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Starting to get cold feet (doing a lift)

X

XJ91

NAXJA Forum User
Location
G'Nagiwanka
After reading 00xj's post of going back to stock, I'm debating wether or not I should give my XJ the boost it needs, Or I think it needs. This is my DD, if something goes wrong or takes longer than expected, I can at least walk to work. (only 2.5 Miles) As I will be PB Blasting for weeks leading to the lift, 13yrs of rust under there.

I'm looking at the RE 2" Budget Boost, replacing the the half AAL's with Full AAL's and the DS0's with DS3's. at a cost of just 25 bucks more.

Will I need to purchase anything else?
Or will the kit come with all I need?

Should I be looking at other BB lift kits? In rading through past posts, I think the concensus is to stay away from kits that have the rear block to lift the leaf's.


_________________________________________________
'91XJ, Black, Auto, AW4, Stock (until the lift goes on)
 
On a '91 you probably won't have any issues with a 2" budget boost lift. The newer style XJ's (97+) have a longer slip yoke on the rear driveshaft that makes for worse angles. Your brake lines should be long enough still and so should your shocks. The longer AAL will be an improvement over the short, and any coil spring spacer will work fine. Good idea to soak all bolts beforehand with PB. If, during the teardown, any of the bolts don't want to come out, don't force them. Especially the main eyes for the leafs. You can always put the AAL in with the leafs still on the vehicle if necessary. The key is to not bite off more than you can chew. Doing that lift, especially a 2", is not that hard, even for a first-timer.
 
I have the RE BB on my 91. It took me 10 hours to do, taking LOTS of time to do stuff and using PB everywhere. The only bolts I broke were the lower front shock mounts and I was replacing them anyway! ZERO problems. BTW you don't HAVE to use the brakeline extender. With the proper shocks and BPE's mine won't even stretch the rear brake line at all at max flex. I'm going to add 1" this spring so I'll put mine on then to be safe. Don't chicken out on this one, it will be pretty easy if you take your time. If you want a few tips on making it easier, PM me.
 
What he said....


What he said....
 
Hey Bro

Ya I know where you are coming from, I at the beginning wanted to go to a full 5.5" lift with 32's Tires, with more research and question asking, I came to the conclution that I will get a 3.5" Rubicon Super Ride Kit with the add-a-leaf (My '94 XJ is a low mileage unit with only 100,000 miles on it and is mint shape), so I can save on the full leaf pack for now. I will also run a nice set of 31" BFG's Mud Terrains or All Terrains. This set up will cost around $1800 CND including the Tires and Taxes.

I can understand that some may get turned away from hearing a bit of bad luck, with some set-ups, but I know more people that have done awsome mods to thier rides, and had no problems, than ones that did have problems, so the fact that you will run into something bad, will be less than what you may think can happen, your best bet is to take a GOOD look at what you have now, and then seeing where you want to go and how much it will take for you to get there, planning is key, as I am finding out.

I do not know too much about Jeeps as of yet, nor do I do any mechanical work at ALL!!!!, I think that your set up will be basic and as long as you do not have any Gremlins lurking under your XJ, I think that set up will be a great place to start. In my area (Southern Ontario) its a mud & waterville here and I will have to build it up accordingly to the conditions that I will be doing the most wheeling in....I guess my nicely cleaned carpet, new shoes will be toast the first time out<---unless I manage not to get stuck.....lol

Well hope this helps ...a bit

Jeff
 
I just logged on today and have been checking this out and I have to say that this site offers great advice, while I am a newbie to the 4WD world, I would suggest keeping an update in here and listening to the great advice from some of the more expreienced players in here

I am learing all the time and planning to make my XJ a sweet ride soon, looking at kits and seeing what I can get for the money I have to spend, in short just listen to some of the guys in here and they will warm up your cold feet, in no time.....lol

Cory
 
ThanX a bunch for your input.
asatxj I might just take more than 10 hrs, The only problem with that is I'll have to listen to the wife.
G.Q. Jeeper I know what you mean about mud and waterville, here in Southern Ontario. As for pricing have you looked @Crawltech they do free shipping to Ontario?

As for using my stock shocks, I don't think I'll be doing that. One of the rear ones has a crack half way up it. I was told that they are more likely the original from '91. My heep has go 212,000K kl's on it. Lots of rust underneath.
 
