different sort of question

dlbrando

New Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2007
Location
Raleigh
I have a 1989 Jeep MJ, 4cyl 2wd. I am going a little bit different route with this one. The body is in great condition, and it is a short box. I bought it as a DD and it gets along the lines of 20 or better mpg in the city. I already have a 4wd, lifted strokerd cherokee, and that is good enough for that department.

the question: I know that ford ranger guys sometimes use cherokee springs to get a cheap lift, what years is this usually done on the ranger side, and about how much lift is gained. I actually want to drop the mj as it is going to be more of a pavement carver and I want the better handling and sportier look. I was thinking of going with the ranger springs and a rebuilt spring pack in the rear, depending on how much drop I can expect. NOT looking to lay the frame on the ground or anything extreme. I want a sportier feel to the handling and I will be adding some nicer swaybars and better shocks, this is my DD NOT my trail truck.

For those of you who read this and are currently in the act of hitting the reply button to tell me that this is sacrilege and anybody who would lower a jeep should burn in hell, save it, you do not know what you are talking about. Jeep made more 2wd Comanches than 4wd, and for several years the MJ dominated SCCA races in a lowered, 2wd form; 4cyl no less.

Anybody who can give me a good guess as to what years I should be looking for with springs, or have a better suggestion for a donor vehicle, thanks. The total project goa, if you are interested,l for sometime in the next few years is another 4.7l stroker like I built for my XJ, a nicer 5spd tranny, running back to a solid rearend, D44 or maybe a 9". I am currently part of a group buy for some Jeep 2500 parts to convert the look of the front end, and I am designing an in-channel hard top bed cover. This gives me something to do while I am on casual status waiting for flight training.
 
I could be wrong, but I though cherokees were spring over and MJ's were spring under. In that case couldn't you just use cherokee springs and drop it about 5 inches. Just a thought.
 
right, I am not worried about the rear of the MJ, I was going to use a shorter cherokee shackle and use the MJ main leaf plus the cherokee pack, stay sprung under.

I am trying to figure out what to do with the front. Comancheclub.com guys have said just cut the coils, but I am not a huge fan of that, one guy is running some rare springs that I can't find, and another is airbagged. I ran across something that mentioned Ranger guys sometimes use cherokee coils to gain some cheap lift, kinda like cherokee and TJ guys running V8 ZJ coils for the extra inch. So I was planning on running Ranger coils for a drop on my MJ
 
Ranger TTB to springs are way stiff for a MJ I think. Most ranger coils have a spring rate of 400 to 500. The XJ springs are about 275 to 300 I think. I run XJ springs in my ranger because they flex better when running a solid axle.
 
This is the problem I am running into. I read that MJ springs run stiffer than xj than the XJ, I am assuming that would be for better load handling, but I found no source, it was just listed on a f
"{better, but I dont think I want that stiff. Were the heights any different?
 
If your only going to lower it an inch or two cutting one round off the coil wont make that much of a difference, especially if your talking about making it handle it will take that body roll out of it that the factory puts in. Good luck with your project sounds pretty cool.
 
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