I have 2800 to spend on upgrades. I wanted to do gears and arb lockers but the total was 3800 with labor. I'm afraid if I'll spend the money if I try to save it (had 4k but had to replace camshaft and replaced other stuff since the engine was apart)

So I'm not sure if I should risk trying to save and try not to spend the money whilst saving or spend the money now on other upgrades.

I have front/rear bumpers and 4.5" RE lift and 33s. 3:54 gears currently.

I could do gears and one locker right now. Or I could do all my other upgrades. Roof rack, 1-ton steering, upgrade ball joints, winch and armor.

I'm leaning towards just trying to hold onto the money and save it or just do the gears and only one locker right now

Thoughts? What would everyone else do if they were in this position?

 

Save. Don't do both gears and only one locker, you'll end up paying more for labor once you get the other locker put in.

 

Buy the parts and some tools and do it yourself.

 

Upgrade your steering, You are on borrowed time with 33's and the thinner factory steering components. Get the Winch, do a complete fluid change and Tune-up and save the rest for gears and lockers.

 

Steering for sure. You could buy some or all of the parts for your gears/lockers install.

 

I was under the impression gears/lockers were quite difficult to do? I've removed my carrier before when I replaced my seals but I thought gears were something you needed to take to a professional. I'm handy and all but idk about that.

 

Just finished doing a tune up all my fluids when I replaced camshaft. Steering seems like the way to go. I WANT the Winch but I don't need it... I live in AZ and where I'm located there aren't many things to grab on to. Most of our "trees" are just big bushes lol, unless I go up north.

 

Armor is a good idea im working on doing might at this point in time and getting everything mechanical fixed, i would do the steering. Also look into doing gears and lockers yourself its way cheaper. i was lucky with my xj and got one that had the gears done already haha.

 

Out of all the upgrades I have done to my XJ about 10k so far the single best was the gears and lockers above all others. Gears for a full set of 4.56's D30/Chy 8.25 with master install kits cost me under $500 from Rustys.


Do you really need ARB lockers for where you wheel? My guess is you could get by very well with a full case auto locker for the rear like a Detroit Locker and a Lunchbox for the D30.


As for the steering that will run you under a $100 for a full mid 90 V-8 GC tie rod setup 3 pcs many times stronger than stock plus a direct bolt-in and good for up to 35" tires. This is what I run in mine no problems running 33's & 35's.


All of these are in your budget and I would suggest that you have a pro setup the gears for you so it is right. Here in my area it cost me $200 per differential to install gears and lockers.

 

I probably don't need the ARBs but I feel like a selectable locker would be the way to go. I've only ever heard good things about selectables, arb in particular. With the autos and lunchbox I've heard sketchy things with snow/ice. Now it doesn't snow where I live but I do frequently go up north for camping. I admit I haven't done much research on any lockers other than the ARBs so my thought process is biased. Guess I'll have to do some more research.

Im also thinking of just regearing right now and doing lockers later. I know it'll cost more in the future for labor since I would be paying for the same thing twice but If I don't do the lockers now then I probably won't don't them for another year or two. So it may be a good idea to regear now and lock later. Not sure how big of a difference going from 3.54 to 4.56 with 33s will make..?

 

I think you are on the right track with your thinking. If I remember you said some where (diff. thread) that your really won't be hard core wheeling this XJ. If you do the 4.56 gears & 33" you will be pretty happy with the way your rig performs both on and off the trails. Unless you start wheeling some of those extreme trails, you will be ok unlocked. There are a lot of upgrades that are equally important to the dependability of your rig out on the trail.

 

Regearing will make a gigantic difference

 

You are correct. Currently I don't wheel very hard, I've been progressively pushing it more and more but I'm limited because the people I go with (stock or don't want to break things) and I haven't joined a club yet.

I'm definitely leaning towards just doing the gears and steering for now. 4.56 is what I plan on going with, but I would like to upgrade my tires to 35s when I need new ones so I'm wondering if 4.88 would be better for long term

 

I am kind of in the same boat as you. I do push the envelope of my rig on the trails I have done so far. And I realize more and more it is fun but these kind of trails beat me and my rig up. I had to drop down to 31" tires because with a manual tranny and stock gearing and 33" tires it just doesn't work. Right after I dropped down to the 31"s my sons frame near the steering box cracked and I did not want to risk him driving it even after it was repaired. So I retired his 94 and bought a 95 to replace it. So I took his axles and threw them under my rid and instantly my rig was now trail worthy.

I have done many steering up-grades to my rig that I think are very important, my rig ended up doing the same thing my son's did. I have to say going up in tire size you really need to address the whole front end before things start to fail. I ended up fixing mine by putting front frame stiffeners double plating the area that failed and the steering box brace.(aprox. $75 which I think it would have helped prevent frame the from cracking in the first place).


I will have the money to do gears and lockers after taxes, but I am not sure if I am going to do them. Got plenty of time to figure out things.

 

I didn't think much about about bigger tires and needing to upgrade the the frame/brace but that's definitely a good point. Hate to spend the money just to have it break from not being fully prepared