I applaud you for looking out for your son and others. That being said an XJ lifted can drive just as stable as stock if the suspension is setup properly for the height its lifted. Its silly to throw a lift on a DD vehicle and not set it up properly so that it doesnt tram/wander, and that it brakes and steers well etc. it takes more work and money but why break a vehicle just to be big /boggle

 

^^ Yep! That said, $700 for a 6" lifted XJ is PROBABLY not done correctly, lol

 

This was my main concern and the price confirmed it, though that's a great deal for any XJ.

I didn't mean to start a debate, I just get bored here at the office since my last day is tuesday and I start my new job next year so I've just been bsing lately.

Cruiser's right though, as always - there's no reason to be concerned IF it's properly maintained and all that. These things ARE tough, my last one was in 15+ confirmed accidents by the previous owner alone and was still fine. But to be fair, an XJ your dad was driving back in the early 90's was a new vehicle. A new vehicle is a new vehicle, and things wear out over time.

It's the best first vehicle you could ever get, particularly for learning to turn a wrench. Safety concerns are just a much different ball game when you're talking about your kids.

To answer your original question, I'd do what others suggested and try to trade/sell your setup for a lower lift, since (again in my hated opinion) a 6 inch lift is way overkill for any amount of daily driving anyway.

 

 

Opinions are opinions, and obviously do not have to be rooted on fact. What exactly about the design of the XJ makes it unsafe on the highway? If yours has death wobble above 50 mph, don't blame the vehicle, blame improper parts, and/or poor maintenance. I highly doubt the number of crashes occurring on "your" stretch of highway have much or anything to do with the type of vehicle being driven. Vehicles don't crash themselves, and it is 99% user error when it comes to vehicle crashes. A PROPERLY built XJ will have no issues traveling either on the highway or above 50 mph.

 

Any pics you can post yet? If we could see what you're working with, we could easily figure it out.

 

Besides your highway, maybe your jeep needs some work. My '88 has had a newer lift totally at 4"s for over two years now and I drive 300 miles cross PA to school 8 times a year, staying at 70mph/2k rpms with 31s and it drives amazing at those speeds, proper shocks keep the jeep solid to the ground and almost no body roll on corners. Besides no sway bars I would let anyone drive my Jeep.

 

Been running both my lifted Jeeps on the highway fine for awhile now, 92 XJ 4.5" lift on 33s and a 90 YJ 4" lift on 33s. Never once did I think wow this is dangerous, keep your vehicle in check and itll be fine.

 

Haha ive put a combined total of about 300,000 miles on lifted XJs. This one I only ever drove lifted (6.5" and 35s).. bought it with 20,000 miles on it, it now has 180. I threw the lift on during leave and drove it from my home in Montana all the way to my duty station in Louisiana (3200 miles). I made that trip about 10 times including once pulling 5000lbs in a uhaul trailer. A typical backpacking/hunting/wheeling trip for me here in MT involves 2-5 hours of mountain highway/interstate driving at 75-80. Ive driven it from MT to Utah, to Colorado, to Arizona.... drove it from Louisiana To Pennsylvania and back... Have yet to be in a wreck. In fact, from 15 on, ive had a lifted jeep and never been in a wreck.


While it is not as smooth going as say my wifes new Tacoma, my jeeps have made me a more careful/alert driver and I now enjoy their "problems"... helps keep me awake

I feel like it is a non issue. We have a fully restored 66Falcon and my Jeep feels like a Cadillac compared to that. For all those years people drove those older cars all over the place... Our jeeps might not be as nice as the new ones but they are way better than the old ones.

 

But to the OP, this is probably the best answer to your question... There are heaps of people that would trade you if you have a decent kit. Just throw up some pictures

 

Vehicles with front solid axles don't handle like an independent front suspension does. Driving fast on uneven roads can be kinda scary. A brick on a solid-axle suspension is not going to be a very good highway machine.

If you want a better highway 4x4, I would vote for a more recent Toyota four-runner....and you can find them aplenty too for reasonable $. They are more money to work on and the parts are not as plentiful and cheap as Cherokee parts are though.

$700 for a running 4x4 Cherokee is a good price, stock or not. You should spend a few hundred bucks more replacing as much of the suspension and braking system if they are worn. For example, it wouldn't cost much more than about $200 to replace the entire essentials of all 4 brakes. New tierods from a ZJ would be a good way to stabilize the XJ on the highway and offroad. Track bar must be in perfect shape and adjustable suited to that 6" lift. SYE would be a must, and not too terribly expensive or difficult to do yourself.

Go over all of the suspension and brakes with a fine toothed comb. A single failure of a rear brake cylinder would cause frightening results during braking... It would be worth it to just replace all the main brake parts that you are unsure of being like-new. Pads, shoes, rotors, drums, drum springs, adjuster and the brake cylinders. Flush all the old brake fluid out of the lines with new fluid and bleed all 4 points.

For your son, this would be an awesome education too!

Happy Holidays!

 

It's my tires, I already know that - I have slight wobble at 55+ due to them being slightly out of round/old. The tread is still great on them, but they sat on the Jeep for a long time before I bought it, you can tell. I will be swapping them out in the Spring since they're still great winter tires. I have done literally everything else wobble related on the vehicle except for LCA's and sway bar bushings, which I'll be doing as well.

That's still not the point, though. The fact that these vehicles are so touchy and particular, like a complex math equation that everything needs to be right to get rid of the wobble, etc just doesn't make for a good choice for a highway vehicle. Not saying they can't be used as such, just saying they shouldn't be a first choice for that type of driving...

 

Would you drive a wrangler on the highway? How about an f250? Or a dodge 2500? All can be bought brand new, all solid axle vehicles. All can get death wobble.
Just because its got solid axles don't mean it can't be driven on the highway.
My xj drives great on the highway. At 5" of lift, no sway bars, 35s and good over the Knuckle steering I honestly enjoy the way it drives(the sound of going above 50mph is like being in a tornado, hurricane and blizzard all at once is not as fun though) lol

 

I would. I wouldn't let my kid. I also wouldn't recommend in a million years that anyone that isn't a decently experienced mechanic to get an XJ as a daily driver if your driving requires a lot of highway miles. I know that is off topic, as this whole discussion really is, but that's just how I feel.

Look at my done list in my sig (which isn't even up to date at this point) - if it was someone that didn't know what they were doing, they'd be over $8000 into the Jeep by now in shop fees/shop part prices, without exaggeration, and I STILL have wobble. I understand the rest of the issues it has, and I understand it'll be safe on the highway once it's done (and it already is, the wobble has been taken care of by about 80% since I bought it) but that doesn't mean I'd want a new driver like my kid (or in my case my wife) driving it down a highway every day over 55mph.

Out of all the people I have talked to that have had Cherokees, the few Jeep guys I knew had wobble and took care of it, but I have talked to probably over a dozen people that have had Cherokees/wranglers and got rid of them due to the wobble since they weren't mechanics and were tired of "throwing parts at them" - again, off topic, but whatever.

This thing is a utility vehicle to me, and an oh-$hit situation vehicle, whether that means snow or a zombie apocalypse. To have it as an only vehicle when highway driving is needed is just not the smartest thing, I'd go and get virtually any other car to do that with, even just for gas consumption alone.

 

guys, i know we can all drive our lifted xjs "fine" on the highway but the man has a point. we get used to the way they drive and all that.. but any of you who have a newish sports car knows the difference. I used to dd mine on the highway and it was "fine" and then i bought a newer vw and i realized how ****ty and at a disadvantage i was at in my xj in case something did happen