There's lots of options for lifting your coil sprung Jeep, but what is the best option for you? In this blog I will help answer that question by discussing the differences in each. This is relevant to several different models of Jeep's, the coil and link design was first released in the XJ (Cherokee), MJ (Comanche), and ZJ (Grand Cherokee) platforms, and then reworked slightly in the TJ (Wrangler) The photos in this write up were taken from the XJ, and ZJ models... Because that's what we have in the shop right now.
Stock-
I'll be honest, the engineers actually did a pretty good job right from the factory with this suspension, on the road it rides nice and smooth, off road it flexes well, and is well suited for light duty wheeling and fire road cruising. If your only plan for your Jeep is cruising backroads that are slightly to rough for your minivan, you will probably be fine with this. I would also include "Budget boosts" in this category, a budget boost is simply adding some spacers to the top of the coil spring to increase ride height; in moderation they work, but should never go over the 2" mark, and you need to keep in mind your shocks will be your limiting factor.
As you can see the control arms are pretty short, and not very beefy since they are just stamped steel, serious off road use, and big tires will destroy these little guys.
Another issue to keep in mind with these control arms, especially if you plan to use them in a lifted configuration, is that the angle of these are designed to provide the best performance AT FACTORY HEIGHT! meaning that if you use these with taller springs or budget boost spacers you will be using them at a much steeper angle than designed, this will result in a rough ride as tires will be trying to shove them straight up rather than in an arc.
Short Arm Lift-
This is your "basic" suspension lift that most guys start out with, it replaces the control arms with tubular pieces which often have flex joints at one end to help them move more freely, longer shocks to allow the suspension to flex further, and longer springs to increase ride height. Because these are designed as a system ride quality normally stays fairly comfortable (Some companies have better springs and shocks) This is a great option for the guy that wants to actually hit some trails, you won't be ready for rock racing, but you'll be able to go play in the woods and have a good time. RC short arm kits
4" suspension at ride height 18.3 degrees
4" Suspension at full droop 33.2 degrees
The issue with this set up goes back to the angle issue I described in the stock setup, although the new control arms help correct this problem to some extent, you are still using the stock location for the mounts, meaning the angles still won't allow for large lift heights; a short arm lift is usually good to about 4-5" of lift. Some guys try to stack budget boosts on top of their 4" lift springs and think they are badasses, really they are dumbasses. Doing this throws your control arm angles WAY off, plus your shocks are going to be to short, and because your angles are to steep it is going to move your tires towards the back of the wheel well, even if it doesn't rub you'll look like an idiot. This is also a good way to rip your factory mounts off the frame or the axle.
Long Arms- This is where you start to play with the big boys, all of those issues above, GONE! You simply cut out all the factory frame mounts, install new cross-member mounts, and install your much longer and stronger than factory control arms. With this setup you can get away with 7-10" of lift, with plenty of adjustment to keep your angles happy, on road ride quality will probably be better than the factory since at ride height your control arms see about 1/4 of the angular movement for the same lateral distance. Sure they may cost a lot more up front, but they are cheaper than buying a BB only to realize it's not enough, then going to short arms only to outgrow them in a year or two, and THEN finally order the long arms that you should have bought in the first place (This is literally what most of us do, we're all idiots)
The Iron Rock Off Road kit utilizes an Iron-Y design which eliminates the upper control arms
So what's the downside to a long arm set up? Other than the cost of the kit, not much. These kits are engineered to perform, they are strong, and flex like crazy. And as you can see in the photos the angular change from ride height to full droop is much less than the short arm lift.
7" Lift at ride height 12.5 degrees
7" lift at full droop 26.6 degrees
Full Custom-
So where do you go from Long arms? What do you do if you want LOTS of suspension travel, and the ability to adjust how your suspension reacts? Rip out all the factory stuff, and throw down some cash on custom links, mounts, and either coil over shocks, or ORI struts, do a BUNCH of calculations, change your design 5 times before settling on the one that will fit your space, and ride characteristics.
This option is not for the guy that just wants to take the kids out and splash through some mud puddles, this is for the guy that is fully committed to the hobby, he's full blown addicted to the feeling of hitting the hard line and making it.
This week I wanted to take s few minutes to review a really good tool that I am asked about constantly... "What's a good welder to start out with?"... Anyone that knows about welding knows that this is a pretty vague question. Most people trying to get their home shop set up with a welder will underestimate the capabilities, or even how quickly they will outgrow that cheap Harbor Freight welder; or they will feel like they have to have the biggest and best TIG welder with more options than you will even know what to do with, let alone actually use... most guys in their home shop doing basic fab won't need custom AC waveforms, or customizable pulse settings.
So what makes my opinion worth listening to? I'm just another faceless idiot on the internet right? You're partially right... But aside from having a love for the off road world which has built my skill set from a builder standpoint. My full time job is as a Welding Team leader at a field machining company (Check us out here), I hold AWS certifications in Welding Inspection, and Welding Supervision, I hold welding certifications for all of the "normal" processes. Each job that comes my way has unique challenges, so I need to KNOW what equipment will be the right fit for the project. Sure, we have some really cool toys, and some serious welding power that we send all over the world to perform weld repairs, but we also have a few great small machines for when you need to pack light and perform a small repair in a tight spot.
