X E Ryder

HELLOOOOOOOOO Cherokee XJ Peoplez!
HELP WANTED!

OK, so first thank you for reading this, and second for indulging my official "Noob-ness" at the XJ. Thankfully I am an old motorhead and have built and broken and better built numerous vehicles over the years. I turn 44 in a week or so (lordy!). You will not have to tell me twice, I do get it!

Let me start with what I HAVE and on to what I would like to DO!

OK so this is my totally stock XJ Laredo. 4.0 HO motor, AT, has Motor, Xfer and Tank skidplates, no ABS. Think it has high pinion D30 front (narrow 10 bolt cover with flats on the vertical sides) and a Chyrs 8.25" rear (has 10 bolt round cover and flat spot on housing bottom). I cannot rotate my front driveshaft while in 2wd - locked hubs? Can I shift while moving? Owner's manual missing, :-(


Current Issues:

Crazy Driveline Vibration - Is that normal? The last owner put new U joints on but whoa - either bad work or messed up shaft but I'll be damned if I can see how.

Whiny Steering Pump - Start up a mountain road and it starts complaining worse than the Ex! Do you folks run Dextron? Just swap the pump?

Jerk-a-Traction - I always thought it was Positraction, but the rear dif is doing some tire squealing and other jerky stuff in U-turns etc - it has something better than open because I saw the springs / clutch pack. It has a Round dif cover with a Flat spot on the house bottom - is this Chrys 8.25"? Is the wild lock and pop normal?

Wobble Rotor - Brakes work fine but seem to warm up FAST on steep grades, then start buzzing the pedal etc - any input on what folks in mountainous ares run? Bigger tires will only make this WAY worse!

Naughty Bushing! My sway bar bushings are rotted bad all around and I need them for the times when I am on the road to work - it's fast and winding. Need a bushing kit and disconnect for play time right?

What I Want To Do: Drive 21 miles to work on a mountain road in the snow with 17% grades and corners. Some weekend trail use and camping trips.

Proposed Build: Based on the good advice and posts I have read so far.

* Rubicon Express Lift - 3.5" Super Flex kit

* 31's BFG ATT T/A's - or can you tell me a great all season tire that is decent in snow too? Need Year Around choice.

* Or-Fab bumpers - unless you talk me out of them.

* Gears? Do I need them for my steep hills and 31's?

* Front Dif Posi or better than open diif? Think Ice and snow.

* SYE - OK, I read pages of posts and just never found a straight answer of if you NEED this for a Daily Driver with RE 3.5" Help?

* Adjustable Steering or Locator (panhard) bars - Do I Need these for the RE 3.5" lift?

* Couple of lights on that bumper & Replace any busted stuff I find like the one fender flare. Where is the best online OEM part supplier?

Your opinions all welcome - I think I have given all needed info - if not I will come back and edit the posting. Please give your advice and why and you have my Thanks!

Sideways99

RE is a safe bet for lift. i run the 3.5 super ride, been on for 2.5-3 yrs settled out to a final 4.5 front and rear.
they over-do it a little
sye is just a good idea. avoid t-case drop kits
the clicking/popping your getting from the rear end could be an auto locker.
bumpers are always needed, ie place to put lights and recovery points
gears, front locker, bfg's not needed.
look into goodyear duratracks
also an adjustable trackbar... may i suggest iron rock off road
hope this helps

DieselD

TO ANYONE WITH A Rough Country LONG ARM UPGRADE KIT....

Did you get a drop pitman arm? I got all the stuff I ordered from rough country yesterday. I got a long arm upgrade kit (among other things) and in the box with all the hardware for the la kit there was a drop pitman arm! It doesn't list it as coming with one. I needed one so, sweet. I just wanted to know if its a fluke or not. Because I don't wanna go around telling people it comes with one if it doesn't.

I think maybe I got a long arm kit that goes with a full lift kit because they come with a pitman arm...

ApexAllDay_98XJ

I have a 2-door 98 XJ with the 4.0L manual. i'm a beginner at off roading, and have a few questions. what is a good setup for a beginner? how much will it cost?
it has 360k already, is there a point? (it runs great, putting a new clutch in soon).

Nperryman

Anyone have pros and cons of running 3.75" backspacing on a 8" wide wheel with 3" lift and 31/10. 5/15 tires?

Sideways99

who makes a good long arm upgrade?
i've looked at re, rc, and iro am i missing some?

BNJeepsta

Clayton pro series 3 link all day!

dacr89

Ok so I have a tire question, without any lift what size tires could I run with and without trimming?? The largest I would ever go as far as tires would be 30-31 seeing as how I do not do alot of serious offroading. Could I get tires and then a lift???

BNJeepsta

235/75 with no trimming. 31's with trimming but on stock rims they will rub the lca's at full lock. I ran 31's with no lift for a long time and other than the crappy turning radius its not bad. You could do 30x9.5's and a bb lift with no trimming. That's cheap and middle of the road for ya

dukie564

yea 30s you'll rub in turns, 31s you'll def rub with no trimming. 235/75s fit great on no lift.

bev4ns

Sorry for long thread, just trying to lay all the background down:

Just got my first XJ a few weeks back and one of the first concerns I tackled was fixing a rear-end sag. It measured around 16" on each side at the rear. So I replaced them with HD leaf packs from Crown. After some settling, they seem to have found their home at about 18.75" on each side.

I really wasn't planning to lift too much right now, but I really didn't like the forward lean the Jeep had after changing for the HD leaf packs... sooo I replaced the springs up front with HD springs to try and even it back out. Granted, we just got them on today (thanks to HighRoller for the assist btw) the front is at 20.25". Had no clue these things would raise it up THIS high.

So now I have about 1.75" of lift in the back and 2.75" of lift in the front over stock. I'll probably go back and add 1" shackles in the back to even it back out. So I should be looking at 2.5" of lift all around in the end.

My question is this: I still have the stock shocks on (remember, wasn't really intending on getting this much lift... silly me). From what I understand, some bar pin eliminators should give my shocks some extra travel; will this be sufficient? Or will I be needing new shocks? (or anything else for that matter)

Thanks in advance,
Brett

Sorenabel

K so I recently put a 5.5" lift on my jeep an finnaly got my tires on an took it offroadin just a little to see how it handled, an when I put it into 4wheel drive my front drive line hits my exhaust... Has anyone elsw had this problem?

BNJeepsta

I'm not sure if BPE's would give you enough extra length. I would get shocks for a 3" lift and call it a day. Also if your gonna be disconnecting the swaybar you may want to lengthen the brake lines a bit as they will be about maxed out

BNJeepsta

You mean the drive shaft hits the down pipe?? Like just sitting still?

dukie564

i would invest in new shocks. BPEs will extend them a little, but they'll still be maxed out at ride height. You can get shock cheaters alternatively
http://detoursusa.com/fsc.php
http://detoursusa.com/xjstm.php