I have 30 x 9.50 on my stock XJ

[spikyhair87]

Here is a stock cherokee with

34x9.5R15's..

 

[spikyhair87]

btw thanks 95' heep for the pic's!!! (its 95' heep's jeep)..

 

[BruceB83]

Thanks for the advice guys. I am not doing the lift on the cheap,,,,I've been thinking about Rubicon Express 3.5 Superflex Lift Kit with Rear Springs For 84-01 Jeep Cherokee XJ but I'm in the early "think" stage. Thanks for the build it input but I'm OLD and long past the wrecking yard stage of life at 65. I think it is great to do that and did for many years. Not sure which prevails at this stage of my life, tired or lazy on my part, probably both!

Lol...I hear ya. Then you're on the right track with the RE 3.5" Superflex kit. Some people :rattle: at the price compared to other 3" lifts but it's top notch. Just make sure you get the full spring pack kit and NOT the add-a-leaf (AAL). AALs are the suck, don't ride as nice, and sag easily. Not to mention, if you have worn out springs existing, you may not end up at a full 3.5" lift in the back.

 

[asp]

Lol...I hear ya. Then you're on the right track with the RE 3.5" Superflex kit. Some people :rattle: at the price compared to other 3" lifts but it's top notch. Just make sure you get the full spring pack kit and NOT the add-a-leaf (AAL). AALs are the suck, don't ride as nice, and sag easily. Not to mention, if you have worn out springs existing, you may not end up at a full 3.5" lift in the back.

!!!1

 

[tgregg]

Lol...I hear ya. Then you're on the right track with the RE 3.5" Superflex kit. Some people :rattle: at the price compared to other 3" lifts but it's top notch. Just make sure you get the full spring pack kit and NOT the add-a-leaf (AAL). AALs are the suck, don't ride as nice, and sag easily. Not to mention, if you have worn out springs existing, you may not end up at a full 3.5" lift in the back.

Thank you, the one consistent thing I've been told is "do not use AAL", I have that figured out at least. I really don't want to have to do a SYE as I just rebuilt the T/C and am not about to go back into it again, at least not anytime soon. I think I'm hearing that on my '95 a 3.5 lift is a safe lift w/o SYE. Also 30 or 31 tires seem to be fine for my purpose. I'm also going to spend money on armor so hitting a little here and there will not hurt anything much.
Gregg

 

[Darky]

I would also look into upper control arms to go with that one. Their 3.5" kit sits a little high, so you may want them added on.

 

[asp]

I think I'm hearing that on my '95 a 3.5 lift is a safe lift w/o SYE.

you won't know till you try

Also 30 or 31 tires seem to be fine for my purpose.

run the biggest tire you can clear under your fenders. you'll thank me later. however big you think you're going to make your jeep, add $1500 to $2k (at least) more in parts, and that's really where you're going to end up.

 

[winchster]

So if you don't really care a lot about super amounts of flex, yet you want some lift to run larger tires, what's the difference in the Rubicon Express super-flex and super-ride? Besides $200?

 

[asp]

superflex has flex joints, super ride has rubber (or poly) (i can't remember) bushings.

same arm, different ends. superflex will flex better but ride will me a more comfortable ride on the road and still flex ok.

 

[tbburg]

I have 30 x 9.50 tires with stock rims on my stock XJ which I keep getting told can't be. Does that make sense? Every lift company says our 3 inch lift will let you run 30's. What are they talking about? I have lots of clearance with my 30's on there, no rub even on really rough rocky trails.

'Running 30x9.50s on my '00, stock suspension(not up country), sway bars connected. Tires don't rub at full flex, full lock. It's settled an inch or so from factory height, maybe a little more in the back. I might "lift" it to up-country height, or an inch taller if I get to the point where it drags too much and starts bothering me.

I've heard you need lift to run 30s. Apparently, some of us don't. Wheel it. Have fun. Lift it if you like. If it doesn't rub, you don't need to.

