong. The relationship between the tire and the knuckle bolt (from the UCA ball joint) never changes. So if you mount your tire and it only clears the bolt by 1/8" your good. That distance never changes during suspension or steering travel. The mechanic tried telling me my tires wouldn't fit because it barely cleared that bolt. It was weird explaining to him he was wrong. So if it don't rub on the lift it will never rub.


Here you can see the bolt pointing down. These are bigger tires and would not fit without spacers. I just wanted to give you a visual of the knuckle bolt tire relationship.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...098D01JP-1.jpg

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Thanks for that visual! I appreciate the heads-up from you guys who KNOW the underside of your Commanders, because I DON'T! It's been a DD ever since I got it, so other than maintenance issues - for the most part - I haven't really fiddled with it that much - certainly not in relation to tires and lift.

Last truck I had with coils, was a '79 Bronco... and it only had two! I'll show all this to my mechanic, and we'll plot it all out before we get 'er on the lift.