Buying lift for stock XJ NEED ADVICE!

Hey guys, you know a lot more than me, so here it goes. Stock unmolested XJ 2 door 65000 original miles , i am the second owner and this is my DAILY!
I dont plan on off roading it, i just want a killer urban assault jeep, pop some curbs, maybe shred some fire roads to get to mountain bike trails.

I have about 3k - 4k to spend,
-need new wheels/tires, going 30's, 31's top. should i do 15x7 rims, or 16x8.

-what tires would be a good bet, thinking radial longtrials, or all terrains as the most aggressive i would want to go.

-want to do 3.5 lift, whats best?

-what else should i get to make this thing solid? slip yoke eliminator etc.....?

-doing aftermaket intake, and exhaust. whats best for sound and HP gain?

also please any advice on where to buy this stuff...? ill be doing most of the work myself with help as i have a garage at my access.

thanks guys!!!!:yelclap:

http://dpgoffroad.com/products/22-5-inch-ultimate-xj-old-man-emu-hybrid-kit/


http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/tire-selector/category/off-road-tires/all-terrain-t-a-ko/tire-details

Shoot I would just do a 2 inch budget boost some nice shocks and a set of 30 inch BFGs and save a bunch of money!

My first lift was a 2 inch budgetr boost and 30 inch mudders. Was a nice combo other then the loud tires.

I just pulled my 2.5" lift off my XJ, it had near new bilstien 5100's. Let me know if you are interested.

Hate to be the one to say this but... Your budget will be only a good starting point. Lift, tires, intake, exhaust. None of it is cheap.

But there are ways to spend less. For a Cold Air Intake, I pieced mine together from Spectre components I obtained from my local Advance Auto. Total cost was less than half of a commercially prebuilt CAI kit. It always pays to shop. What are you going to be doing to the engine? Is the Throttle Body going to get replaced or modified? Tons of variables and, IMO, a plan needs to be developed and then priced out so you can get it done.

Shop your local Chapter Members for suspension components. Keep in mind that as soon as you increase the tire diameter, the axle gearing has to be changed so, decide on what tire size is the target. Keep in mind that every single part on your Heep is a Used Part. Just sayin...

I have seen, as others have also, "inchitis" creep up on an unsuspecting 4 wheeler. Boaters get something similar except it is "footitis". If you do not wish to replace the suspension/tires/gears more than once, make the plan and stick to it.

This go around, I decided to keep the Heep "relatively" sane. I am at ~5" of lift, or so, run P285/75R16s (32.8") along with 4.56:1 gears. A Detroit in the back and, eventually, a selectable locker up front.

Where I spurged was the Supercharger. I just dropped an additional $500+ on the Heep by adding in a 68mm TB plus a ton of exhaust heat abatement.

So, all told, I have around (considering list prices) $13,100 tied up in it plus hte cost of the Heep which was $2500 from my local Dealership. More or less, $13k... That includes, the suspension (used), two axles (the rear is a Currie) with the gears (both used, I had to completely rebuild the Currie), new tires, used 16" wheels, the SC, the 68mm TB, a F/IC8 for fuel/ignition control (needed for the SC), the heat abatement, an ARB compressor and Bushwacker flat flares. Not to mention the Davies-Craig EWP115 electric water pump. I have been building this thing for the last three years, four years come May. Point being, the Heep will evolve. Yours is a good starting budget and should see suspension and tires done plus some exhaust work. I run a Heartthrob 3" Cat Back only because the enine has been modified. Just bolting larger exhaust into the Heep will not improve performance.

Regardless of what the Tuner's with their fart cans think... Louder is not necessarily better. And as with everything else, you get what you pay for. My exhaust is not stainless as the amount of Salt used in the Winter here did not, to my mind, dectate the cost of a stainless system. The system has a coating of aluminium for rust control.

Oh, yeah, forgot that I added in an Overhead Console... Plus the gauges that I mounted on the A-pillar... Does the list ever end?

The point of the Hobby is not the cost, but the fun. Doing something that sets your Heep apart from the millions of others made. The XJ is a good platform for a combination road/trail rig. This one is not my first Heep, but it is the closest one to sane...

Don't forget to check out the Vendor Forum....

would run a nice 3" kit WITH RELOCATION BRACKETS to fix the crappy xj angle.

some 31" BFG AT, or Goodyear Duratracs on aluminum wheels (they are lighter which i think rides/balances better). should not be too expensive. dont skimp on good shocks.

i put together a great setup on my jeep for A LOT less than that.

