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3” Coil Spring Lift Kit
1984 - 2001 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) - 4WD / Gas
From $417.84
Let the adventures begin with this 3" Lift Kit for your 4WD 1984 - 2001 Jeep Cherokee (XJ). This kit includes heavy-duty front coil springs and back leaf springs designed to give you the optimal amount of wheel travel so you’re ready to go off road.
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Can you take it higher?
Quick Specs
Overview
| Front Lift Height | 3" |
| Rear Lift Height | 3" |
| Front Lift Method | Coil Springs |
| Rear Lift Method | Leaf Springs |
| Lift Type | Lift Kit |
| Wheel Size | 15 x 8 |
| Back Spacing | 4" |
| Max Tire Size | 31 x 10.5 |
| Wheel Size 2 | 16 x 8 |
| Back Spacing 2 | 4" |
| Max Tire Size 2 | 31 x 10.5 |
| Cutting Required | No |
| Accommodates Factory Wheels | Yes |
| Welding Required | No |
Features
- Full length replacement coil springs add additional ride height while maintaining ride quality.
- Heavy-duty replacement rear leaf springs provide lift and great ride quality.
- High-strength, black e-coated U-bolts.
All In The Details
- Leaf springs not designed for excess additional cargo weight, lower ride height may result.
- Check Rear Axle Diameter: The XJ was manufactured with different rear axles. You’ll need to identify yours to complete an order. To tell the difference, measure the inner diameter (I.D.) of your rear U-bolts. The Chrysler 8.25 rear axle uses a 3" I.D. U-bolt and the Dana 35 rear axle requires a 2-3/4" I.D. U-bolt.
- Driveline: 1" transfer case drop kit recommended when using stock driveline to maintain the factory driveline angle.
Specifications
| Install Time Hours | 5 hrs |
| Difficulty Level | 3 out of 5 Moderate Automotive mechanical experience recommended, some specialty tools required, adjustment may be necessary, minor cutting. |
- 1984 Jeep Cherokee (XJ)
- 1985 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) 4WD Gas
- 1986 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) 4WD Gas
- 1987 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) 4WD Gas
- 1988 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) 4WD
- 1989 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) 4WD
- 1990 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) 4WD
- 1991 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) 4WD
- 1992 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) 4WD
- 1993 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) 4WD
- 1994 Jeep Cherokee (N/R) 4WD
- 1995 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) 4WD
- 1996 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) 4WD
- 1997 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) 4WD
- 1998 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) 4WD
- 1999 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) 4WD
- 2000 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) 4WD
- 2001 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) 4WD
From $417.84+ taxes
Configure KitJump To:VIEW SUMMARY
HIDE SUMMARY
Here's my long, painful review of the disappointing Rough Country 3" lift kit with the full leaf springs option (I purchased the full leaf spring kit directly from Rough Country) and their N3 shocks. I installed this on my bone stock 1996 Jeep Cherokee XJ Sport.
The Rough Country kit is supposed to come with front coils springs, rear leaf spring assemblies, front and rear shocks, lower control arms, upper sway bar link spacer blocks and rear axle U bolts*. It does not include bump stops, sway bar links, brake line extensions or brackets, shackles or an adjustable trackbar. It's marketed as a budget friendly 3" lift kit.
Installation:
I did this alone with a floor jack and jack stands in my garage. Installation of the front end components was straight forward. I don't have a strut compressor, and it was pretty much impossible to install the front
coil springs without that tool, so I completely dropped the front axle to get the springs installed. Realigning everything was a pretty big pain, but I got it together with little drama.
The rear end was a different story. After installing the rear leaf springs, I went to install the upper leaf spring plates and realized that the RC leaf spring retaining bolt and nut were larger in diameter than the stock leaf plate center hole. So I had to drill those plate center holes out to 3/4" to make them fit. Not a big deal, but it would be nice if that info was included in the documentation so you could be prepared with all necessary tools. Then I realized that the Rough Country tapered lower leaf spring shims tips the rear differential towards the ceiling at a ridiculous angle. I can't imagine driving at more than 25 MPH like that, as it created a drastic pinion angle mismatch. In an effort to correct this problem, I reversed the leaf spring shims so that the skinny, tapered end was at the rear, instead of at the front the way RC mistakenly installs them. It's drivable this way but it will still require a transfer case drop kit and custom leaf spring shims to get the pinion angle anywhere near where it needs to be. But it goes to show how little R&D and real world testing (none?) went into this setup, apparently.
Post install:
In addition to the Rough Country lift, I also installed 15x8 aluminum wheels with 3.75 backspacing and 31x10.5x15 tires. After a short
break in period, I took the vehicle in for an alignment. No major issues there, other than needing an adjustable track bar to center the axle (again, not included in the lift kit).
Now here's where it gets really, really bad. Be prepared for an absolute freakin' beating. This kit resulted in a brutally stiff, punishing ride. The spring rates for the coil springs and leaf springs are far too stiff for the weight of the XJ. Maybe if you have front and rear steel bumpers, a winch, skid plates,
body armor, a rooftop tent, an onboard compressor, onboard water, a years worth of MREs and 50 sandbags in the back, it would be ok. The shock valving is incredibly stiff on the compression stroke, not moving anywhere near fast enough. Around town, every ripple in the pavement was transmitted to my spine and teeth. Parking lot speed bumps were torture. Hitting potholes made it feel like the axles might get ripped away. I'm not exaggerating, it really is that bad. I'm running C-rated tires, so
not overly stiff sidewalls. Off-road was worse. You definitely don't want to hit the dirt with this kit. I did a couple of fire road runs and it was a bone-crunching ordeal, even with the tires aired down a bit. I REALLY hope you have frame stiffeners installed and a very healthy unibody if you're going to run this suspension on your Cherokee.
Other notes:
The U bolts and nuts that were supposed to be included with this kit were missing.
The kit does not lift the vehicle enough the
clear 30.5" tires (actual diameter). Fender flare trimming is still necessary.
Rough Country's Youtube installation videos shows them installing this lift kit with no lube, no anti-seize and no torque wrench (Hit it bone dry with the impact gun to install those nuts and bolts, Jimmy!), so these things alone should be an indicator of where these guys are coming from.
I tried to contact Rough Country multiple times about all of these issues, providing them detailed descriptions of the problems and defects. After two months of waiting, here was their reply:
<crickets>
They chose not to respond at all.
In conclusion, this kit was missing parts. Their "product development" team seemingly has no input from any engineer or from anyone who has a basic understanding of driveline geometry. Apparently no knowledge of spring rates or shock compression and rebound requirements either. To top it off, their customer support and tech support is completely non-existent.
I have nearly $800 into this "budget" lift kit and I can't wait to remove it and replace it with something that actually works. Use this information as you will, and I hope you have better luck if you choose to do business with Rough Country.