I've lifted an 89,91 and a 97 Cherokee with the Old Man Emu 3" lift. This includes new rear leafsprings, front coils, urethane bushings, nitro shocks and a transfer case drop kit. We opted for the medium spring rate on all 3. The soft is proboly a better ride but with winch bumpers and loads of camping gear the extra capacity is nice.

We didn't need the T drop on the 87 or the 91 but on my 1997 the rear driveline got some vibration around 45MPH so we put it in. Went away immediatly and only took about 10 minutes to install with a good floor jack. All 3 Jeeps fit 31" mud tires after the lift. 30x9.5x15 is a good all around size for XJ's, doesn't affect the handling much and your speedo is still close.


I don't have any advice on the add a leaf or spacer type kits for Jeeps. I did a add a leaf and torsion bar crank on my Toyota 4 Runner and it rode terrible. The back end was so stiff it actually handled worse than before the lift. Had to repace all the shocks and leafsprings to get a decent ride out of it.

I've heard good things about Rubicon Express lifts as well. After 3 years on the OME kit my Jeeps still rides great.