Finally finished the lift-kit over the weekend. Drives a lot smoother now, but I need to get the arms for the front end to get it working properly. Will be getting a rough alignment today, and again when I get the Panhard and steering arms. Might need to lift the front a little more to level it out a bit when it's empty. :lol:

There's about 20mm of down travel on all four shocks, so I'll have to work on getting the control arms soon. Then I'll be able to build a fancy set of Blue monotubes to match the blue springs. :P

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-i...2520lifted.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-m...r%2520Leaf.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-n...%2520Coils.jpg

Finally got a chance to throw it up on the flex-ramp at work after fitting the springs. Disconnected the front sway-bar, and the rear is barely flexing yet. 8)

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-F...xed%2520up.jpg

Update! :D
 

Alrighty, haven't done much to the old girl lately, been too busy with work and the Sydney 4WD Show. But, now that it's all quietened down a bit, time for more mods!

Firstly - Sliders. Ordered a set of the RockCandy ones (just made it onto the end of the fab run). Then they sat in the garage for about a month before getting fitted up. Fitted them over 3 nights with lots of swearing, bloodied knuckles and broken drill bits.

Next - Steering Bits. Replaced the Tie Rod and Track Bar with HD units from Wooders, and the Steering Damper with a HD Foam Cell from Lovells. Then got a rough alignment (castor is still WAY out).

Finally - New Bump-stops and coil-spacers. 30mm spacers from SuperPro for the front, and RE 1" bumpstops from Wooders. Took a little creative thinking to get them fitted, but all in now and good to have two bump-stops again.

Here's how she sits today:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.n...76470333_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.n...53173684_n.jpg

On the list now - Front and rear shocks, shackle relocation brackets, ext. shackles (around 1") and long arms

Little bit more today: Managed to finish building the front shocks at work today. Machined the cross-bar for the lower mount after work, and pressed the bushes and cross-bars into the shocks before I left. Got home and started to pull out the original monotubes. Got them out without too much fuss thankfully, as this was only the beginning.

Out with the old:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9...105_191322.jpg

Compare the pair:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-z...105_191140.jpg

It wasn't until I fitted the new shocks to the vehicle that I realised my mistake - I'd forgotten to measure the size of the lower shock eye.
:hammer::hammer::hammer::hammer::hammer::hammer:

The eye is a little too big for the mounting bracket, so the shock won't sit down properly. I spent so long making sure I'd grabbed the right cross-bars and was getting the lengths and valving right, that I'd forgotten to make sure the lower eye would actually fit and just assumed it would. :roll:

Missed it by that much...
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-x...105_193354.jpg

I'll grab the dremel from work tomorrow and grind out the mounts where necessary. On the bright side, the new bump-stops look like they'll limit the up-travel just enough for the shocks to work on full up-travel. Down travel isn't an issue, as these shocks have more than enough movement in them with the standard control arms (620mm/375mm open/closed).

Also managed to pick up an old alloy non-winch bar from work for very cheap. Currently painted white, but I'll be sanding it back and painting it in grey hammer-tone before fitting it to the xj. Will also be modifying it a little to get the approach angles as good as, if not better than standard.

I'm now at a point though where I'm tossing up whether to go short- or long-arm again. Short-arm is cheaper and easier, but long-arm offers better/more flexibility with a smoother ride. Seeing as I won't be taking it too much higher than where it's sitting now, is there much advantage in going the long-arm upgrade over the short-arm? It's sitting at a full 2" over a standard sport with 300kg in the boot, so around 3" over a limited/classic.

Any opinions/ideas are greatly appreciated. :D

Ground out the lower shock mounts on the front and fitted the new shocks. Aren't Dremel's wonderful things? :lol:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-s...108_192302.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-x...108_192640.jpg

How much are you allowing for bump stop compression to stop bottoming out your shocks and causing damage?

Hey, only just saw this. Measured up the shocks and bump-stop clearance while I was fitting them up, and it looks to be okay.

Shock Length (in vehicle): 515mm
Shock Length (Closed): 375mm
Bump Stop Clearance: 90mm

So I've got about 140mm of shock up-travel with 90mm of bump-stop clearance. The 50mm of bump-stop compression should be more than enough, especially with them being polyurethane. ;)

Anyway, I ran the original monotubes and the custom shocks on the dyno at work yesterday, and the valving is just right. On compression the new ones are a little softer to acommodate the higher spring rate used to get the lift, while being about 1.5x heavier on rebound for the same reason. A little more gas pressure than OEM for stability, and it's riding really nice.8)