How to lift Jeep Cherokee KJ / KK

Quick guide on Cherokee KJ/KK lift

Yello Jeepers,
Another great post from forum, which in my opinion is really worth more exposure. Cherokees are very affordable nowadays and you may be interested in some jeep cherokee kj lift guide.
Today I present you with Pippobug’s guide on

How to lift Jeep Cherokee KJ / KK

Hi,
Thought I might help with a quick guide to Lifting a Cherokee KJ/KK from 2001/2012. This guide is only here to help you get on the right direction with what to look for and what you need to consider. The KJ & KK have basically the same set up for the suspension (KK will require additional care to the rear torsion bar at the back).
Easiest way to go about it is this. The KJ & KK have independent front suspension (IFS) that make life a little more difficult to lift and also to get a lift that is over 3.5 in due to the front CV joints that will start to work at wrong angle.
Yes, there are kits out there for +4 in and +6 in maintaining still the independent front suspension but the price is well over the value of the vehicle and in my opinion not worth the expense (up to $6000 just for the kit!!).
We will leave these Lift Kits out of the discussion on the grounds that they require a lot more modification & costs and not part of this quick guide.
Some Terms you will need to get familiar first:

• IFS: independent front suspension

• UCA: upper control arm

• LCA: lower control arm

• UBJ: upper ball joint

• LBJ: lower ball joint

• CV’s: constant velocity joints

• SFA: solid front axle

• OTT: over the top / so on top of the strut / spacer lift

So here is the basic structure of the suspension for a KJ:
Front we have Independent Front Suspension (IFS)

In the photo (I will try and get a better one) you can see how it’s set up.
The front is comprised by the Strut and the coil and two arms that hold it in place.
The Upper Control Arm (UCA) you see in the picture and the Lower Control Arm (LCA) you actually can’t see. In the photo you see the Upper Ball joint (UBJ) and attached at the bottom of the front Hub there is the Lower Ball Joint (UBJ) not in the picture.
I will try and label them up in a better picture to be clear.
Back we have a straight axel with Coils and a Upper A Arm to hold the Differential in place with an Upper rear Ball joint.

Need a Picture.
Now that we know where we are, here come the part of lifting the KJ/KK.
The simplest way is to swap out the Struts & Coils and replaced them with whatever is your choice.
On average Jeep suspension will last around the 60K miles and then it will start to sag. This is specially the case for CRD as the engine weighs a lot more than the Petrol engines.
To give you an idea for model from 2002 onwards to see in what state your front suspension is you should measure from the centre of the Hub to the first lip of the fender.
On average when new it should have been 19″ for petrol and around the 18.5″ for CRD (early model 2001 were actually higher around 20″ before Jeep decided to lower them for “safety reason” or the Moose test).
To give you an idea, here is how you should measure it:

So you have now realised your suspension has sagged and it’s time to upgrade, what do I get !?
Here are the options:

1. Swap out the suspension and get New OEM from Jeep and it will last another 60K miles
2. I want a compromise that will not affect too much the handling and I can still enjoy my KJ
3. I go for a new Suspension set up and go for after Market tailored for off roading.

Before you go for the Third option please think very carefully of what you are going to use your KJ for!!!
It’s great to have a 2.5″ or 3.5″ lift but is your KJ your daily driver?
If so are you going to be happy with it?!
When you speak to TJ or XJ Jeep owners that have lifted +3″ they all sort of complain that the handing has gone, but off road it’s great.
Yes, true do you spend 90% of your time off road? I don’t (but I wish I did).
So please think carefully at your set up!

Here is few facts that will help you:

1. The front Strut (front shock absorber) is the same length from all manufactures, what counts are the coils.
2. Not all Suspension lifts will actually give you the lift they claim to give, some give you more some less.
3. Same lift will not give necessarily the same result on two KJ, because of set up and other original components on the KJ (i.e. Bushes already in place)
4. Don’t expect you KJ to handle necessarily like it did before, it’s now lifted and it will role more.

So here we come to deciding the lift.

We all have budgets to work with once we have decided to lift.
First, please do not go for a Daystar Lift, i.e. a spacer lift. Yes it’s cheap, but it’s a big NO-NO – it will cost you twice as much in the long run.
Reason for this is as following:

1. You are adding spacers to the set up that is compressing springs that are already old and have very little life left. Yes it will lift the KJ but the ride will be horrible.
2. The cost of fit them is the same as fitting New Coils to your existing old Struts as you have to pull them apart and then recompress them into place.
3. If you really want to fit them, use your KJ for road only as the rear spaces will move occasionally when fully extended and make noise.
4. Daystar spacer lifts are only really good for SFA Jeeps and even then I am sure it might have some draw backs.

Second, Rocky Road Offroad ( or similar) spacer top plates another option available. These are placed on top of your existing set up and are bolted directly to the Chassis and them to the top mount of your existing suspension set up.
Reason not to go for them:

1. It pushes the chassis up and give you more space, that is fine, but it uses your already existing suspension, if that is on his way out the ride will still be the same and you want really gain any advantage in handling but just the lift.
2. If you are changing your shocks & coils and then decide to fit them, it will push the nose up too much and cause the UCA to bang against the coils ruining them and making a big noise.
3. Also the cost of them isn’t justified as you can get the same result cheaper ( we will come to that).

