Young'in looking for some criticism on setup?

[ricot83]

get 4.11 gears thats all id change or do what he said ^^^^^ wheel it stock piece stuff together cheap... which oddly enough is how i ended up where i am now..

 

[Kittrell]

So, (Yes I'm darn picky) I'll be hunting down a 97-99 4 door with the AX15 and 231.=

Picky? Pff, rookie, don't make me laugh...........

 

[noChrome71]

Thanks again guys for even more Ideas!

I've been wheeling for probably 3 years total. I used to own a k5 blazer up until a couple months ago, and that's really where any small amount of experience I've gained has come from. It was at stock height with the factory 31" tires, and it took me most places, save for some bigger pits of mud or tight trails were the weight and overall size of the beast was an issue. I think you guys have the right idea though; drive it stock and get a feel for all it can do first, then mod as time, wallet, and experience allows.

It does have to be a 5 speed though. In the 7 cars/trucks I've owned, only one has been an auto (a cavalier), and it annoyed the crap out of me, I would manually move the shifter from 1 through D all the time because I was bored! The K5 was a 4 speed manual, (sm465 tank) and I loved being in more control, not worrying about heating up the fluid when spinning the wheels through the tuff stuff, and just making me focus more on my offroad driving.

Yah, all there really is around here are very small hills and mud. I've seen one boulder but it looked like it had been placed there ; )

My ultimate goal is 31" tires and a good looking lift height to match. If I can flex without having to trim any sheetmetal (that scares me to hell to do), I'll be all set, so maybe 30's would be good then. I'm not into the look aspect too much ( I like a clean looking truck), but to me if something is not functional (like a chrome grill or excessively backspaced wheels), I'll shy away from it. No offense to anyone of course, but it's just not my personal style.

Thanks again guys!

 

[FlexdXJ]

I would spend the little bit more and buy some Rubicon Express Springs for the front! :cheers: Everything else sounds like a good starting point

 

[tomcat]

for the price of a hack-n-tap (about $200 from what i have seen, my apologies if this is off) you can get a JB conversions true SYE with the bigger tailshaft etc. better route in my book

 

[nosigma]

this is coming from a old one lol. wheel it stock then piece a 3" lift with a adjustable trac bar,lower control arms.brake lines,sway bar discos, decent shocks.build a bastard pack using dodge 1/2 ton van leafs,1 1/2"boomerang shackle and 1" block or shackle relocator and standard 1 1/2 " shackles. and buy a xj with a auto tranny and 3.55's. run 30's. then save up and regear later.armor in between.you will be totally suprised what a 3" lift will do with flexy leafs and a good adjustable trac bar and some quality lower control arms.on the newer xj's at 4.5"your looking at a sye and driveshaft. at 3" you can get by with a t/c drop.a old one's point of view. have fun.

Follow builders advice. This is exactly what I did. I put my money into armor and hotels/gas/fees to wheel the pee out of it and couldnt be happier. You dont need to spend much, just spend it wisely. The advice that builder has given you is about as good as it gets. If you get a standard and you dont regear ($cha-ching$) you are going to regret it. Get the AW4, stay on 3.55's / 31's or 30's (add a cooler) and the $700 you save on gears/install will pay for everything else.

John