quick question from a "noob"
 

Good day all!! I am just gearing up to finally get my '99 jimmy sls, (4 door), back on the road and ready to go camping. I have long dreamed of installing a lift kit onto my ol' girl, (im thinking around 3-4" of suspension and 2" of body).

Now, my question is this, because it is an old jimmy, with a LOT of Km's on it, (320,000), what parts for the front end are NOT typically included in the lift kits? I fear i will have to overhaul the front end entirely, (tie-rods, control arms, ball joints, etc), and i dont really want to waste money on buying new parts just to find that the lift kits come with new, different parts.

I have done some research, both on this forum and online with various distributors, and to the best of my limited knowledge, it looks like the only parts i may end up "duplicating" would be upper control arms and tie rods...can anyone offer me a little more insight? (this is brand new territory for me, and my first 4x4 build)

Your not gonna find a 3-4 inch suspension lift, but rough country makes a 2.5" lift that's been pretty popular. It seems most lift kits don't come with ball joints or tie rod ends, so maybe factor those into your purchase. The 2.5" kit I mentioned previously comes with new upper control arms that already have a press in ball joint installed, but the bds and superlift kits do not include ball joints, but do come with new upper control arms that take a stock ball joint. If it were me, and it will be soon, is order the kit first, see what's included, and then get all your "typical wear parts" and replace it all at once. At least that's what I plan to do.

Service replacements of tie rod ends and such are usually not included. Some suspension kits include longer shock absorbers and some don't.

Thank you kindly for the insight. I shall do exactly that then, order my kit, tear down the suspension, and re-build accordingly ;)

As was stated, there is no 3-4" lift, but in addition to the 2.5", I believe there is also a 5" lift. But it is about three or four times as expensive than the 2.5".

I'm in the same situation, my front end is shot after 250,000+ miles, but I'm trying to get it to hold out until I can pull off a solid axle swap!

i like the way you think Cleburne, i think i was looking at the 5" lift...but with the $2500 price tag, its a little expensive, and i think at that cost i would rather try and pull off the SAS first...the swap should cost about the same, and opens up a larger variety of potential lifts...