20 Best Jeep Xj Lift Kit (2023 Updated)

I bought this kit because I recently picked up a used ’98 XJ Cherokee with 200k sum odd miles and the original suspension was worn out so I figured it would do some good to install some new suspension components.

I wanted a mild to medium lift but I didn’t want to pay too much for a good kit so I chose to order a rough country kit. I ordered my kit with leaf springs, N3 shocks and also ordered an N3 steering stabilizer, a pair of sway bar link assemblies (to replace bad bushings), and some extended braided stainless steel brake lines for the front and rear just for good measure.

The shipping wasn’t bad, it took around eight days, but It was a little funny seeing the leaf springs shipped out individually without any packaging on them at all. The installation went okay but myself not having too much experience in this sort of thing, the whole installation took me around a weekend and some change with an extra set of hands to do so.

During the installation, both of my sway bar link ends snapped off from being rust seized but fortunately I was intending to replace those anyway, so I would also recommend buying a pair of new sway bar link assemblies if you are going to do this because they may likely likely shear off.

I was slowed down a little because of some pretty seized original mounting hardware, the lower control arms did not want to line up with their mounting positions at first, and the original holes on the u-bolt clamping plates were too small for the protruding bolt on the center leaf spring so I had to use a 3/4in drill bit on the plate center hole to make the leaf accept it.

you definitely need to be comfortable with possibly with drilling some holes and a little cutting and grinding if you want to install this kit yourself, but it beats a labor bill at a suspension shop.

I have had this kit installed for about a month now on my ’98 XJ Cherokee, and everything feels to have settled in, and overall the ride quality and suspension feel has been vastly improved from my old suspension.

Visibly, it looks very good at riding height with a 3″ lift and the rear end is slightly higher than the front end, so it gives it a slightly aggressive look but I am expecting the rear leaf springs will gradually sag down more than the coils in the front.

It rides noticeably better on the road, handles hard bumps and sudden jolts softer, and has an even softer and absorbent feel over dirt and an incredibly smooth boat-like riding feel at slower speeds over moderately sized rocks, aggressive ruts and more challenging terrain.

I am very satisfied with my purchase of this lift kit and would definitely recommend this rough country suspension kit to anyone looking for a quality budget suspension system on a Jeep Cherokee XJ.

We are still in the process of installing this kit. I’m confident that it will serve my needs, but there are some glaring issues with the design. The instructions miss some critical detail and could definitely be better.

My biggest issue is that the Rough Country cross member is designed to work with later model XJs that have the centered transition mounts. If you run anything older than a 2000 year model, there’s a good chance you have the older “offset” transmission mount bolt pattern.

Some people will tell you to just use leverage and pry your drivetrain 1-2 inches to like it up, but that seems like a bad workaround to problem that should have been addressed in design and manufacturing.

I would venture that most people who buy a long-arm lift and SYE and cardan style drive shafts do so for the same reason I did; they’re concerned about bad geometry, So why would I want to torque my drive train to fit mismatched holes in the new crossmember? This information should be included in the pre-purchase documentation and suggestions.

It should be mentioned in the instructions. Or alternatively, there should be additional mounting points in crossmember included in Rough Country’s lift kit. At minimum, Rough Country should have someone available to address issues like these, and not ignore customers when they reach out with support requests.

Fairly lengthy process for me – took about 10 hours in total over a couple of days. I have a lift and access to most tools. Rear portion was straight forward and easy to install – about 2-3 hours. The front portion was a nightmare – took about 7 hours.

Had trouble with the springs (even with a spring compressor). Had to remove the upper control arms and driveshaft to get the axle low enough to install the springs. This caused the axle to move considerably towards the driver side of the vehicle.

Had to use ratchet straps to get the axle in the correct position to reconnect all of the control arms and drive shaft. Provide hardware for the mount for the upper portion of the seat bar end links were too long causing them to strike the sway bar end link.

Brake line extension/relocation brackets were not sufficient to extend the factory brake lines with the lift – had to order new brake lines. Now that I finally have the lift installed, I have a big vibration somewhere in the driveline and need to take it to a shop to find the source – I suspect increased pinion angle is the problem.

In addition to the vibration, the rear is VERY bouncy (I did end up ordering the complete leaf springs instead of the add-a-leaf) – hoping this calms down over time. Overall, not sure that I am sure that I would recommend this lift to anyone.

I purchased this lift for my sons 2000 Jeep XJ and so far I’m very pleased. Parts seem to be of good quality at an affordable price. Have not hit any trails with it yet but I imaging it will perform just fine as we don’t do any heavy wheeling.

I did opt to purchase the adjustable track bar which is vital to centering the axle. I was also hoping to not have any driveline vibrations, but that’s not the case so we had to install the slip yoke eliminator kit with the double cardon drive shaft.

