Hey Guys and Gals!

I have a 95 YJ with a 3" suspension lift.  For some time now I've been looking for a way to increase articulation without dramatically sacrificing ride and my bank account.  I've been looking at a coil conversion but that seems to spendy. 

I have stock shackles.  Do shackle lifts work well or is a springover or reversal the way to go??

Also, my radiator is rotted out.  What is a good replacement besides aluminum like Be Cool?

Thanks!

     There are a few things you can do to help this ,with out breaking the bank. You should start with a good set of sway-bar diconects, to let the front axel float a lot better. You may want to go to a longer travel shock after you install the discos. Before you go to far, check your brake hoses at the front, that you don't over extend them, move them or replace with longer ones. I have a set of the Goodridges on mine, works better than relocating them. The next thing you could do is remove the rear track-bar. The front track-bar should not be removed, unless you have a death wish. You can keep it in place, and it will work fine as long as its centered to your spring travel. Whats that mean, I can hear you now LOL. If you go out to the garage and see how many inchs you have from the top of the axel to your stop block. Lets say you have 5 inchs. Now jack it up so both front tires are off the ground, jack-stands on the frame axel and springs hanging free. Now how many inchs from axel to stop block. Lets say you end up with 11inchs. the center of the spring travel is 5 1/2 inchs. Still with me? Now in a perfect world you would want your front track bar to be flat side to side looking at it from the front with the axel 5 1/2 inchs from the stop blocks on both sides. You do this because that bar travels in an arch as it goes up and down and pushs your axel side to side and causes it all to bind up. A lot of lift don't adress this the right way. You may have 11 inchs of tavel, but the track bar isn't frat till you get 2 inchs from the stops. This happen and the bar is trying to get longer on the right side because of the arch it travels in pushing the front axel the same way, but the spring pack fight this side to side movment, in a word, bindage. I cut mine and welded in an off-set to trick the bar into thinking its flat at center. The improvments are mind boggeling. Hope this was some help, good luck.  

Hey Idaho,
       You could also try a set of revolver shackles on the front,there greasable and eliminate a hell of a lot of spring bind.Also when funds become available,the "JKS" telescoping track works wonders and more importantly works like it's 'spose to.Just as a side note if anyone out there has a pair of "z-boxes" on there jeep could you please let me know how they work.I'm considering these next, but they look kind of hairbrain.
       I wouldn't pull my rear track bar off,a buddy in my club did and has gone thru 5 centerpins.....so far,you can drill your sping packs out to accept pins that are three-eighths but that doesn't mean they couldn't be sheared off as well, keep your brake lines and shock length in mind as Paul mentioned because all the flex in the world isn't worth crap if your shocks are short of travel
       You might check out Radiator.com for a new "cooler" or call them at 1-800-252-0333 they had a nice 3 core for my YJ at around $130.00 and will deliver to you. ...hope this helps...J.ust E.mpty E.very P.ocket...Aerdown...
 

First thing I would do is install a set of sway bar disconnects if you don't already have them. If you do most of your driving off road, such as I do, you could just remove it. I have had a couple YJs with the sway bars removed, and I never noticed much difference on the road, but a huge improvement off.

Next toss the track bars, front and rear. They were an attempt by Jeep to make the YJ handle like a car on the road, since so many people couldn't handle driving CJs without track bars. You will notice a very slight difference in on-road cornering, and the on road ride will be softer. I just barely removed the track bars and sway bar from my '91 YJ, unlifted for now, and it rides and drives much better. It leans a little more in the corners, but if you have ever driven a stock CJ-7, it won't be much different.

Now flex up the Jeep on something until a tire starts to lift, and measure the flex. You can do this by measuring from the bump stops to the axle at all 4 corners. Now unhook all 4 shocks and flex it up again and see if the flex is improved. If it is, the shocks are limiting the flex, and you should install new shock mounts and longer shocks to match the spring travel.

If you still want more travel, you can install Revolver shackles, or something I prefer, a rear buggy leaf setup. You will never notice it on the highway if its installed correctly, but you will have more droop off road.

Jim

I agree with everything Jim says.  I pulled my track bars off and it handles great, softer just like he said.  No bump steer or unstability. I don't know anyone around here that runs the track bars after a lift if you do much off road use.   The swaybar disconects are a must do.  Much more articulation off road, but hooking them back on for road use really makes it a much more comfortable and safer ride.

I added a 2.5" spring lift and a 2" body lift to fit 33" tires on it.  I raised the rear shock mounts up about 2" and put on shocks with 9" inches of travel.  The stock ones have about 5".  That setup works well.  I had to bring the bump stops down 2.5" so the tires would not rub on the fenders. (I actually welded a 2.5" box on the axel to give the stop something to hit).  I also heard the revolvers work well.  My springs really twist on the trail so some releif would help.

Good Luck, Gary, Black Diamond, WA