I want to make the Jeep last and I know the underneath will rot like a bad apple with that nice spongy carpet laying over top. Funds are low at the moment, for this year I will have to settle for the lift and Tires and some other odds and ends on the XJ, like I said in my other post (Getting a soaker) I will have to make sure the door seals are in working order to keep me warm and dry, heck I do not even have any $$ left over to buy off roading clothes or boots.....oh well what can u do eh??

I will check the prices out and see what I can do about protecting my XJ for this year...

So far the XJ is getting a 3.5" Rubicon Lift and 31" BFG Mud Tires and Hydro Shocks, hope this set up prevents me from getting stuck in Jeep Swallow

Jeff
 
XJ91 said:
After reading 00xj's post of going back to stock, I'm debating wether or not I should give my XJ the boost it needs, Or I think it needs. This is my DD, if something goes wrong or takes longer than expected, I can at least walk to work. (only 2.5 Miles) As I will be PB Blasting for weeks leading to the lift, 13yrs of rust under there.

I'm looking at the RE 2" Budget Boost, replacing the the half AAL's with Full AAL's and the DS0's with DS3's. at a cost of just 25 bucks more.

Will I need to purchase anything else?
Or will the kit come with all I need?

Should I be looking at other BB lift kits? In rading through past posts, I think the concensus is to stay away from kits that have the rear block to lift the leaf's.
I know exactly what you mean. I'm new to this too. I was starting to get a little worried about lifting my 93 XJ since it is mine and my wifes daily driver. I'm not worried about it being out of comission longer than I expect, I just want it to be better. I've been thinking about it a lot more and I figure if I can swap motors in two cars and have them both running by the next morning, I should be able to do this. I'm not really worried about the mechanics of it, just the problems the lift might cause, but the more I read, the more I think I'll have less problems. I'm going to go with the RE 3" Superide full leaf set, Rusty's HD adj trackbar and mount, transfer case drop and I was going to go with Edelbrock IAS shocks, but I think I'll go with Skyjacker Hydro, the savings will help offset the cost of the trackbar, and Trxus 31x10.50 MT's. I hoping to do all this within the next few months. I'm in the middle of buying new furniture right now, even tho I'd rather be doing the Jeep :). I'm actually getting excited about it now! My wife keeps telling me I'm obsessed with the Jeep now and my 71 Torino GT. What can I say, I'm an automotive type of guy! I can go to cruise nites and shows with my GT and then on a trail run with the Jeep, sounds like a great weekend!!!!
Mike
Click to expand...
 
XJ91 said:
After reading 00xj's post of going back to stock, I'm debating wether or not I should give my XJ the boost it needs, Or I think it needs. This is my DD, if something goes wrong or takes longer than expected, I can at least walk to work. (only 2.5 Miles) As I will be PB Blasting for weeks leading to the lift, 13yrs of rust under there.

I'm looking at the RE 2" Budget Boost, replacing the the half AAL's with Full AAL's and the DS0's with DS3's. at a cost of just 25 bucks more.

Will I need to purchase anything else?
Or will the kit come with all I need?
Click to expand...
The RE BB is a pretty complete kit, but good call on swapping out the half-length AALs. I did this lift a couple years ago, so using PB Blaster is a good call as well. http://www.yuccaman.com/jeep/jeeplift.html I think you'll be fine with that setup.

As a final note, to the earlier comment from someone about the t-case output on the later-model Cherokee having the sealed output; it was the 96+ that have the revised design that's more susceptible to vibes...not the 97+
 
I know I was a bit worried about lifting my DD, but after doing so, only after consulting the walking, wheeling, Jeep encylopedia members here. It all worked out fine, I don't think that you have too much to worry about, you have an older molder Xj which are more freindly when it comes to lifting and vibes as oposed to the 97 + ones. It doesnt sound like you plan to do a radical lift, I say go for it, if you have any issues just post them on here and there are tons of us that have done what you have done and can help to walk you through any problems that you may have. The biggest thing is probably to hit all your shock mounts with some PB blaster for a while before you do the lift. That was my only main issues while lifting
 
Now thanks for all the info!, I feel better too, except I had cold feet to post that I had cold feet about lifting my XJ....lol all in good fun thanks for all that info it is helping me out alot..