One thing I would like to see is this kit sold without shocks so I could purchase ones of my choosing, but for now I’ll be utilizing the RC ones. Very easy install, did it myself took about 4-5 hours.

I read some reviews about the back sitting a bit higher than the front so I purchased some 1/2” spacers for the front coils and I’m still sitting high in the rear. Hopefully after it settles it will level out.

All in all I would recommend this lift for anyone in the market for full 3”.

I thought the lift was great for the price but in my mind incomplete. The kit should have extended brake lines included because with stock lines you aren’t able to flex your Jeep to much without braking them.

Also the hardware for the rear leaf packs seem cheaply made. Overall it’s a decent kit and rides decent but I had stock everything on my Jeep so the suspension was shot. I would recommend this kit to others.

Very well made kit. Beefy 1/4 plate, and strong arms. Would rate at 4 or 5 accept for a couple things. First thing, nowhere did I see anything that said the cross member was made for a centered trans mount.

Which came on zero 4. 0 XJs. The second thing is exhaust clearance. Without rewelding my exhaust, I will have to cut more clearance from the cross member. Factory exhaust, hits and rattles on the cross member.

Otherwise, very pleased with it!.

Let me start of with the fact that for the money, you cannot beat this kit. Everything is very well built, easy to install and comes with quality hardware. My only gripe is that the cross member did not fit my factory transmission mount.

Mine was the offset mount but I had to find a centered transmission mount to fit the new crossmemeber.

Great upgrade, way more flex, smoother ride, tackels bigger obstacles easyly. Very happy

Components seem really solid and jeep has a fantastic look. This was my first lift ever and the only complaint is that the instructions in some parts were very confusing. For example I ended up removing the rear shackles and didn’t find out until after I destroyed one of them that I didn’t even have to remove the shackle.

Would have saved me countless hours getting those rusted bolts off and ended up having to buy new shackles for the one I destroyed. Other than that I found that the videos on bleeping jeep were extremely helpful in navigating.

Definite improvement in the ride. Totally changes the look of your ride. Took me a couple weeks to complete but that was due to my busy schedule. Pretty simple and straightforward install but not for the freint of heart.

Since installing this lift I get stopped all the time now for compliments and offers to buy my jeep.

Very satisfied with how the lift turned out. I’m a 12 year mechanic and install went smoothly. But when I went to swap out the drop pitman arm I found it was the incorrect one. It was actually the one for the 4.

5 inch lift and not for the 6. 5 inch long arm kit. When I called I got Mitch on the phone and asked him if there was a mix up with the parts. To my disbelief he told me that the 6. 5in long arm kit on newer XJ’s doesn’t require a drop pitman arm.

When I told him that the steering angle is drastically changed by lifting the vehicle 6. 5in he told me that the lengths of my arms need to be adjusted to accommodate for the steering angle. Which is not true.

So all in all after talking with 2 of their support techs I finally got one that would listen and I explained that they had sent me the wrong pitman arm he got me the correct part sent next day ( unfortunately it was over the weekend) but I did get the correct part to fix their mistake out of the box.

The XJ looks and performs as should and can’t beat the price. But tech support is hit or miss. Manufacturers should have hands on experience before telling a mechanic how to or what should be used to properly lift a vehicle.

This is a great kit for the price and includes just about everything you need for the lift (and more!). In addition to the coils and shocks, the kit I received had front and rear bump stop extensions, F and R brake line drop brackets, rear sway bar links, F and R track bar brackets, rear track bar reinforcement, rear coil retainer brackets, parking brake extension bracket, a small tool bag and two passenger grab handles.

Based on the inventory sheet, i believe this is the standard contents of the kit although not fully reflected on this website. The only things i needed for my ’13 JK were longer front sway bar links (already had adjustable) and exhaust spacers.

When complete, I am sure i got a full 3. 5″ out of this on my two-door even though I have a steel front bumper and a 9. 5K winch. This was a little more than I expected and it affected my front wheel caster enough to make the steering a little light when I hit bumps or decel quickly (NOT death wobble or even remotely dangerous feeling) so I may follow-up with a control arm drop bracket to reset the front caster geometry closer to stock.

The springs are advertised as stock-like but the ride seems a little bit stiffer. (This may loosen up over time and may also be a factor of the caster issue. ) My biggest complaint with the kit is the poor instructions.

Although provided with some pictures, they are small and the markings are vague so it is often difficult to tell what they are describing. Additionally, the instructions that came with my kit had some steps that referred to the 4.

5″ kit and included parts that were not in my kit. However, despite the instruction difficulties, all the parts seemed well-made and strong and. although this is definitely not a high-end kit, I think I got a little more than I paid for.

