Which way would you go? 4.5 in lift

I appreciate all of the responses sometimes it’s hard to get any answers with substance oh a forum but the real world experience helps . My last XJ had the RC drop brackets stock uppers , RE LCA and a severely butchered rear set up to match that road like hell . When I started looking up what the previous owner had thrown together on it is when I realized I needed to do my homework . I am VERY tempted to order a RC 4.5 x-series lift , drop brackets and relocation boxes and roll with it . I’ve pieced a kit together on amazon 2-3 times now but didn’t follow through . Last night I built a kit with everything the x-series kit comes with except RE 5.5 coils up front and 4.5 leafs out back with 1 inch lift shackles and relocation boxes ( no lift boxes)

It will come together.

Tcase linkage is a MUST. The flimsy stock setup is garbage. I like Azzys but there others

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

Should I swap in an 8.25 for 32’s or is necessary ? I found a 29 spline locally for 150.

It wouldn't trust a D35 with 31's and gentle use, a Chry 8.25 swap while installing a lift kit is a no brainer.

What year are we dealing with here?

1999

Well that represents a "cost" in itself(driveshaft vibes), what transfer case do you have?

Ex police package so it has the np242 which I actually like because of my extreme commute during bad weather the full time 4wd will come in handy otherwise a 231 swap would be cheap . I was thinking hack and tap then do my measurements and was hoping a stock front shaft would work in rear if not I’ll order an adams or woods shaft .

Tim_MN said:

It wouldn't trust a D35 with 31's and gentle use, a Chry 8.25 swap while installing a lift kit is a no brainer.

Click to expand...

Up to you, but I've been running a D35 with locker & 31's in the rear of 2 different jeeps now for close to 12 yrs, not necessarily easy on them (no rock climbing, but do let the locker chirp/spin them on high traction surfaces regularly) and I have zero issues.

GreaseMonkey17 said:

Ex police package so it has the np242 which I actually like because of my extreme commute during bad weather the full time 4wd will come in handy otherwise a 231 swap would be cheap . I was thinking hack and tap then do my measurements and was hoping a stock front shaft would work in rear if not I’ll order an adams or woods shaft .

Click to expand...

You should have a 8.25 in the rear. Hack n tap is ok, but youre better just doing a SYE once and be done

The SYE kit for a 242 is about 480 dollars that’s a chunk of change compared to a 231!

On 32’s would you go 4.10 or 4.56 I’m leaning heavily to 4.56 unless someone stops me .

Auto 4.56 manny 4.11's.

I ran 4.11's on 33's, mine was auto and while it wasn't terrible I was always wishing for deeper gears. Especially going up the hill. Flip side was around town I preferred the 4.11 on 33's vs when I ran 31's. 31's and 4.11s was a great combo. On my MJ I'm going 4.56 33's and it's manny.

I’ve been seconds away from ordering an x-series RC lift with drop brackets several times this weekend . However I can order an IRO rock link long arm set up with full leafs , JKS disconnects and hydro shocks for 1539.98 less than 400 more for long arm IRO setup .. which is cheaper than the RE set up on short arms that I like .

GreaseMonkey17 said:

I’ve been seconds away from ordering an x-series RC lift with drop brackets several times this weekend . However I can order an IRO rock link long arm set up with full leafs , JKS disconnects and hydro shocks for 1539.98 less than 400 more for long arm IRO setup .. which is cheaper than the RE set up on short arms that I like .

Click to expand...

I think you'll be much more pleased with the Rock link. I am running mine and love the way it sits with 5" of lift. Handles bumps on the road better than my old 3" of lift with short arms. However I did also swap coils and shocks so I'm sure that had something to do with it

Sent from my SM-G955U1 using Tapatalk

Well placing my long arm lift order in the morning . Spoke with several shops that do lifts for a living or build crawlers and I’m confident in my decision at this point . The shop I’m ordering through is giving me a hellacious deal and since they haven’t done this particular kit on an XJ they’re offering me a steal of a deal to install it and save me the headache of doing it in my driveway just so they can get more XJ experience.

What did you end up ordering?

Bigred01xj said:

What did you end up ordering?

Click to expand...

Well after a ton of research and being completely indecisive I made some phone calls . Spoke with sevral off road shops and the more I asked the more they told me that rough country wasn’t any better or any worse than anything they’d installed and that they hadn’t had any more complaints with them than Teraflex or Metalcloak or skyjacker or anything else . They also said that there product today was completely different than in the past and that they wouldn’t have any problem running any of their stuff versus someone else . The x-series short and long arm kits included more than any other company I looked at and the price is really hard to ignore . I ended up ordering the 4.5 inch x-series short arm lift with control arm drop brackets . I was ready to order long arms but the more reality set in the more I admitted to myself this Jeep is going to see very little if any “rock crawling” the most challenging off roading it will likely see will be playing around on our farm trails and trying to retrieve deer . I also don’t like the idea of cutting the control arm brackets off unless this is a dedicated off road rig and it isn’t . The control arm drop brackets and fully adjustable arms should allow me plenty of adjustment and articulation and I’m betting it’ll do more in this package than I am even comfortable with doing to it . I am hoping to get my angles good enough to get by without SYE for a little while because the AA 242 sye is almost 500 dollars . I would also like to regear but I cannot do everything at once . My tires and wheels are mounted and balanced and in my garage now and the lift should be here Friday .

The x-series is much nicer than what they used in the past. You should be perfectly happy with it for the uses you listed above. I started out with the x-series long arm kit and had no problems with the quality or function whatsoever...over time, I have changed a few things here and there and built off of it to suit my needs. Hope you enjoy it and I’m sure you’ll be happy to get those new wheels/tires installed!

Wait a minute! Weren't you one of those "black letter" kids a few days ago???