A young Newbie

I assume that all of you out there know all or somewhat what you are doing. I am not a new XJ owner or dreamer, but I am new to actually working on the XJ to make it even more trail ready. If there are any simple cheap tips to help a poor college student to have a little more fun in his Jeep let me know.

Define fun.

fun

How far are you willing to do to have this fun? I say make Quick Disconnects for your sway bars($10-3" of wheel travel), trim the fenders (free), get/make some spacers and blocks($?-80), and buy some 31-33" retreded tires (size dependent on how much you are willing to trim). I am in High School, so I feel your pain as far as money goes. Other than that I'm not sure what other kind of stuff you want to do, or how far you are willing to go. What year is your vehicle? I assume it's your dd, right? There are a lot of hillbilly ways of doing things, and I'm the king of cheap, so I know a few. Its just a matter of how much fun you want to have, what you are wanting to do, and what you are willing to do to do it.

CODEMAN

take the swaybars off and you're instantly the stock xj god

OK I am also a College student first year, was a highschool student. in order to get a jeep built stop wining and get off the internet. go out get a job or 2. i was working 2 jobs all senior year in highschool working almost 40 hous a week. but thats me im sick in the head like that and if posible would sell a kidney for jeep parts. any way about cheep upgrades. the first thing when your broke is sit down and realley thing what your gonna do with your jeep. u gonna cruise to the mall for hunnies or crawl up rocks and make them scream? i aply to the second school. then you need to figure out were and how high u want to end up. if you get one lift to fit one size tire it is cheeper then goin in stages like many people do. most go 3-4.5 then to 5.5 so they spent the money of 3 lifts cuz they dont think it threw. for a first lift that will clear 31-33s i recomend rustys 4.5 with full spring pack. it flexes awsome and with some fender trimming you can fairly easly fit 33x10.5. that was my first lift and i almost miss it. i do hate rustys stuff but thats cuz i beet the snot outa mine. o and ARMOR so ya dont break parts that arnt sposda break. good luck and it is infectious.

WIll

Ralph said:

Define fun.

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fold down your rear seat and take the captain of the cheerleading squad back there, that should be fun. More fun than off roading your Jeep.

heh heh heh......yeah.... In the meantime though, do what I did. Get a budget boost and cut the snot outta your fenders. put on some 33" tsl's, weld up those rear spider gears...and hit the trails.

Fore Wheeler said:

fold down your rear seat and take the captain of the cheerleading squad back there, that should be fun. More fun than off roading your Jeep.

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And her best friend.

Heck, if you're gonna dream...

I'm thinking the whole squad, if you're gunna dream, dream big

Fore Wheeler said:

fold down your rear seat and take the captain of the field hockey team (who was a year older) back there, that should be fun. More fun than off roading your Jeep.

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It was a much bigger backseat than the little Toy Corolla my ex had and also was a little more off the ground.

For your question though, definitely go through ebay and check the for sale section frequently (of a few clubs/sites). There is always a good deal, you just have to be the first to catch it. I'm in college right now and can't wait for that tax return (5 TrXuS 31x10.5s), hopefully you have one that is coming in the next month or so. I'm working on the weekends, yeah it cuts into hanging-out time, but you have M-F for that; two days out of the week for your JEEP is worth it. If you must, find a lift you want and get a list of all the parts. Then search forums for those who are upgrading or getting out of the sport (that is so sad). It might take a while, but in the long run, it is worth it.

Fore Wheeler said:

fold down your rear seat and take the captain of the cheerleading squad back there, that should be fun. More fun than off roading your Jeep.

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should we be in the Den, I'd post pics.

Fore Wheeler said:

should we be in the Den, I'd post pics.

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2 things-

1) i still think you SHOULD post pics in the den :spin1:

2) (i feel) building a good XJ is like building a good tool collection....try to buy good parts piece by piece if thats all you can afford at the time, because in the end you wont have to do it over, and you'll have a real high quality rig

Fore Wheeler said:

i still think you SHOULD post pics in the den .

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You guys thought he was talking about girls didn't you. :banghead:

The Def of fun

My deffinition of fun is taking all the mud from the trails and putting it on your jeep.

Well I am willing to spend money but Cheap is always the best. Thanks for the tips. I just want enough lift to kick some good mud up on my jeep. Right no My XJ is bone stock. ITs a 96' four door four wheel drive Sport. I was thinking 4.5 to 5 inches for lift and 31 for tires. Thats the easy part. Can the XJ's stock gears, axle, diff's, and transmition handle the 31's or will I need to upgrade those too?

My buddies and I are firm believers in cheap. we all have the stock axles (some with stock gears too) in our rigs, and we run between 33 and 35 inch tires between the 4 of us. Do we have spares? you bet, 5 of em chilling in the garage. more on the way too if a friend of my friend does his axle upgrade. Now, between us, we've only ever broken one axle shaft, front driver's side on a D30. People around these sites will tell you that you NEED better axles, but as long as you're willing to work a little to get cheap and free replacements and know how to put them in. you're fine.

Stock Rears

I agree and most people will agree that the D30 can take some abuse. I would also agree on running the stock rears/axles. You could run those, and when u get more money, just buy a spare or two...don't fix it if it ain't broke. Staying with the stock axles will save u a lot of money as well.Personally I would not run stock gears with big tires for an extended amount of time, this will cause extended wear on other things such as tranny. I have a cherokee with well over 200,000 miles on it, and I still run the pis out of it. If it breaks, upgrade it, but unless u have tons of money layin around then i would run what u have.....just my 2 cents.