This is probably a full day job without a lift but it took me 1 1/2 days because of the time spent trying to figure out instructions. Also, a big chunk of the time was spent trying to install the rear coil brackets which required reaching into a small opening with a nut and trying to thread the bolt and a couple of hours were consumed installing the exhaust extensions (not part of this kit) because of the difficulty reaching bolts and a lot of corrosion on my vehicle).

This kit came with almost everything needed to install a 2″ lift. I purchased this kit to replace components that had 211,000 miles on them. Needless to say the springs were sagging and the shocks were well worn.

This kit brought my TJ back to factory heights plus 2″ and the Jeep sits level. All components are good quality. One problem to mention for someone else installing this kit is that the lower control arms that were included came in two different sizes but the boxes were labeled that all four control arms were for the front suspension.

After a call to Extreme and a call to the manufacturer we found out the longer arms go on the front and shorter on the rear. Also the springs seem to be the same height from side to side and there was no guidance where to place which spring (unlike the Old Man Emu kits which have different sized springs in one kit).

The kit took one long evening and two people to install but I did have a vehicle lift available to me. I would recommend adding longer sway bar links and an adjustable front track bar at the same time you install this kit.

It really makes it easier to get back into alignment. I am running 31×10. 50×15 tires with no issues or rubbing.

I use my 02 TJ for everyday use and weekends on the beach in Cape Hatteras. I run BF 33/12. 50s , perfect for dunes, good on the street. I had a 4″ lift which was a little squirrelly on the interstate so I dropped it 2″, std.

pitman arm, kept the adjustable track arm, it now drives perfect. I don’t rock crawl or mudding so this was the best solution for me. It’s really nice to have a stable, solid driving Jeep again. Everything about the kit is great, super easy to install (with a lift), went together very quickly.

Finished my 94 YJ a while ago and am working on my 2012 JK now. All parts come from Extreme Terrain, great prices, super product!!!.

All I wanted was a kit that would allow me to get it up so I could put on 31” tires. This kit had everything I wanted with the control arms and full leaf springs at a more than good price. And let me tell you it was awesome when it was all installed….

I attempted to do the installation myself to save money but it ended up being and epic fail. (Keep in mind I’ve never worked on a car a day in my life) I ended up braking shock bolts and being unable to remove the old riusted out leaf springs.

Ended up taking it to big o tires and got the lift installed for $500 witch was about $200 cheaper than all the other places I reached out to. I also was able to get the new tires mounted there at the same time.

Long story short it was awesome and I totally recommend. One con is my tires rub on the new control arms so I’ll be purchasing the rough country wheel spacer kit to fix that. Looking forward to getting them installed at some point.

10/10 recommend.

When purchasing the product I was informed it would come with everything I would need; I did not come with new straight bolts, so unless you are lifting a jeep with absolutely no rust expect to go buy new bolts separately.

I was sent 9 u-bolts of 2 different sizes and I needed 8 of 3 sizes, they were very difficult to deal with to get the right one. They do not send new u-bolt plates and the nut on the bottom of the new springs is larger than the stock springs; which forces you to ream hole, not recommended if you do not have a large drill press, or find a place to, again buy new.

On top, center of the new springs where the axle mounts the head of the bolt is larger than stock, I had to cut the old springs apart to make spacers to compensate. If you have access to a small shop and are relatively hand you can make it work but if you don’t have access to a shop I do not recommend this kit.

Nice lift for someone looking to replace their 20 year old factory springs, you can’t beat the price. Yielded 2. 25″ of lift on my 1995 yj. I have the 2. 5 liter, and it seems that the front sits a little high, about 3/8 to 1/2 inch.

I don’t think it would be an issue with the heavier 4. 0L, I am hoping that when I add my winch that it levels out a little better. If not I will level with slightly longer rear shackles. All the hardware and springs were labeled made in the USA.

That is an important plus, since this is one of the lowest price suspension lifts on the market. The large U-bolts came up a little tight and needed some bending to fit properly. Otherwise the install was straight forward with good instructions.

Plan for about a 6 hour job and have a good helper available for positioning the axles on the springs. The appearance once installed is pleasing without looking too radical. If you like the factory look, you will not be disappointed.

Handling on the road was vastly improved over my old worn out springs. I find myself taking corners faster with more confidence then ever before. Off-roading is much less jarring then bottoming out on the old sagged springs.

I rated as average, since it is not a large enough lift for any serious crawling. Their is a slight bit more driveline vibration, though it seems very minor. Overall I am very satisfied. A nice mild lift, for a very mild price.

This is a very good lift for the money I installed it with a steering stabilizer on my 04 wrangler tj. It is pretty stiff but It make my jeep have a much better stance. also note that you might not be able to reuse all of your old bolts if you vehicle has very many miles some of them break so new bolts might be needed so be prepared to go to the hardware store.

