Help with my 91 XLT / 4" lift

[LessDirty]

Okay, I know this is getting old for a few of you. I am sure ya'll would like some original questions here and there, but I just need an easy one right now.

I have a bone stock 91 XLT. Its been in the family for years and is clean as the day is long. It's a bench seat version (which is odd, I have never seen one like it.)

I am interested in that 4" lift and want to put 33" x 10.5" BFG's on it. So here are a few of my questions......

1) Of the 4" lifts, which ones do people like? Pros......Cons? I have been looking at the Superlift, complete kit w/ rear springs and brake lines at around $1200. Sounds kinda expensive if ya ask me.

2) I read several of ya'll saying that ya'll had problems with 33x12's with the 4".......I was thinking the 33"x10.5 would fit much better......am I thinking correctly?

Please feel free to jump in on this and speak your mind. I want different oppinions. Thanks fella's! :exporange

 

[Dannyboy]

either way will work fine. It's actually less money to go Superlift 5.5" or skyjacker 6" and spring over the rear axle. Then you can clear the 33x12.50s much easier. Also I've always ran a 15x8, a 10" wide wheel gets into the fenders easier.

 

[LessDirty]

okay....good answer.

So I only need to buy the front 5.5 Superlift and place the rear spring on the top on the rear axle. Sounds do-able........but where do I buy the perch for the rear? Does it weld in or bolt in? Or are you saying I take the perch off the bottom and then flip it to the top?

I am assuming that when I buy the front kit, I should also buy some shocks and the extended brake lines. Anything else I need BEFORE I start buying stuff and taking this thing apart......cuz I hate nothing more than taking something apart and then NEEDING something. Damn I hate that!

Thanks for the reply!

 

[WannaBTrckmagik]

You can get some good ones here:

Mountain Offroad

They are more expensive than others you will find around but well worth the money. They are a little beefier to help prevent axle wrap. Not to mention they are a little taller than the average ones and will give you .5-1" more clearence in the rear. In my opinion (and several others in our area) they are well worth it and will be a good investment.

 

[Makahveli]

its cheaper to get the front brackets for the superlift system with both 4" and 5.5" holes. (includes radius drop and axle pivot brackets) I picked these up at 4wheel parts for $240 last year. And there is usually somebody on here that has 4" lift springs on sale. for the rear get an AAL and warrior shackles. from there all you'll need to buy is brake lines and a pitman arm. But in the long run it should be a lot cheaper than $1200 not even $500 if you got that route. But I've played around with the skyjacker 6" set and my current superlift set to let you know.

 

[LessDirty]

Hey Mak, if I left my phone number, could we chat for a second on the phone and maybe you could talk me thru this? When you start talking about AAL and Warrior, you will have to excuse me because I am clueless. I understand MOST of what you said.

1) Superlift or Skyjacker 5.5 to 6 lift frt kit
2) Proper Pitman Arm
3) Brake hoses kit
4)Warrior something or another......
5) AAL.....whatever that is

is that it?

I did goto the Moutain Offroad site, its an all Jeep site and I saw nothing that looked like what you were talking about. You can call me too my Texan brother......

My name is Lee, cell - 281-726-1659. You guys seem to be reading my mind with the less expensive route. This would leave me money to do flares and custom bumpers.......Hooah!

 

[LessDirty]

okay, I know know what a Warrior shackle is, I looked it up on the net.....do I just tell them the application and they will know? I want to make sure I get the right part from the get go.

AAL I figured out....add a leaf. Got it! Can I use one off of another truck? Does it matter?

Walk me thru these last couple of issues and I think I can handle the rest......sorry for the stupid crap, but ya'll talk in slang so much that its easy to get lost if your new to the 4x4 stuff.

 

[bates]

The part number for the warrior shackles is WAR 153, I'm pretty sure about that, you can look it up on this site. AAL's can usually be bought for 30-40 bucks in your country, for the whole kit. Hope this helps! Good luck and make sure you post some pics when you finish!

 

[LessDirty]

Thanks dude, yeah I am starting to figure this out. I talked to Warrior on the phone......your right #153.

I also talked to Mountain Offroad about their perches......#98107

I will talk to 4wheel parts about the Warrior part (they are a dealer) and the add-o-leaf.

Is this all I need?

PLease tell me now before I get all fooked up! Like I have said before, I hate to have my truck in 100 pieces just to find out I needed to ALSO have part #123ABC........

1)Warrior Shackles #153
2) Mountain Offroad perch #98107
3) Add-o-leaf #?
4) Superlift's front lift 5.5"
5) pittman arm for this application
6) longer than norm. brake lines

anything else? speak up now or forever hold your peace!

 

[JTX]

If your gonna do the soa with the perch's then you dont need shackles or a add a leaf.

 

[LessDirty]

its cheaper to get the front brackets for the superlift system with both 4" and 5.5" holes. (includes radius drop and axle pivot brackets) I picked these up at 4wheel parts for $240 last year. And there is usually somebody on here that has 4" lift springs on sale. for the rear get an AAL and warrior shackles. from there all you'll need to buy is brake lines and a pitman arm. But in the long run it should be a lot cheaper than $1200 not even $500 if you got that route. But I've played around with the skyjacker 6" set and my current superlift set to let you know.

