After many wheeling trips, including the Mojave Road and Last Chance, the springs on my 1995 Jeep Wrangler YJ were getting tired. I replaced the rear springs with Pro Comp Cherokee leafs and they rode great.

Pro Comp Alloy Wheels 1079

For about 4 years the suspension stayed that way. Then two and half years ago I decided to start over. The old setup provided about 3″ of lift and gave ample room for the 31″ tires, but I had just bought some 35″ Interco TrXus M/Ts and Pro Comp 1079 alloy wheels so I wanted to change things up. The goal was stretch the wheelbase from the stock 93.4″ to somewhere between 97 and 100″ while maintaining about 3″ of lift.

Now, typically people will tell you that you need 6″ of lift to clear 35″ tires, but I’ve never been one to abide by the norm. Years before I had installed TJ flares on the rear, which were a popular mod for YJs to gain more clearance for tires by cutting the sheet metal. Keeping a lower center of gravity (CoG for short) is beneficial for rock crawling because it keeps everything low and stable.  What I did differently was to run the flares backwards so the driver’s side flares were on the passenger side and vice versa. This allowed me to gain additional clearance and, with ample cutting, it made room for the 35″ tall tires without issue.

On the front I removed the factory fender flares, did some cutting, and folded the excess under the flares. This allowed for almost the right amount of clearance. The rest came from flexing the Jeep out and letting the tire curve the fenders up slightly. To stretch the wheelbase I used a set of Rancho 44044 springs, which are quite possibly the most used Rancho springs for modified leaf spring suspensions. These springs are a two-and-a-half inch lift spring for full-size Jeeps and trucks. They are 47″ long overall and offset two inches, netting a two inch stretch on a YJ.

For the rear I used Rancho springs again, this time 86211 springs. They are listed as Chevy pre-runner springs for the rear of most full-size Chevys from 73-87 that use a 52″ long leaf spring. They have a centered spring pin, so this netted me three inches of stretch over stock. I removed some leaves, since the Jeep is far lighter than a full-size Chevy. Overall I came out with a 98″ wheelbase and approximately three-and-a-half inches of lift in the front and two inches in the rear.

Check out next time when I get into the axle upgrades I made.