trying to buy a lift

was lookin to fit 33s or 35s and and i was looking at different lifts(rubicon, rustys, rough country) and i noticed that the SYE and CV driveshaft with the rustys and rough country where around 300 each however the rubicon was like 100 for both i duno muhc about it lookin for some info. also do you recommend different shocks then wat come in a package. lastly if i bought a rustys or rough country 4.5 or 6.5 package could i swap out just the coils and get like 7.5 inch coils. thanks MAC

wait...is it just me or is this thread under Land Use? im not trying to be a nag or anything i just dont think that you'll get a very good response to this under Land Use.

Well, no one else wants to touch this, so here goes:

Search. Spend the next week reading as much as you can. Take your junk wheeling stock, and when you see a lifted rig, stop to talk to them. Most wheelers love to brag about their trucks. Hit one of the major off road parks. See what others are doing that works. Search some more.

35's on an XJ isn't rocket science, but it is a lot of work and can get expensive. The better informed you are, the better decisions you can make about mods to your junk.

Unless you want a mall crawler, then you can just give me $3000.00 and I'll make your junk the envy of all the high school kids!

Oh, and welcome to the world of XJ's!

35's are doable but you are looking at some expensive mods to get it to be reliable and strong enough axle wise, What year is your jeep and what axles do you currently have under it. For 35's the lift will be the cheap part of the process if you want to be able too really wheel it. What transfer case do you have, that will be a major deciding cost on you SYE. As for lift kits RE makes some really well matched systems that are easily upgradeable later with out having to buy a whole new kit each time because most of the parts will carry over.

if its a 97-99 with an 8.25 the only axle mod he needs would be 4.56 gears.

little more too it. as Fullzise pointed out, the lift is the easy part. you don't need to go to 7.5" to fit 35's. you can fit 35"s on a 4.5" lift but expect rubing. regaurding the driveshafts, the rubicon allready has an SYE so the driveshaft needs to be converted to a CV style and thats it. while other jeeps need an SYE and CV style driveshaft. you also need to address gearing and possibly axles. give us a little more info on your jeep.

reason i am being so broad is that im lookin at5 or 6 xjs now and have not even purchased the vehicle. i have a grand cherokee now and was lookin for switchin to an xj. i need to further understand was else is to be done besides lift and tires. As well as pricing and such so i know how big i can afford and will be optimal. thanks if i am unclear let me know. mac

my build up costs and learning curve:

3.5" complete lift kit with full spring packs - used - 250+100 shipping
new Upper adjustable control arms and front DS after blowing the front DS from bad pinion angle - 500 from RE new
New steering system becasue i bent a tie rod - new - 450 (currie system)
Adding coil spacers and an adjustable trackbar to the initial lift to net 5.5" up front - 150 - bought the wrong trackbar (RRO - chitty TRE not heim)
YJ brake lines - 70 (roughly)
Adding leaves to the rear leav packs from an used YJ 4" lift pack - 40.00 per pack and 50 in drill bits - 130 to level the rear
SYE and drivesahft to cure u-joints "clicking" - 525.00
Ford 9" swap ~300 and still have 30 year old bearings and axle seals...
working on a HP D44 and dont expect it to be cheap...
all of this on top of the 2100 i picked up the XJ for...
this is not counting all the misc hardware, new tools, the t-case that i blew up, and TPS/CPS that i had to change at one point...

the new axles have 3.50 gears, which means i need to drop about 1200 into gears and lockers, then spend the $$$ on shafts, u-joints, bumpers, rocker pannels, bla bla bla

no matter what rig you build it wont be cheap...

wheel it stock first. save money. learn. understand the limits of your vehicle. then decide how much lift you want.

i would do the oh so common 3" and 31's(very cheap) and get some rock rails and a t-case skid and just wheel it, then throw in a locker and go from there. by that time you should know what you want next