Jeff
 
G.Q. Jeeper said:
Hey Bro

Ya I know where you are coming from, I at the beginning wanted to go to a full 5.5" lift with 32's Tires, with more research and question asking, I came to the conclution that I will get a 3.5" Rubicon Super Ride Kit with the add-a-leaf (My '94 XJ is a low mileage unit with only 100,000 miles on it and is mint shape), so I can save on the full leaf pack for now. I will also run a nice set of 31" BFG's Mud Terrains or All Terrains. This set up will cost around $1800 CND including the Tires and Taxes.

I can understand that some may get turned away from hearing a bit of bad luck, with some set-ups, but I know more people that have done awsome mods to thier rides, and had no problems, than ones that did have problems, so the fact that you will run into something bad, will be less than what you may think can happen, your best bet is to take a GOOD look at what you have now, and then seeing where you want to go and how much it will take for you to get there, planning is key, as I am finding out.

I do not know too much about Jeeps as of yet, nor do I do any mechanical work at ALL!!!!, I think that your set up will be basic and as long as you do not have any Gremlins lurking under your XJ, I think that set up will be a great place to start. In my area (Southern Ontario) its a mud & waterville here and I will have to build it up accordingly to the conditions that I will be doing the most wheeling in....I guess my nicely cleaned carpet, new shoes will be toast the first time out<---unless I manage not to get stuck.....lol

Well hope this helps ...a bit

Jeff
Click to expand...

Talking about your carpet.......3 words....Husky floor Liners
 
Yucca-Man said:
The RE BB is a pretty complete kit, but good call on swapping out the half-length AALs. I did this lift a couple years ago, so using PB Blaster is a good call as well. http://www.yuccaman.com/jeep/jeeplift.html I think you'll be fine with that setup.

As a final note, to the earlier comment from someone about the t-case output on the later-model Cherokee having the sealed output; it was the 96+ that have the revised design that's more susceptible to vibes...not the 97+
Click to expand...

ThanX,

I'll Definetly ge refering to your site for refference. I'm hoping to complete it in one weekend but I do expect snags.

Will I do damage to the XJ if I get the rear part of the lift in, drive for the week and finish off the front the next week end?
 
Just installed a teraflex budget boost yesterday on my all ready inch and a half of lift. Took me about 6hours total to install the shackels and spacers but wasn't too bad. I have RS5000 shocks so they limit my flex enough not to need brake lines yet. I also am running ZJ coils(which gave me more lift than I thought they did, maybe 1.5 to 2inches) and a 1.5in block in the back. No vibrations at all even at 65+. The Rear flexes better now with the shackels and the front flexes about the same as when it was stock(running no sway bar). I'd say go with shackels instead of an AAL you'll get better flex and the teraflex shackels are beefy.
 
XJ91 said:
Will I do damage to the XJ if I get the rear part of the lift in, drive for the week and finish off the front the next week end?
Click to expand...
Obviously you haven't read my page yet :D - Due to back spasms and all that, I drove it that way for a few months before getting around to the front. That's one reason I advocate doing the rear first, just in case.

Good luck with it!

Jim
 
XJ91 said:
I'm looking at the RE 2" Budget Boost, replacing the the half AAL's with Full AAL's and the DS0's with DS3's.
Click to expand...
I'm planning on doing the exact same thing this spring, including the upgrading to the full AAL & better shocks. I think you mean upgrading the DT0 shocks to the DT3000's though. Anyway, good luck. I've heard good things about RE. I would do the front end first. It should be easier. I was wondering where you got your best price? Please post an update!
 
motrctyman said:
I'm planning on doing the exact same thing this spring, including the upgrading to the full AAL & better shocks. I think you mean upgrading the DT0 shocks to the DT3000's though. Anyway, good luck. I've heard good things about RE. I would do the front end first. It should be easier. I was wondering where you got your best price? Please post an update!
Click to expand...

From all my reading on this forum and a few others, I came to the conclusion that RE is the way to go.
The DS3's are the same as DT3000's.(Doetsch Tech) According to the person I spoke to at Crawltech.

I have maybe a hand full of prices from shops in my area (Southern Ontario), so I did a lot of web searching and I found Crawltech to have the best price for me...They offer free shipping even to Toronto.
 
OKay, now someone mentioned that I might need to extend my bump stops. Is this correct? As I would like to be fully prepared for this lift before I take a wrench to any bolts to find out I'll need this or that.
 
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