You have to remember, the lift- and tire manufacturers base their charts on the following;
If they say you can fit "X" tire on "Y" vehicle with "Z" lift, that means no rubbing, no body damage, and no cut tires or somebody gets sued.

 

[tgregg]

tbburh, Thanks for you comments. My thoughts exactly. If it is working why lift it and screw up other things. I think a couple of inch lift will look better but probably not work any better for my purposes. I used the measurements shown earlier in this string and I am at factory height (17.5 front, 17 rear) still with 217K on the clock.

 

[BruceB83]

you won't know till you try



run the biggest tire you can clear under your fenders. you'll thank me later. however big you think you're going to make your jeep, add $1500 to $2k (at least) more in parts, and that's really where you're going to end up.

hasta

 

[BruceB83]

!!!1

Not sure why you felt the need to do that. If you want to get picky, 99% of this site is !!!1. Show me one post or thread that isn't a repeat of something already asked.


That just wasn't necessary...that's all.

 

[asp]

....? you just did it too. i meant no offense. i was trying to emphasize a point to the newer guys that may or may not have realized it.

 

[BruceB83]

I know, I was pointing out that everything each one of us is saying is repetitive. My apologies, I took that as you pointing that at me.

 

[asp]

no worries. a lot of the stuff in here is repetitive, which is why i stopped reading and posting in modtech. but then i realized i had the questions when i was learning and someone was there to beat the dead horse for me (that sounds wrong) so here i am, i guess.

 

[BruceB83]

no worries. a lot of the stuff in here is repetitive, which is why i stopped reading and posting in modtech. but then i realized i had the questions when i was learning and someone was there to beat the dead horse for me (that sounds wrong) so here i am, i guess.

I hear ya. Sometimes I just think why not just lock the mod tech section for a while, I mean everything you can possibly want is hear already. I guess that would really teach people to search!

Anyways...sorry to drag OT...hopefully the OP got what he was looking for!

 

[tgregg]

In my opinion discussion is usually helpful and interesting. There really is no right answer to many of these questions. There might be a right answer for one individual but not for everyone. The "always biggest tire" discussion is a case in point. I am 65 years old and have been off roading in the desert my whole life mostly on motorcycles. I pretty clearly know what I want to do with the XJ and I already have a 69 CJ5 that is my serious off road crawler. The XJ though has another purpose. I want to be able, like I did early this week, to drive it on the freeway 250 miles to Death Valley, spend 4 days exploring trails and then drive it comfortably 250 miles home. I want to trailer it behind my motorhome so my wife and I can have a car to go out to dinner when we are traveling around, etc.
So for me 30 inch tires on it is probably about right. Stock height is probably OK although with the 30's it looks a little funky (in my opinion) so I might want to raise it just a little (2 or 3 inches) but I'm in the fun discussion phase of that.
If I had only one vehicle I might want something very different!

 

[cherokeefan_1]

I have 31x10.50x15 Maxxis bighorns on my stock 91 cherokee and only rubs when turning to sharp,but only on one side.Does not rub anywhere but the lower control arm even when stuffed.Sorry no pics

 

[clunk]

Depends on how serious you'd like to get, but a rocklizard style lift would work well with 30x9.5's and wouldn't make it too hard to drive those longer distances. Even if you don't need the extra ground clearance, the extra couple of inches of uptravel will be nice on the trail.noticeable on the trail.
I used V8 coils with a small spacer up front and a bastard pack in the back to gain around 2.25" of lift, then I replaced the shocks with upcountry ZJ shocks up front and MJ shocks in the back. The ride is pretty good and it didn't cost me much, although now that my control arm bushing are getting kind of worn and I'm looking at replacements, it might have just been easier to buy a kit with new control arms from the get go.
Here's a picture of how it looks with LT235/75/15's.

I don't have any swaybars connected and it stuffs pretty well with the small tires, they rub on the inner fender liners if I flex much more than this though. When I eventually step up to 30's or 31's I'll have to do a bit of trimming to keep the same travel without eating up my fenders.