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WA state wheeler question

S

snyder

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Yakima Wa
I live in central washington and I am getting ready to purchase my first xj. I am wanting to build a rig that can run in the hills but also run down the road in a decent manner. Any of you guys running your rig as a dual purpose vehicle have any input for me as far as suspension and tires go? I was thinking of just buying a 4.5" rough country lift for now and running 33's with fender trimming just to get me going. Possibly some BFG's. The RE and RK lifts seem bithchin but I want to start with a basic lift and see if I enjoy the vehicle. Any input would be great. I plan on running in the Naches area quite often as I only live 30 minutes east of there. I know lockers, gears, shafts and so on need to be included too but I am mainly asking about driveability on and off road. Thanks for your time.

chris
 
chris,
If i was you, i'd save up and spend the money on RE kit. the rough country kits have a tendency for rear leaf sag. I also run naches a lot. You can do alot on 31's or 33's and not have to be locked or geared lower. Just takes drivers skill (so gets you plenty of practice). Theres a lot of folks in here w/ a lot of good info.
 
I'm running a rough country 3" lift with 31's right now and I love it. Handles great on road, and even better off-road. The only complaint I have is I tried to hurry the process by not getting everything I should have and putting it all in at once. Instead I've spread it out, and just created more problems by doing so.

Oh, and yes it's my DD, see's about 40min to an hour of driving a day.

~Scott

EDIT: Yes, the rear leafs (even though I bought all new rear leafs) sagged on me. I can't tell exactly how much, but my guess is an inch as even after 1.25" lift shackles my rig is level.
 
rough country makes decent stuff, heres a few tips..
Make sure you get full leaf packs, not add a leaf. and spend the extra 20-40 bucks on the shock upgrade to the 9000 series.
 
nw-xj-scott said:
rough country makes decent stuff, heres a few tips..
Make sure you get full leaf packs, not add a leaf. and spend the extra 20-40 bucks on the shock upgrade to the 9000 series.
Click to expand...

Agreed, that's what I did.
And talk to Grimus on here, he hooked me and a lot of other people up.

~Scott
 
Im in the same boat as you. My XJ is my DD and I am gonna have it lifted by the end of the month hopefully. I have a RE 4.5" short arm kit on the pending and am looking into 32" or 33" tires. This is my first kit and lifted vehicle for that matter, but I personally decided to shy away from a lower quality lift and am just going for it. I KNOW Im going to enjoy what Im getting myself into because Ive been looking to do it for such a long time and have spent time on the trail in other rigs. Im jumping in with the "no regrets" approach lol, thats my take on it. Do what personally fits your mind, and wallet;), and have fun with it.

-Lyle
 
I know that I should just buy an RE lift. What bothers me is I have this tendancy to want more. I'm affraid I'll buy a lift and then next thing you ,know I'm wanting some kind of long arm kit, lift in the 7-8 inch range, run 35" crawlers and throw a 44 front in along with a 9" in the rear, causing me to toss out the majority of parts I aquired on the first lift. I go a little over board from time to time. Ah hell I don't know. I don't even get my rig until next weekend and I am already trying to modify it. If I can stick with 33" tires is my best bet the RE lift? Is it pretty much the top dog? I've seen the Rock Krawler, Rusty's, Full Traction, and Clayton products as well. This isn't my first wheeling rig, just my first xj as my family grew again and my early bronco was no longer big enough inside. Thanks all, any info is good info. I like hearing your personal experiences with your lifts and what works and doesn't work.

chris
 
I went with the RE 4.5" short arm lift on a Commache. Thought I'd save a few bucks. It wasn't long at all and I was really sorry I didn't do the long arm route. If you are even thinking one little teensy weensie bit about the long arm, then just go directly to the long arm and by-pass the short arm kit. Just sign me as one of the "been there done that" crowd that is much wiser now.
 
What ever you get, if you want a good road ride get drop brackets or long-arms. Unless you correct the geometry of the control arms the jeep is going to ride rougher than it did before. Other than that, you get what you pay for. Do research and take your time, don't rush out spend without thinking.:thumbup:
 
I personally run 5" mixed lift, 33x12.5 BigHorns, all with generic les schwab truck shocks, and stock steering. I started with 3.5" and I had to get the bushwackers to clear up enough room and keep it legal. And now my CA angles are so bad I need to get longarms. Also I now need a CV drive shaft. Just look at it this way. The bigger you go, the more money you're looking at. Also I can't this point enough -- plan your rig thoroughly. Do not build it in "stages" I did this myself. I spent loads more money than I would have had to had I originally gone with a 5" kit. I guarentee you'll be good with 31" tires, so you can squeeze those under there with even 3" lift. Or no lift, assuming you own a sawzall :)
 
sams88 said:
I went with the RE 4.5" short arm lift on a Commache. Thought I'd save a few bucks. It wasn't long at all and I was really sorry I didn't do the long arm route. If you are even thinking one little teensy weensie bit about the long arm, then just go directly to the long arm and by-pass the short arm kit. Just sign me as one of the "been there done that" crowd that is much wiser now.
Click to expand...

