xjbrian
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- California
I am new to Cherokees, Jeeps, and 4X4s and forums. A few months ago a friend of mine was showing me his XJ and it really got me interested. I bought a 1999 Cherokee Sport with 100K mi in good shape. It has an automatic trans, NP231 transfer case, open differentials, Chrysler 8.25 rear, 3.55 gears, The front springs have not sagged at all the rear has sagged about half an inch. The previous owner never took it off road.
My Jeep will be a daily driver so at first I wanted to throw a couple of spacers and shackles to lift it quick and cheep. Then I read about blocks and axle wrap, and shackles and wearing springs out quick, spacers don’t flex,. Then I decided on a little more expensive lift kit. But again I read about shocks that are way too stiff for a daily driver and they wear out quick. Next I read about parts needing to be replaced after a year or two on several of the kits. Those seemed to be common remarks for most of the more affordable kits. My friend loves his OME lift and it seems like everyone on the forums love them too. I just can’t bring myself to spend $650 for just the springs and shocks for a 2 inch lift.
I spent a lot of time researching lift kits and components that would give me a good ride and not break the bank. I compared what was in many of the kits that are available and added the price of the missing components that I think would be needed to make them work so that I could compare the total price of each of the kits with the extra components.
I know the table I put together is not complete and prices will be out of date soon but I think it may be helpful to someone that is trying to compare lift kits and the cost of extra equipment needed to finish a lift.
I found Rock Lizards (GottaBeJeep) budget boost at www.rocklizardfabrications.com/home_brew_budget_boost.htm and it looks great to me. After looking some more I found a post from GottaBeJeep showing CarQuest/Moog CC784 springs instead of the ZJ springs. These give more height, about 2.25”. This is the way I will go. Since I have a 99 I am expecting vibes at 3 inches. I will start out with a transfer case drop. If that doesn’t work I will do an SYE like the one at www.go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoSYEconversion.htm. This is a hack-n-tap style that allows you to use a front drive shaft in the rear. After searching a lot I never could find a relative strength comparison between the front and rear drive shafts. Does anyone have real numbers or a link to anyone else that has numbers?
I will be going with 31” BFG All Terrain TA KO tires because they seem to be the best all around performers that are good on the road at a reasonable price. I plan on putting an Aussie Locker on it. The Aussie is a lot cheaper than the Powertrax and those are the only lunchbox lockers that I found for the 29 spline Chrysler 8.25 differential.
I also plan on doing a few things I read about in the book High-Performance Jeep Cherokee XJ Builders Guide by Eric Zappe. This book was very helpful and gave me a lot to think about. The following modifications seem to help a lot for little or no money:
Grind Trac Bar Mount to flex more if needed Page 27
Grind Spring Mounts for LCAS to flex more if needed Page 27
ZJ Tie Rod swap Page 57
GoFerit tie rod flip insert Page 59
ZJ Pitman arm 1" drop if needed Page 60
PH8A Oil Filter Page 107
DynoMax Muffler Page 105
I also plan on building some rock rails and adding some front recovery points.
So what do you think? Am I forgetting anything important? Are there cheaper sources for the components listed (Note: I included shipping in the prices)? Are there better alternatives to the components listed that I should consider?
From my study this lift should be very comfortable on the road and quite capable off road. Unfortunately I tore my Achilles tendon a few weeks back and I won’t be able to do anything for months. The injury did allow me to spend a lot of time surfing the web and researching what I want to do.
My Jeep will be a daily driver so at first I wanted to throw a couple of spacers and shackles to lift it quick and cheep. Then I read about blocks and axle wrap, and shackles and wearing springs out quick, spacers don’t flex,. Then I decided on a little more expensive lift kit. But again I read about shocks that are way too stiff for a daily driver and they wear out quick. Next I read about parts needing to be replaced after a year or two on several of the kits. Those seemed to be common remarks for most of the more affordable kits. My friend loves his OME lift and it seems like everyone on the forums love them too. I just can’t bring myself to spend $650 for just the springs and shocks for a 2 inch lift.
I spent a lot of time researching lift kits and components that would give me a good ride and not break the bank. I compared what was in many of the kits that are available and added the price of the missing components that I think would be needed to make them work so that I could compare the total price of each of the kits with the extra components.
I know the table I put together is not complete and prices will be out of date soon but I think it may be helpful to someone that is trying to compare lift kits and the cost of extra equipment needed to finish a lift.
I found Rock Lizards (GottaBeJeep) budget boost at www.rocklizardfabrications.com/home_brew_budget_boost.htm and it looks great to me. After looking some more I found a post from GottaBeJeep showing CarQuest/Moog CC784 springs instead of the ZJ springs. These give more height, about 2.25”. This is the way I will go. Since I have a 99 I am expecting vibes at 3 inches. I will start out with a transfer case drop. If that doesn’t work I will do an SYE like the one at www.go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoSYEconversion.htm. This is a hack-n-tap style that allows you to use a front drive shaft in the rear. After searching a lot I never could find a relative strength comparison between the front and rear drive shafts. Does anyone have real numbers or a link to anyone else that has numbers?
I will be going with 31” BFG All Terrain TA KO tires because they seem to be the best all around performers that are good on the road at a reasonable price. I plan on putting an Aussie Locker on it. The Aussie is a lot cheaper than the Powertrax and those are the only lunchbox lockers that I found for the 29 spline Chrysler 8.25 differential.
I also plan on doing a few things I read about in the book High-Performance Jeep Cherokee XJ Builders Guide by Eric Zappe. This book was very helpful and gave me a lot to think about. The following modifications seem to help a lot for little or no money:
Grind Trac Bar Mount to flex more if needed Page 27
Grind Spring Mounts for LCAS to flex more if needed Page 27
ZJ Tie Rod swap Page 57
GoFerit tie rod flip insert Page 59
ZJ Pitman arm 1" drop if needed Page 60
PH8A Oil Filter Page 107
DynoMax Muffler Page 105
I also plan on building some rock rails and adding some front recovery points.
So what do you think? Am I forgetting anything important? Are there cheaper sources for the components listed (Note: I included shipping in the prices)? Are there better alternatives to the components listed that I should consider?
From my study this lift should be very comfortable on the road and quite capable off road. Unfortunately I tore my Achilles tendon a few weeks back and I won’t be able to do anything for months. The injury did allow me to spend a lot of time surfing the web and researching what I want to do.