Didn't this guy say to use shackles AND AAL? Wasn't he talking about SOA with AAL and shacks?

Damn I'm confused! Can SOMEBODY just speak simple english and spell it out for me puh-leez cuz its just plain obvious that I am not going about this right and I am no better of now than I was before.

So am I NOW understanding that to raise the rear 5.5" I can EITHER go SOA with perches and welding OR I can use a WARRIOR shackle and AAL?

If this is true, which is better and why? I would think that the SOA has more clearance and would actually ride better.......true? Do I understand this at all?


Please tell me quickly before I put a slug into my friggen head!

 

[Robb]

Just go SOA, and forget the shackles and aal. The SOA will give you about 5" of lift by itself, and it will match the front nicely.

 

[LessDirty]

Thats the way I was planning on going after giving it some thought.

New question.......when I do the SOA, and it only lifts the rear 5" but I put the 5.5" to 6" front on, do I just block the rear a slight bit in order to even it out? I think thats what you would do but I want to make sure.....

When I called 4Wheel Parts they said they did not carry Mountain's parts but they carried the Warrior perch.....is that a quality piece? I can't imagine there is much difference between one or the other.....its a simple design.

And lastly, is there a stencil on where to put it (the perch) exactly as too maint. proper pinion angle, or do I follow the "tack it down and try it.....if its not right, re-tack and try again" method? The reason I ask is because I always try to work smart and not hard.....

Thanks guys, I think we're getting somewhere!

<----putting the gun down and saving the slug for later.......

 

[92blusilvxlt]

Put the warrior perch right on top of the existing perch. no problems with pinion then.

 

[92blusilvxlt]

Hey dude iam just relaying stuff i heard on how to keep your pinion angle put the perch right above the other one. you dont have to take my advice its just a suggestion

 

[Con Seann3ry]

Ok...so spring over axle should give you about 5.5 inches...I would do that first, it should match the front, if you need extra height (doubt it) then I would go with war 153 shackles...basically for the back you have 5 options which you can do by themselves, in combination etc.
1) SOA (Spring Over Axel) = roughly 5.5 inches, all you need is the perches welded on...what blusilvxlt is talking about is welding the perches parallel to the old perches, you don't even need to take those old ones off. this shouldn't change ride quality at all
2) war 153 shackles, good for about 1.5 inches, shouldn't change ride quality at all
3) aal...don't know the part number, these are pretty universal, this will stiffen up the ride and give probably from 1 inch to 2 inches of lift
4) blocks - with the current spring under setup blocks will lower your truck, if you SOA then you could use blocks, but the other two choices are better in my opinion
5) I believe superlift makes a set of leaf springs that will continue to give you 5.5 inches of lift while keeping your SUA setup, the plus in this is that you would have to worry about spring wrap less, however, this cost much more than the other options

for the front get the superlift 5.5 or skyjacker probably has something too - if you've got any questions feel free to ask

 

[LessDirty]

Nothing personal Silver, only something I noticed. I do prefer to get advice from those that have "done it"..... the big stuff is usually easy to figure out, its the little things that kill you in a mod such as this. For example, I know 100 guys that can swap motors, but when it comes to making the thing fire off and figuring out where all the little things go, only about 20 of those 100 are any good at it. Does this makes any sence to you?


Thanks for the advie I have read here, and I think I will go with the SOA......with the Skyjacker up frt. I will post pics and show how it all happened. I will include SOB's that came up so that others won't fall into "that" trap.

Thanks for the help on Stg I of this project........once I get to Stg II I will be back........this includes over shimming the rear limited slip so it acts as a locker, adding 4.56 frt and rear, and some type of locker in the frt with manual 4x4 locking.

 

[Con Seann3ry]

how do you shim the LS so it acts as a locker? I would love to see a writeup on that. Also, the hardest part about the lift (i hear) is ford's rivits, you should search around for techniques to get those off.

 

[LessDirty]

I will be happy to take pictures and do a write up on "moding the 8.8 limited slip" to act as a locker.....its easy AND cheap (the best combo).

In a very brief description, the system is a clutched type unit. You have a series of clutches and steels (as spacers). By over packing the clutches and packing the clutches closer together, you have a tighter pack and stronger grip. I also rec. that you NOT run a friction modifier in the diff. to aide in the locking capability. For day to day driving it might be sorta loud, however it works like a dream.

To give you an idea how strong it is, I run a stock 8.8 limited slip setup JUST LIKE THIS in my street / strip car, an 89 Mustang Coupe. This car make about 600hp on the dope. I run this stk, over clutched rear even though I leave the line on the trans brake with a 150 shot of dope on 10.5" slicks. You won't have that type of abuse in the mud and or dirt.

I'll cover this when I do my stg II stuff.

 

[Con Seann3ry]

awesome, i'm very interested in this - i'm not sure yet if i'm gonna change it to a locker, but I definately want to tighten it up