Oh it's way more than a teensy weensie thought about doing a long arm kit. I want one, I'm just tighter than tree bark and I'm not sure which one I like the most. I like RE, RK 3 link, and I've looked a little bit into the full traction kit, but I've read a few horrer stories about their[full tratction] customer service. I want the best on and off road abilites in one package and not sure which one will deliver that for me.
 
noutlawjeeper said:
What ever you get, if you want a good road ride get drop brackets or long-arms. Unless you correct the geometry of the control arms the jeep is going to ride rougher than it did before. Other than that, you get what you pay for. Do research and take your time, don't rush out spend without thinking.:thumbup:
Click to expand...

x2 I DD and long arms are the way to go.
 
And roger on the comment above on the cv driveshaft. Plan on going with a slip-yoke eliminator right off the bat too. I put a d44 in the rear of the MJ, and did the SYE and CV driveshaft. Also changed the differential drive shaft angle to help eliminate vibration too when I put it together.

The RE 4.5" short arm kit has drop brackets for the lower control arms. I wasn't happy with that as it's just more stuff hanging down to get hung up on. The RE kit is a good kit, don't get me wrong, it's just that after I was done with it, I wished I would have spent more bucks and done the long arm. While the long arms can get smashed, there is much less chance of mashing them as compared to getting hung up on the drop brackets. And the difference in the ride is totally immense!!! I have a friend that went with the long arm, and after riding and driving that as compared to my short arm lift I was really kicking myself.
 
I have the RC 4.5 on mine now and am running 32"BFG MT's. They still rub a litlle at full suspension flex but nothing too bad and I would agree it does ride a good deal rougher than stock. But for the price of the lift I am very happy with it and It flexes decent. When I ramped it I got the front tire 33" off the ground and still had not picked a tire (brake lines were a little short to go any higher).
 
Welcome.

There are a zillion and 1 ways of building a DD/Trail Rig and all of us will have a different opinion on the "best" way of accomplishing this.
Here are a few questions you should ask yourself before you start.
1. How many miles do you drive on road. How far, how often
2. How many miles off road.
3. What is more important, the quality of the ride on or off road.

At 3" of lift and 31's you can spend VERY little money and see what you think, learn alot, put your money into protection, education, tools, etc that you will use as you grow with the vehicle.

At 4.5" of lift (33's) you really need new gears so you end up spending MUCH more money on gears (lockers?) and you may still want to modify the lift and you still don't have the protection that is much more important than anything else.

Obviously the higher you go the less easy it is to make it a comfortable DD, but with research and $ it is very possible.

Really I think that a 3" lift, 31's is the best way to go till you know exactly what you want and have the money to do it.

PS. Long arms will do you much more good for road ride on the street than performance off road.

Michael
 
Well this vehicle is just going to be a play toy and that is it. But I want to be able to drive to and from locations under its own power. I already have a diesel truck to pull it with but I want to build something that can be multifunctional. My last build sat in my driveway for two years and never went down the road, I ran out of time and money so this build is going to be a little different as I want to be able to go play now. I'll figure it out soon enough, hell I may just have to build some bastardized lift to get what I want. This will be more of a 65% trail 35% road rig... I hope.
 
If possible buy a rig already built. There's tons of reasons to do so. Labor is mostly done, expensive parts are already purchased, and any bugs are already worked out top the list.

There are also reasons to avoid it, but at least you'd start with one half built.
 
mud1059 said:
If possible buy a rig already built. There's tons of reasons to do so. Labor is mostly done, expensive parts are already purchased, and any bugs are already worked out top the list.

There are also reasons to avoid it, but at least you'd start with one half built.
Click to expand...

That idea has crossed my mind, but I'd like knowing that if I purchased a stock rig and crawl underneath it, I can see if they have taken it off road much. With purchasing a built rig you never know how hard its really been run.
 
snyder said:
Oh it's way more than a teensy weensie thought about doing a long arm kit. I want one, I'm just tighter than tree bark and I'm not sure which one I like the most. I like RE, RK 3 link, and I've looked a little bit into the full traction kit, but I've read a few horrer stories about their[full tratction] customer service. I want the best on and off road abilites in one package and not sure which one will deliver that for me.
Click to expand...

If you're serious about LA kits and want the best one, I'd recommend Clayton's. I was in the same boat as you a year or so ago, XJ was unlifted and I knew I wanted a LA kit of some sort and only wanted to do it once. After talking to a lot of people and reading a lot on info online, I went with the Clayton's kit. It's expensive, but all LA kits are. I don't regret it in the least. My rig is my daily driver, rides and drives almost as well as stock on the street, flexes very well and handles nicely off-road as well.
 
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