So here we come to the proper lift part.

There are a lot of options out there all of them good with their own merits, so please what I say is based a bit on experience and a bit from collating information from various websites in different countries around the world ( I will post links at the end).
As stated before the front Struts for the KJ are all the same length, what actually gives you the lift are the Coils you fit. For the rear the story is different and so are the results.

Starting with the front lift:

All front coils will fit any KJ but here is the difference, Petrol model can fit CRD Coils and get a really good lift, but CRD can’t fit Petrol ones, not because they don’t fit but because the CRD ENGINE IS VERY HEAVY!!!
Please be very careful when ordering the parts from your chosen supplier as they won’t necessarily tell you the model they are selling you and this will make the difference in the result you will get at the end
There are sellers here in the UK that have on the shelf parts for Petrol engine lifts and have been trying to sell them on to CRD owners telling them they will work, THEY WON’T!!!, so make sure you know your part numbers.

Now the rear lift:

Most manufactures will supply you with the standard length shock absorber only OMU will actually sell you a longer one but you must purchase those from the US.
You can add an extender bracket to the rear shocks and that will actually give you a bit more ground clearance.
You might/will need to add top Isolators on top of the coils to get a bit more lift and avoid it to be too soft.

So here are my suggestions:

Jeep Cherokee KJ lift 1.5″ – 2″

H&R Coils:

H&R Raising Springs / Raising Kit Cost £216.00
Shocks, you choose: Monroe, Gabriel, OEM, Bildstein, Koni or even OMU. Get your best deal out there, should set you back from £250 to £ 600.

Ironman Lift:

Please make sure you select the correct parts when ordering in the UK. The whole set will set you back around £7 / £800 depending if it’s for a CRD or not. See link here: http://www.ironman4x4.com.au/

Old Man Emu:

Coils Petrol: 926 normal, 927 medium/heavy, 790 heavy with bumper & winch
Coils CRD: 927 for a CRD 2.5 or 790 if with winch or heavy bumper, CRD 2.8 927 for a more softer ride, 790 CRD 2.8 normal
Front Struts NS 131 – I recommend as they have internal damper, so you don’t need extra extended front bump stops.
Rear Shocks NS132 – Normal length or NS132L are extra length – give better articulation.
Up to here you will be able to fit them on and go with no problems (i.e. no bagging against the front coils from the front UCA).

Jeep Cherokee KJ lift 3″ – 3.5″

All set ups can be tweaked to get and additional inc or so of height to give you more space to fit bigger tyres or better articulation.
What you will need are a set of top plates & some Clevis rings at the front and at the back some top isolators or some spacers.
ALSO you will need New Upper Arms from Jeepin by All (http://jeepinbyal.com/jeep-liberty-kj/jeep-liberty-kj-upper-a-arms.html), the reason is they will give you more room around the front coils so the UCA won’t knock against the coils and damage them.
Another advantage of fitting them is that the UBJ it’s easy to replace and it’s greasable compare to OEM one. If you decide to go for a 3.5″ lift I would suggest you actually go for a Tommud lift from Jeepin by All http://jeepinbyal.com/jeep-liberty-kj/tommudd-s-econo-3-5-lift-kj-front-struts.html , as this will give you all the correct parts required in one kit as long as you select the correct parts you need for your vehicle.
You can construct your own lift from the parts you select to achieve a 3.5 in lift, but the end result will be as good as what you are willing to invest in it money wise.

Jeep Cherokee KJ lift 4″ – 6″

The price for these kind of lifts start at $3000 and are special lifts based on front struts on Coil over Shocks and also require new CV joints and the original one’s will get damaged. For the 6 in it actually requires the front cradle to be dropped.

Now you have bought your Kit and fitted it or got someone to fit it, you need to do the following things:

1. Have Tracking & Camber done – don’t expect it to necessarily go back to factory settings!!!
2. Let it settle. This will take a couple of thousand miles and the ride will improve.
3. Get new tyres…

What I have given you is a short version of what you need to expect as home work to find a new Lift that suits you.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask them in comments below – I will do my best to answer them, as time goes on I will update it with new products and information.
For further information you can check the following sites:

• Lost Jeeps

• Jeep KJ

• Jeep Forum

• Aussie Jeep OR

If you require other links to Italian, Spanish or German KJ/KK sites let me know (PM Pippo via Jeep-Club.co.uk).

Now for the boring bit:

• Please be advised that Jeep-Club takes no responsibility for the information above

• You are responsible of verifying all the information and parts quoted above will fit you vehicle

• You and any third part are responsible for the fitting of any lift kit in the correct way and should be undertaken by professionals only.

Hope this has been of help.
Fil (Pippobug)

That’s it from Pippo.

Please show some love for his efforts and comment below! Yet if you think you could add something to the above, share your knowledge with us – much appreciated!
Happy Jeeping!