First off I drive a 97 ram 1500 4x4. I'm thinking about lifting it 2-3 inches. I'm thinking 2.5" coil spacers on the front and 2" blocks in the rear. I don't do much offloading but want more height. Eventually I'd like to put in a 5 inch suspension lift but don't have the funds at the moment. Anyways, I have searched quite a bit on the site and haven't found much on adding coil spacers. I guess my main questions are:

-do I need new shocks with 2.5" coil spacers and 2"blocks in the rear?
- what's the best way to remove the springs in the front to install the coil spacers?
- do I need drop brackets for my sway bar and pitman arm?
- what else do I need?

I'm a newb with lift kits and lifting trucks.


Please feel free to post links to information that I probably have missed.

 

spring compressors, i bought mine but you can get these from auto zone and return em when your done an get your money back....

you will want longer shocks to allow for proper travel..

2.5 " isnt all that much and most would probably say a drop pitman arm isnt necessary at that height but id look into it. They said I wouldnt need it when i lift my grand cherokee 3.5 inches but with the Rubicon express springs i ordered it sat more like a 4.5 inch and after a death wobble it was definitely a necessity. Its all about returning the steering geometry to normal.

as you go up everything needs to be extended but in most cases things get more serious when your exceeding 3.5 to 4 inches in my experience, brake lines then need to be extended, steering stabilizers become a must in most cases.

I'm sure youll get more definitive input here shortly.

 

No.
Unbolt sway bar & remove shocks, let suspension droop, let coils fall out.
No.

 

Funny you should mention a grand cherokee, that is exactly what i had before my ram and i had a 4" suspension lift on it. However, death wobble is a much more common occurrence in these as opposed to a truck. I think it's due to the obscene amount of steering linkage in the front suspension and the fact that the power steering gear boxes are much weaker than those found in trucks. My jeep had steering issues with the lift from day one and i never could get it quite right. I ended up returning it to stock and selling it to my brother who still drives it...

ANYHOW, the drop pitman arm and track bar relocation brackets are both good ideas when lifting a truck, although they are not required underneath 3". If it was me, i wouldnt sweat it unless i started noticing some symptoms of steering shimmy (death wobble) I think that most people don't buy them if they're only doing spacers without any other amount of lift. If you're getting bigger tires, then a heavy duty steering stabilizer is a must! These can be bought from advance auto or online from skyjacker, etc. With the body lift, you might notice some additional wear on front suspension components but thats just due to the change in geometry. Just make sure you keep everything greased up and tight and you should be good to go.

 

Exact same steering linkage setup in your ZJ as your 2nd gen...

 

Mine was a WJ (2004)...i prob should have specified that

 

Wj's have full crossover steering right? It's a far superior design than the y-link on our 2nd gens.

 

Has anyone looked close to see if the y-link at tie rod to drag link joint has loosened up so much to cause the death wobble? I don't recall any posts that focused on that, however, people say adding a steering stabilizer neutralized the DW. This would imply looseness in that joint. Maybe I'm on a loose train of thought I don't know, but it came to mind from a thread on another forum (Wombat... ).

 

^^ That's a good point. I still can't agree that a stabilizer would solve anything, so that is a good thought. I never have had the issue in my '95 so I haven't really looked into it.

 

I recently put a 2" tuff country add a leaf and coil spacers on mine. I've had no issues with the stock pitman arm, track bar, or sway bar. I replaced steering stabilizer cause it was due. Yes longer shocks. +1 on Wombats method, drop sway bar and springs will fall out. I do prefer the add a leaf for the rear vs blocks, my 97 has 3 1/2 inch factory blocks already.