One of my favorite machines in our arsenal is one of our smallest... but also has some of the best options, and welds silky smooth. It's a Miller Multimatic 200 CC/CV there was a LOT of skepticism when this little 40 pound baby sized machine came to us... So I put it to the test in an attempt to make it fail in our shop before taking it out on the road... It passed every test I threw at it without showing any signs of wanting to give up!
What can it do?
This little machine can do it all! Stick, MIG, Flux core, TIG, and even Spool gun for aluminum! The set up is super easy as Miller has done a great job of labeling everything well, and made every part rugged and easy to use. Wanna run some solid wire MIG for some suspension work? No problem, turn the dial to MIG and tell it the wire size, and material thickness, the machine sets itself! Wanna TIG weld some headers? No problem, Swap the work lead and plug in your TIG torch right in the front, turn the dial, set you tungsten size and material thickness and your ready to go!
It even has dual gas inlets in the back so you don't need to swap the lines! Need to go over to your buddies place and weld his trailer back together? And all he can give you is a 120v extension cord? Yup, you've got this. Swap the cord end from the standard 210v and the machine switches itself, hook up your stick lead and burn in that 3/32" 7018 like a pro.
Now sure, I love this little machine, but it's not a power house. It isn't for heavy fab, and doesn't have AC TIG so you won't be TIG welding aluminum with it.
The bottom line is that this little machine is a perfect fit for someone that wants a serious welder in their shop that can handle whatever little project that might come their way, now at $2,500 with all the options it's not cheap. But when you think about the fact that this one little machine that can fit under most workbenches can do the job of three machines it takes the bite off a bit.
I'll be honest, the engineers actually did a pretty good job right from the factory with this suspension, on the road it rides nice and smooth, off road it flexes well, and is well suited for light duty wheeling and fire road cruising. If your only plan for your Jeep is cruising backroads that are slightly to rough for your minivan, you will probably be fine with this. I would also include "Budget boosts" in this category, a budget boost is simply adding some spacers to the top of the coil spring to increase ride height; in moderation they work, but should never go over the 2" mark, and you need to keep in mind your shocks will be your limiting factor.
This is your "basic" suspension lift that most guys start out with, it replaces the control arms with tubular pieces which often have flex joints at one end to help them move more freely, longer shocks to allow the suspension to flex further, and longer springs to increase ride height. Because these are designed as a system ride quality normally stays fairly comfortable (Some companies have better springs and shocks) This is a great option for the guy that wants to actually hit some trails, you won't be ready for rock racing, but you'll be able to go play in the woods and have a good time. RC short arm kits
This is where you start to play with the big boys, all of those issues above, GONE! You simply cut out all the factory frame mounts, install new cross-member mounts, and install your much longer and stronger than factory control arms. With this setup you can get away with 7-10" of lift, with plenty of adjustment to keep your angles happy, on road ride quality will probably be better than the factory since at ride height your control arms see about 1/4 of the angular movement for the same lateral distance. Sure they may cost a lot more up front, but they are cheaper than buying a BB only to realize it's not enough, then going to short arms only to outgrow them in a year or two, and THEN finally order the long arms that you should have bought in the first place (This is literally what most of us do, we're all idiots)
I'll be honest, the engineers actually did a pretty good job right from the factory with this suspension, on the road it rides nice and smooth, off road it flexes well, and is well suited for light duty wheeling and fire road cruising. If your only plan for your Jeep is cruising backroads that are slightly to rough for your minivan, you will probably be fine with this. I would also include "Budget boosts" in this category, a budget boost is simply adding some spacers to the top of the coil spring to increase ride height; in moderation they work, but should never go over the 2" mark, and you need to keep in mind your shocks will be your limiting factor. 
This is your "basic" suspension lift that most guys start out with, it replaces the control arms with tubular pieces which often have flex joints at one end to help them move more freely, longer shocks to allow the suspension to flex further, and longer springs to increase ride height. Because these are designed as a system ride quality normally stays fairly comfortable (Some companies have better springs and shocks) This is a great option for the guy that wants to actually hit some trails, you won't be ready for rock racing, but you'll be able to go play in the woods and have a good time. RC short arm kits
This is where you start to play with the big boys, all of those issues above, GONE! You simply cut out all the factory frame mounts, install new cross-member mounts, and install your much longer and stronger than factory control arms. With this setup you can get away with 7-10" of lift, with plenty of adjustment to keep your angles happy, on road ride quality will probably be better than the factory since at ride height your control arms see about 1/4 of the angular movement for the same lateral distance. Sure they may cost a lot more up front, but they are cheaper than buying a BB only to realize it's not enough, then going to short arms only to outgrow them in a year or two, and THEN finally order the long arms that you should have bought in the first place (This is literally what most of us do, we're all idiots)
