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My "Plan"...

S

St3mpy

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Daphne, Alabama
Ok, I'm only 15 years old, turning 16 in 2 months (way to long). I'm picking up my dads 97 2wd 4.0l manual trans with 160,000 miles for $1400(Half bluebook). Many of you may have heard this numerous times here, but I just can't make up my mind. Anyways, My master "Plan" is to buy a lift (the point of this thread, just wait), and do the 4wd conversion, being 15, I am on a tight budget. My parents say they will pay for new tires, since it needs them anyway. When ever I do my lift, I want to install the front axle at the same time. As time progresses and I get more money, I will install the other componets. Woody is giving me his old 3.55 gears. What tires will these run with decent gas milage and still keep towing capability? What ever that number is will help with the lift question: Would you go 2 inch or 3 inch? If 3 inch, would I need new lower control arms, SYE (whenever I get the t-case), ect. If so, should I just go with the 2 inch? If that, budget boost or the whole nine yards? Thank you in advance.
 
a 3" with 31's would be what i would do. the 3.55's will be ok, any bigger and you probably would hate it. you can probably get away with just getting new shocks to go along with it. a t-case drop might be needed, probably wouldnt hurt to throw one on while your putting the t-case in.
 
I know you'll hate this, but leave it stock. Get skid plates and rock rails and learn to drive well. Then go for the lift and other stuff when you are old enough to get a job and pay for it yourself.
 
I'm going to be turning 17 in two months, so I know how you feel.
Like Rasmey said, I would stick with the 3'' on 31'' tires. The 3.55s are OK for that so towing and gas won't be to affected. Yes, they will suffer, but until you get the coin for the new gears, it will work. Me personaly, I would rather buy a 4wd Cherokee, but that may be cause I'm to lazy to do a 4wd swap. Or the lack of space and time, but hey. For all the parts I would go to a junkyard and find a 4wd cherokee. Take everything you need and make sure to take pics so you know where everything goes.
 
dont let ralph spoil your fun, dont put on armor and you will learn to drive better because you will be so damned scared about breaking something.
 
yeah for performance and mileage. it will be a slight difference
 
So then it would be better in the long run to get 31's? What about steering componets? Basicly, it boils down to, if I get 2 inch lift and 30's, I don't need new steering equipment, but with a 3 I do?
 
you wouldn't need any steering stuff, except possibly a stabilizer. You can fit 30's with no lift if you want to. (actually if you have the balls you can fit 32's or bigger with no lift-lots of chopping) I would go ahead an have your parents buy some new tires- mud tires or ats- and then worry about the 4 wheel drive set up, (one thing at a time- then worrry about a lift) OR look for a 4 wheel drive cherokee for low money and sell the 2 wheel drive one. I bought one that ran for 500, and it already had a lift and stuff on it- you gotta get lucky and be patient sometimes.
Codeman
 
Don't forget here guys that he has a manual trans, so he will be regearing from 3.07 to 3.55. That should be fine with 31s.
 
good point you bad mofo
 
cheapest thing to do would be get spacers and maybe trim if you still want 31's, but with a 3" you will still be fine without needing new stuff, just will cost more than the 2
 
Yeah I'm 17 now as well and I know what you mean about being on a budget. For a while I didn't have any matching tires, so I worked through the summer and bought new 32 MT/rs. I found 3.55s and 32"s to be pretty good, and my mileage isn't that bad (compared to 30s and 31s, both of which I had). Plus I am running them on 3" of lift in front, and about 3" in the back. I had to trim though but I think it looks pretty good this way. You can see them on my website if you wish. Good luck.
 
What I would do is forget about lifting a 2x4 jeep for any other purpose than off road racing...

Unless you are into a pile of parts-buying & fitting & got lots of jeepless time on your hands, converting a 97 from 2x to 4x will be a long and expensive project... You'd be better off to sell it for market value & buying a 4x4 to start with.

One of the original points included towing... what is the tow mission? 3.07 or 3.55 won't be tow friendly with larger tires. :dunno: Certainly not enough to justify regearing from one to the other.
 
Being only 15, having no money, and only having a 2wd XJ....shitty. Doing a 4wd conversion.......way too expensive. Lifting a 2wd XJ 3in to fit off-road tires that your parents bought and having loads of fun until you get stuck......PRICELESS. Lift it as is and have a blast sure you'll get stuck but we all do. We just go farther before we do. Save the conversion money for repairs. Just my .02.
 
realilisticly, unless your pretty mechanicly inclined i would sell it and buy an older model xj thta is 4x4.
 
ok like other people have said leave the 2X4 and get an earlyer model 4x4. you will save yourself alot more money, time, and grief. I started with a 4x4 and have had my share of problems with just the stress that 4 wheeling puts on your jeep. My advice also would be to not do any hard core wheelin untill you have another means of travel, because WHEN something goes wrong and puts the jeep out of comision for awhile you can still get to school and work. This is all advice from personel experience and I'm sure others will agree.
 
Well, after looking for a solid year and only finding one 4x4 Manual trans Cherokee for sale , I happend to check auto trader and find a 95 forsale 2 miles form my house. Guess I'll be checking it out tommorow....

Everything seems so...ancient inside a older model though. Whenever I hop into my friends 96, I'm like "Wow, and somebody actually bought this when there werre (insert other 96 suv) on the market..."
 
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What? There wasn't another model on the market that compared to it. I personally love the interior of my '95 Country, It looks nice and its very comfortable. I like the retro look.

Anyway, the price difference between 2wd and 4wd models isnt much at all here in the south.
 
i have a 99 but had a 94, its true compared to 94 the 99 feels ages newer on the inside, but the older one was much more cozy. i miss my school bus sized steering wheel.
 
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