will a 97-06 wrangler or jk lift kit work on my zj?

Jeepjunky87

Jeepjunky87

Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2013
Location
N. Raleigh
I have not found any used lift kits for my zj but i found lifts for 97-06 wranglers and for jk's (4") ....will they work on my 4.0L zj? i know I'll loose an inch or so due to weight but thats fine because the zj has 2' pucks on it now... would a wj lift be a better fit? mostly curious about track bars and control arms...
 
A WJ uses different control arms in the rear (I am sure about the uppers, but not sure of the lowers) so that lift will not work. A JK uses mid arms, so those won't work either. I would stick with a ZJ lift if it were me, or if you can find a front XJ lift, that will work for your front.
 
No useful info, but always wondered about using a Iromman long arm kit on the front and back of a zj. Seems like it could work and would be strong.
 
The only thing I have right now is some 2" pucks, but it looks like you already have that.
 
I found a v8 zj for parts it has a lift, but before I call him, will it work on mine? I got the I6 in mine. A lift for a v8 will be taller and stiffer than a i6 lift right?
 
maybe, old springs tend to have sagged a bit. and the I6 isn't that light weight anyway.
The only thing that shouldn't work from tj kits are rear springs and rear upper arms. And i always found someone selling good used ZJ parts on Mallcrawlin.com
 
how much lift are you wanting? on a zj, much over 3.5-4 inches starts needing longarms to act right. for height purposes, there isn't much difference between I6 and V8 springs-that 4.0 is heavy. if 3 inches will work for you, look into a front to rear swap(use front coils in rear, then buy new front lift coils). this works ok with factory short arms, but fully boxed arms are better. the track bars will be at the limit for stock ones, adjustable would be better, but you can re-drill the lower bolt hole in front to compensate. for the back, try to stay away from the bracket extensions for the top mount unless they offer extra reinforcement-the unibody rail has a tendency to crack wit the extra leverage. on mine, I cut & sectioned it & welded a puck in the rear track bar to make it longer after much measurement to make sure I got it right the first time. this is not necessarily recommended, I used a whole lot of amps on the welder to make sure it had enough penetration for strength-only do this if you're sure of your measurements and welding ability. also take into account the front swaybar links, I made my own after destroying a couple off the shelf sets.
 
I was going that route at first. I even picked up some xj RE 5.5" lift coils for the front, but had trouble finding some used (cuz I'm a cheap skate) adj. trac bars and was told that using the stock control arms would place my axle off center (front to back) and create problems with tires hitting the body. Also I'm not exactly sure where to re drill the trac bar bolt hole and figured if I messed it up I'd be past "the point of no return"... So then my point of view was if I have to buy; trac bars, control arms, shocks, sway bar links, etc (new) then I could possibly find a used zj lift or parts zj with lift (because all the pieces would be there and go together) and spend about the same and not have to piece together a lift saving myself the headache of chasing problems because of a pieces together system. 3" & 255 tires would be fine for my dd/"daycare" crawler because I don't get to the trails much at all, just want to look like it! Thanks for the advice!! Flatblackzj what are you running on your zj currently?
 
my grand is down the road now-here's what it had: 96 zj, 4.0 auto 3.73 gears, 3.5 zj lift coils front & back, factory upper arms, fabricated lower arms (rectangular tubing 0.75" longer IIRC), fabricated swaybar disconnects up front, longer swaybar links in back, front track bar lower hole re-drilled inboard 0.75" on center from original, rear track bar extended by 1.5". front fender liners pulled & pinch weld seams rolled (BFH). shocks were p/n's for '79 bronco "white body" shocks. it was good for full flex with 32x11.50r15 on 9" rims with 4" backspacing-inside of tires would rub lower control arms slightly inside at full lock
 
ok so mallcrawlin shows guys doing f>r swaps and extending factory control arms (cutting and welding sleeves) to proper lengths. anyone here had any success doing this?
 
tell me more about the lower arms (rectangular tubing 0.75" longer IIRC) you made...what is IIRC? what ends did you use? did your axle stay centered? sorry to ask so many questions this is my first zj... ive only been into jeeps for the past few years, (cj's and xj's)
 
iirc=if I remember correctly, I used factory bushings pressed into round tube, welded on the ends of rectangular tube, due to the travel arc of the shortarms, the axles were closer to the middle of the vehicle when sitting static but just about perfectly centered when fully stuffed in the wheelwell under compression
 
So after much diliberation (sitting on the commode...:) ) here's the cheapest way IMO to about 3-4". Xj 5.5lift coils in the front, stock zj v8 coils in the back, stock control arms (for now), Jkshocks currently on zj (2" more travel than stock) and adjustable track bars or drop brackets (which ever I find first). I have the coils already sitting in the garage & have 1"pucks if I need ... What are your thoughts nc4x4?
 
Don't do the rear track bar drop bracket, it will rip off and give you problems. For me, anything over 3.5" of lift need long arms, others will differ in this opinion. I went through several different lifts with my ZJs and they all cost a bunch of money, wish I had gone straight to long arms, but that is a big initial investment but well worth it. Just remember this when lifting a ZJ: Good, Cheap, Fast... Pick any two
 
Ok.... I pick good and cheap. Can I run long arms on 4" lift? How do I build (not buy) square long arms? Hemi joints on the ends? What size (0-6"?) rear TB do i need to buy? IRO or JKS or TeraFlex?
As always thanks for your time and info
-Daniel
 
Back
Top