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Post by Brandon W on Oct 26, 2009 18:03:09 GMT -8
Hey this is Brandon Wilhelm from reynolds high school and i own a 93 jeep cherokee with the straight 6 4.0L engine and im lookin to buy a lift kit for it but i dont know what to get and im lookin between 3.5 - 6 inches to put on it. does any one have any suggestions on what to put on it?
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Wyldman
Active Member
Safety & Education Chairman
IXOYE
Posts: 643
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Post by Wyldman on Oct 26, 2009 18:47:05 GMT -8
I know Rubicon Express makes a VERY good product. They're a little spendy, but well worth it.
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Post by fivendime on Oct 26, 2009 19:16:08 GMT -8
Hey Brandon,
I currently have a Warrior Products lift on mine. I'm not completely certain on the height...somewhere around 4.5 is my guess. I'm not a huge fan of the short arm style suspension. If it were me and I had to get one it would be the Rubicon 5.5" long arm. Don't go higher then that with them because there lifts are higher on the XJ's then they say. That lift is over 6" compared to other lifts at 6". On another note, I have a friend with the short arm 5.5" Rubicon lift. That thing flexes out extremely well for a short arm, very well for that matter. If you want to come to the next club meeting I will have my XJ there and you can feel what one would be like with a 4.5" size wise. Just dont buy a Rusty's lift.....their rear springs suck and they sag horribly in a very short time. Also, try the CherokeeForum.com I am FiveNdime on there as well, there is a wealth of info there for XJ's. Hope this helped.
Edit: If you plan on going higher then 4.5 which is still pushing it, you will need a SYE kit for the transfer case and a CV drive shaft....just keep that in mind....also brake lines. You can cheat with a 4.5 by unbolting the brake hose brackets.
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Post by Brandon W on Oct 26, 2009 19:21:44 GMT -8
yes that helped so much and yeah i would love to come to the next meeting just let me know the date and time. My friend also recommended a 4.5 inch rough country lift, what are your thoughts on that?
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Post by fivendime on Oct 26, 2009 19:45:04 GMT -8
That's a decent lift. The Warrior Products lift that I have uses TUFF Country rear springs. The guy that has the Rubicon 5.5" SA lift I talked about I believe his son has a Rough Country lift. He likes it from what I know.
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Post by toyrocs on Oct 26, 2009 23:03:50 GMT -8
Brandon ! Wow ! It is great that your asking first about your lift. I wish I had done that years ago! I would have saved thousands of dollars!$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ If your rig is going to be a daily driver here are some other considerations to ponder. 1) Keep it legal ! A) Have the rig "look" some what legal to law enforcement . B) Keep the bumper height relatively low front/rear. C) Run mud flaps & maybe make them easily removable for your off-road trips. D) Run license plates front & rear! Rigs that have no front licence plate is one " reason" law enforcement stop people! E) Keep suspension lift as "low" as possible to fit the tire size for your 4x4 & to navigate the trails you plan on running. F) The lower height will lower the center of gravity for safer handling on & off road ( roll-overs). G) Use traction adding devices ( locking axles front & rear), some of the lost performance can be regained with a rig that has less wheel travel ( lift). You might be surprised that if you have a rig that has four tires forced to travel at the same speed, how good the performance is. H) A winch is great to use on a less capable rig. When your rig can't drive through an obstacle you can continue after winch extraction. Most "stucks" are very short in distance & only require a winch pull of 10' or so! A less capable rig is more fun to drive off-road as it requires better driving skills to navigate a trail! A new trend that some people are doing is not overbuilding a rig !Bigger is not always "better" I) Lower rig & smaller tires = better gas mileage J) Smaller tires= keep stock axles= lower cost K) The MOST ( )important thing is keep the rig lower. Easier to get in & out of especially for the" fairer" sex! ;D ;D ;D OK guys flame away. I can handle the heat! Have fun & let us know what you do to your rig! Toyrocs
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Post by Jon on Oct 27, 2009 8:22:01 GMT -8
Wow, I think you nailed it toyrocs... the biggest "trend" I see now a days is people seeing how low they can keep there vehicle and still have it be trail worthy. Some good stuff in that post.... and bullet K is da troof! My wife hates the jeep cause its a pain for her to get in and out of... hahahaha
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Post by oltmann on Oct 27, 2009 10:44:36 GMT -8
I agree with the low and tucked approach. It's cheaper and better performance to trim to fit tires than it is to add extra lift.
Specifically on an XJ I would shoot for the shortest lift to fit 33s. Add rocker armor and lockers/winch and you'll be pretty well setup.
For the lift I would try to piece together a budget lift on your own(cheaper and more fun that way) I would use ZJ v8 coils or used lift coils and maybe a 1-2" spacer. Longer shackle in the rear(chevy drop shackles can be made to work) along with 'building' leaf spring packs with extra leaf springs(I believe ranger leaf springs can make good fodder for this).
Ranger leaf springs are longer so you can cut the main to backup your main spring, and cut some of the other springs to fill in gaps in the length of your existing leaf springs. I would hit a u-pull junkyard and do some figuring there before you bought anything. It might even be worthwhile to buy a second set of used XJ springs so you can build your new leaf packs and then just swap over. Grade 8 Allen 'socket head' bolts work well for new longer center pins, I think you will need 3/8", but it's been awhile since I've built a leaf pack.
After you've got the rig setup with your first budget lift, then I would start researching new arms in the front. Radius arm or 3 link front is a whole different ball of wax, and not required for an initial budge lift of ~4" or less.
Good luck, ask questions, and post pics!