But over all for as much as it cost I am vey happy with mine.

Seats are as expected for the price. comfortable, well made and stylish. As advertised, they are thin and built to hold upper legs and body into the center of the seat; my wife and I fit well into the design of the seat (5′ 9, 165 lbs; 5’6, 115 lbs).

Looks great! Rides like stock. Hydro shocks are the way to go! I put them on my 1998 jeep wrangler.

First lift on my 2020 Rubicon. Took me longer since its the first one i installed ever. Over all it was good instruction and the video helped a lot. Back spring squat more than i want with my trailer on them.

My front sway bar links are angled. I dont like that. It does ride much better on the interstate. Their is a little more body roll when turning. Over all for what i paid I don’t feel ripped off. It would be different if i had paid a couple of grand.

After deciding how much I wanted to invest in this first, I ended up choosing the RE 2. 5, i plan on it being my base to build from. I ordered the kit, it came within 3 days. The paperwork now the box was a little a little confusing, as it didn’t match the year of my 2014 JKU.

I called just to confirm, customer service was extremely helpful, and assured me that it was the right kit, just that RE hasn’t updated the paperwork that comes in it. Install: I by no means am a mechanic, however I watched the videos the on the app and can say it’s an outstanding resource if you’re planning on doing this yourself.

I was able to complete this in about 9 hrs by myself. One thing that helped me was I had 2 x seven ton jack stands. It allowed me to use my two smaller ones and the 1 floor jack I have. (I recommend having at least 2 floor jacks, but can be done with one).

Also I did this entirely with basic hand tools as I don’t own impacts. I also recommend having 2 x 18 and 19 mm wrench’s. I drive a lot, so I went with 33” tires, there is a little extra space in the wells bit overall I love it.

After completing I took to have the alignment checked, the rear was fine, the front was really close, had to have the tow adjusted a little. It rides pretty smooth, Not as good as before, but I blame that on the all terrain tires and not the lift.

Extreme Terrain sent me the wrong springs with this kit (I got the 3. 5″ Sport ones). They did supply store credit after speaking with customer service so I was happy with the outcome. YouTube is your friend, and I strongly recommend watching the videos before even looking at the instructions.

Have the videos handy throughout your installation. The instructions specify a 7/8″ hole for the drag link flip kit. THAT IS TOO LARGE DO NOT DRILL!! I had to go buy a new knuckle ($75 on APW; 3 day delay).

The tapered sleeve was also out of spec (too small, 0. 845 instead of 0. 875) so I bought the Teraflex one for the new knuckle ($11 on 4WP). I blame R. E. for this not Extreme Terrain. The hole you drill for the bump stops is not 5/16″ that is too small the self tapping bolts won’t grab (ironic, right?) You use your rear linkages in the front, and the supplied ones for the rear.

With all that said, the ride is better than stock and looks great. Handles well with all the kinks worked out. I’m running 35’s with stock fenders. Will definitely need a new/better steering stabilizer.

Did this in my buddy/mechanic’s garage with a full suite of tools and hi-lift jack/stands. Took 15 hours of 70 focus.

Haven’t installed it yet, however everything came in and everything looks to be pretty beefy, I did notice the coil springs in front look to be the equivalent of a 4. 5” but don’t hold me to it. I will find out when I begin the install paired with the HD steering kit and soon to be ordered SYE and double Cardon shaft.

Like I said, so far everything that has came in is up to my standards for sure. Thanks RC!.

Install was easy. Fitment and color was good. Took my time cutting out the blank plates for the switches.

Love the look of my cherokee with the tuff country lift. Got my tires installed two days ago. Could have gone with a more expensive “extreme” off road kit, but this was perfect for me. Jeep Cherokee XJ 97.

I wanted a kit that would lift enough for 35’s and level the ride height. But I also wanted a soft ride for the 95 of the time I spend on the street. The ride comfort feels like stock, maybe slightly better at slow bumps.

I ordered the twin tube shocks to save a buck. Install was okay, XT has a video for the same kit with Standard Coils. But they forget to tell you to start in the back so you can relocate sway bar links to the front later.

Fitment on the rear track bar bracket required opening up the hole with a drill. The self-tapping bolts for front bump stops were tricky. Other than that, easy enough. Took us 7 full hours. The progressive coils look fully compressed at the top while it’s sitting idle so I would go with standard coils if I had to do it again.

For now my Jeep rides smooth and looks great.

This is a pretty simple and straightforward lift, easy to install yourself if you have the knowledge. Took about 5 hours in the shop using jacks and jack stands along with a mix of hand tools and power tools.

So far this lift is good it gave me just enough room in the fenders to fit my 35’s and have room for flex. I will update later on if the lift gives issues.