Short arm lift, definitely go with the OME/DPGoffroad hybrid. Shocks, definitely min of the OME longtravel/bilstein 5100. A rebuildable shock like the bil7100/fox2.0 recommended.
You can piece together lift parts for cheaper. But if you have the coin hard not to go with something that you know is great.
My MTR-k's are nice, but still my favorite AT tire is the Bridgestone Dueler AT REVO. Stay AWAY from BFG's, just because they have have had the same tread pattern for decades does not make them good. The Grabber AT/2 is very similar, but better designed if you care to go that route. One of the other tires on my list is the Falken Wildpeak AT/Rocky Mountain ATS (basically same tire, latter is discount tire exclusive)

-need new wheels/tires, going 30's, 31's top. should i do 15x7 rims, or 16x8.

- Use 15x8 steel wheels ($55), unless you find a stock set that is lighter - gives you more flexibility to go up and down in tire size.

-what tires would be a good bet, thinking radial longtrials, or all terrains as the most aggressive i would want to go.

- The BFG AT 31x10.5R15 is a great tire and can be found sometimes close to $170 each. Last a lot of miles and provides a decent ride. I use them on 3 cars.

You will likely need to re-gear (4.10 in this case). If your Jeep has 3.55 stock, your ride will suffer but it's doable.


-want to do 3.5 lift, whats best?


I like the Rubicon 3.5 Super Ride. Coupled with Bilsteins, it gives you good clearance and a soft ride. SYE is not always necessary, though quite frequent in 97' and up. You might also need a shaft, or source a front TJ one from a junk yard. I also added an adjustable track bar and drop pitman arm.

-what else should i get to make this thing solid? slip yoke eliminator etc.....?

SYE is to improve the angle of the drive shaft and eliminate vibrations. For solid you have the option of bracing the steering box (JCR has a nice plate) and adding a variety of skid plates to protect the engine, tranny and gas tank...

-doing aftermaket intake, and exhaust. whats best for sound and HP gain?

Without going into sound and HP gain, which is mostly speculation, you can have a CAI inside the hood, which kind of defeats the purpose, or one that sucks cold air from outside. I used the Spectre at a very good price from Summit. It is louder, but you get fresh air into that engine.

There is a vendor called Performance Curve that sells mufflers and mandrel bent pipes at really low prices. I got a Magnaflow 50 and a 2.5" pipe from him for very cheap - far less than half the price of these 'catback' kits sold at close to $500...

If you do the work yourself, you can definitely stay within budget at around $4K...

Dirk is a good guy to talk to, as is Max at Dirtbound. Lots of good folks on this website are also usually willing to come over and help a newbie for the cost of some pizza, hot wings and beer on a saturday.

Get 3-4 jeepers in your driveway, and you'll not only learn about your jeep, but you'll also save that cost, and it will ACTUALLY be done correctly. Very easy for a shop to screw up your truck while they pocket your hard-earned cash.

Oh, and you can't go wrong with BFG's, Rubicon express, and or Old man Emu. Quality parts right there.

Check out JKS for the quick disco's, control arms, etc. I run their Quicker disco's and they're top notch, for sure.

so final question is, with that 2.5 lift,
will i be fine with 15x7 OR 15x8 rims, and 30x9.5 BFG AT's with little to no problems, or rub... i expect not to fully turn lock to lock with out more modification.

You forgot to mention what backspacing on the new wheels... very important.

If you end up rubbing on the control arms, there are steering stop bolts on the knuckles of your dana30, you may have to buy new bolts to extend them out, but this will keep your lower control arms from rubbing the tires.

3.74 backspacing with a -6mm offset on 15x7's

3.74 backspacing with a -19mm offset on the 15x8's

id love to get your guys opinion on what you think is better

sworks87 said:

I dont plan on off roading it, i just want a killer urban assault jeep, pop some curbs, maybe shred some fire roads to get to mountain bike trails.

Click to expand...

Sworks, I don't know you or exactly what you mean by "Shred some fire roads". Please remember that reckless use of off road trails in a vehicle can ruin things for a lot of fellow off-roaders. Drive responsibly!

Now, good luck with building your killer urban assault Jeep! Make sure you post before and after pics.

Here is another idea.... Save a ton of money, and go get the leaf spring packs out of a 1999 Ford Explorer for about $49.00 at the Junk Yard. Put those in the back as a booster pack, add some rubber spacers up front, and buy 4 new shocks. It is cheap, it gives you about 2.5" of lift, and at least on mine, the 32" mudders seem to fit just fine. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3469211019290&set=a.2877223019960.2108025.1541521784&type=1

i ran 30" BFG AT's on my 98 with the stock and very badly drooping suspension and didnt rub on anything, except when i stuff the rear wheel in the wheel well. but then again i had a broken leaf and my bump stops were nowhere to be found. im at 3.5" now and havent had a problem what so ever