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Post by toyrocs on Oct 27, 2009 13:23:27 GMT -8
[I agree with the low and tucked approach. It's cheaper and better performance to trim to fit tires than it is to add extra lift. . Longer shackle in the rear(chevy drop shackles can be made to work) along with 'building' leaf spring packs with extra leaf springs(I believe ranger leaf springs can make good fodder for this). Ranger leaf springs are longer so you can cut the main to backup your main spring, and cut some of the other springs to fill in gaps in the length of your existing leaf springs. I would hit a u-pull junkyard and do some figuring there before you bought anything. It might even be worthwhile to buy a second set of used XJ springs so you can build your new leaf packs and then just swap over. Grade 8 Allen 'socket head' bolts work well for new longer center pins, I think you will need 3/8", but it's been awhile since I've built a leaf pack.] I have built a few custom rear leaf packs & the best way I have found is to use a lot of thin leafs ( local junk yard sourced) from a 1980's F150 ( you may have to find another truck for your application). They have thin leafs that can be mix & matched to what you need! Take measurement when in the yard vrs what the width of your current leafs are to see what may work. Oltman's idea of increasing the size of the center bolt is great! I have broken OEM center "pins" & found the larger socket head bolts in 3/8" fine thread works fine. The bolt head fits in the axle pad hole! You will have to drill a 3/8" hole in the leafs. Use a cobalt drill bit using very slow speed, lot's of pressure & cutting fluid/ oil. Parkrose hardware has a good selection of socket head grade 8 bolts. Toyrocs
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Post by Brando on Oct 27, 2009 21:05:04 GMT -8
thanks so much for the help every one your pointing me in the right direction and another thing i have been thinkin about is my jeep is a 93 and out of high school i want to get a 2000 or 2001 just newer and better engine because mine has 250k on it and original and all stoke so i want to be able to remove my lift when i get a newer xj heres some picks of it getting a little dirty today ;D
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Post by toyrocs on Oct 27, 2009 22:43:49 GMT -8
Brando, the latest ( 2000 & 2001) Cherokee's have the low pinion dana 30 front axle. The older ones have the high pinion dana 30 in the front. Most people agree that the high pinion is the stronger axle to have when going in the forward direction!
You might want to think about a 1999 & older Cherokee just because of this feature. IMHO the best years for this rig from my research is the 1998 & 1999. Slighty better power from a redesigned cylinder head, a slightly better AW4 automatic transmission ( computer programing?) the high pinion dana 30, abs & airbags for more saftey.
Maybe some others can chime in with other ideas on these Cherokee's
Toyrocs
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Post by DB on Oct 27, 2009 23:25:49 GMT -8
I have an 88 XJ myself, and have been daily driving it and wheeling it for the past 5 years. I started out with a 2" budget lift and 30x9.5's. I learned how to wheel on that setup for a few years, and then added a front locker to get a little more performance off road.
After another year I started to get bored with the limitations a 2" lift has, so I decided to fork out the cash for some upgrades. I went with a 5.5" Rubicon Express lift, Bilstein 5125 shocks, Dana 44 rear axle, 4.88 gears, locker for the rear, and 35x12.5 KM2's. I still daily drive the jeep close to 200 miles a week. It actually drives better than the old setup (worn out factory hardware).
XJ's are great budget wheelers, and are very capable even with a little bit of lift. If you are new to the sport I would recommend getting between a 3 and 4.5 inch lift and some 31x10.50 MT tires. This would be a good setup for a daily driver / weekend wheeler at TSF. Anymore lift than that and you might need a SYE for the transfer case and new drive line. Keep it open/open for awhile, and just learn how to drive off road. Half the fun is picking the right line, and making it up obstacles you had doubts about. Definitely armor it up soon with some rock sliders for under the doors, and skid plates. After that just have fun getting to learn the rig.
The good thing about XJ's is that pretty much all aftermarket parts will swap directly over to another XJ. So if you buy a bunch of stuff for this Jeep and get another one down the road, you won't lose any money. I agree with Toyrocs on the 98-99 year choice too. I'm secretly trying to find a 99 two door to be my next wheeler.
Hope to see you on the trails soon!
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Post by fivendime on Oct 27, 2009 23:37:12 GMT -8
The model to get is the 97 and up for frame reasons. The frames are much stronger. Motors and trans IMO are no different, well sort of. My brother has a 2000 and my 93 lifted one will out pull his and mileage is very similar on the motor, but I have 33's and stock gearing and hes running basically stock I just have the HO motor. You can swap lifts out on I think all of them if memory serves. If your looking to spend a small amount of money, check craigslist every day. There is always used lifts on there all the time. Also the SYE kits are Crazy expensive for the 241 T-case which is what I have, though there is one huge benefit with the 241 and that is the fact that you can run your XJ in 4 wheel drive on wet roads. It is made for this, the 231 does not have this option.....which is called "full time" and is indicated by a green light on the dash. You can also flip the drivers sun visor down for a description of all the transfer case positions.....enough of my rant ;D
X2 on the drive it open/open. Great way to learn your rig and what its capabilities are. Don't be afraid to come with us on a run, we wont put you in a spot you feel uncomfortable with or in a place that will tear up your rig.
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Post by xjramrod on Dec 31, 2009 7:02:45 GMT -8
well brando i dont really have any more sugestions that arnt said above but i do have a pair of 3.5 in lift coils from ez ride that you can have if you want and 2 inch coil spacers but i would suggest just the springs for ride difference.
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Post by fivendime on Dec 31, 2009 8:59:24 GMT -8
I will be selling my lift here soon. I am going to a long arm setup. Would you be interested in mine? Should be worth somewhere around 300 bucks, new is 500 and it has about 6K miles on it. In addition to what came with the lift I will toss in the whole spring pack. Everything is in sweet condition. Its not off the XJ yet but can be if you want it. Let me know! Heres a link for the lift I have at quadratech: www.quadratec.com/products/76121_100.htm
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