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Ready to order lift.... is this OK?

R

Red97XJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Northern Indiana
I want your opinion!! My background is....

I have been lurking here for quite awhile searching and learning. I have a 97 4dr 4x4 red XJ 4.0 auto with 242tc. I just got it a couple weeks ago. I use it as my daily driver, and don't get off-road as much as I would like..... so on road comfort is important. I am thinking about ordering the following:

Rubicon Express 6125 (3.5 lift with full springs)
Old Man Emu LT Shocks

If I do the above, can I get by without the following? Or are they a must?
JKS Trackbar
YJ Front brake lines
RE SYE & CV shaft
JKS disco upgrade-Mostly muddy hills in Indiana, do I really need this?

Can I elimnate the trackbar and drill a new hole in the old bracket?

I would love to put on 32x11.5x15, but I am thinking won't fit, so I will settle for goodyear MTR's 31x10.5x15. Can I get by with a Mickey Thompson Classic II 15x8 rim with 3.3 BS without trimming?

From everyone's experience, how will this ride and handle compared to stock?

Any changes, advice or opinions are GREATLY welcome! That is why I am posting this, so please post!

What else am I missing?

Thanks,
Newbie Jason
 
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i'll give you my $.37....
YJ brake lines.... yes.. unless you make some hard-line extentions...
adj trackbar...... yes, as soon as you can afford it (if thats the reason) i have been running the same lift for 6 months and just got my adj trackbar.. the alignmet is off and i am getting funky tire wear... i am more comfortable taking a lil tire wear and getting the new bar when i can rather than redrilling the mount..
SYE & CV d/shaft..... i would say plan on it... but get some 2 and 4 degree axle shims too.. i eliminated "most" of my vibes in my 99 by doing a t/case drop and a 2.5 degreee shim... SYE is on the shopping list so i can lose the T/case drop....
tires.... 31s should be ok.. depending on your choice of wheels... no comment on your choice though....
my 99 is my daily driver and it rides great.. i like a firm ride and even when disconnected it doesnt lean much on corners....
no idea about the OME shocks.. i use Doetch Tech 3000 myself...
if you chose to save a few $$ by not doing something right away keep in mind it may still need to be done before too long..
good luck

mike
 
Here is what I can tell you from my experience. I have an 89 xj, mostly trail rig with a RE 4.5" lift with full leaves in rear and doestch tech shocks. It rides very well. I also have a 98 xj w/ a 3" Skyjacker lift with full leaves in the rear with OME shocks. The OME shocks work 10x better than the crappy Skyjacker Hydros. So in my opinion the Rubicon lift, and the OME shocks would be an excellent combo.
For a 97, you may be able to get away with a t-case drop and 4 degree shims in the rear, that is what is did to my 98 (it is mostly my DD), it do not have any driveline vibes. I would recommend getting an adjustable track bar though.
As far as tires, in my opinion 31" tire would work well with your 3.5" lift. You may be able to get away with the 32's, but with 31's, you should not have any rubbing.
Your front brake lines should be ok, it you do not disconnect your front swaybar, but extended ones are not a bad idea. Hopefully some of this babbling helps!
 
If you want to save money you can straighten out the hard lines in the front and mount them lower on the body rather than buy yj lines, but on the rear you'll have to get a longer line immediately, and it wouldn't be a bad idea for the front.

There's nothing wrong with re-drilling the axle-end track bar mount, that's the route I would go until you can afford an adjustable bar.

Get a 1" transfer-case drop and maybe some shims for now instead of the SYE. Save up for the SYE and do it later. Keep in mind that the lift will be a lot higher immediately after installing it before it settles. Do something to help it settle quicker so you don't get vibes.

Quick disconnects are very nice but are in no way a necessity when lifting, you can buy them at any time later on.

I run a Skyjacker 3.5" and did all of this stuff in stages (lift one year, track bar 6 months later, disco's a while later, SYE a couple years later)
www.angelfire.com/ut/jason/4x4.html
 
"I would love to put on 32x11.5x15, but I am thinking won't fit, so I will settle for goodyear MTR's 31x10.5x15. Can I get by with a Mickey Thompson Classic II 15x8 rim with 3.3 BS without trimming?"

Since everyone has already given good comments, I will touch on this. I have not heard of 3.3" of backspacing, but I would imagine that with the setup you are talking, something in the 4" to 4.75" range would be much better. I have looked at several threads on this board that would be helpful in giving you an idea of what BS would be good for your situation. The MT Classic II's are nice and pretty durable. Sounds like you are certainly on the right track for your XJ's first lift.
 
That is a nice combo for sure. But if you looking to save a few bucks get the Doetch Tech shocks first and the adjustable track bar and brake lines. This is better in the long run. I have run them for years and just switched to Old Man EMU's in the front. They're a great shock/ both of them. But for the starting out money of getting it going DT's are the way to go for sure. Just a thought. Juice
 
OK, this is GREAT feed back. I already feel like I have saved a ton of cash not from all your help and info.

On the MT Classic II's. I am told that the ONLY backspacing they come in is about 3-3/16. This is also true for the Eagle Alloy 589. I love that look. Can I go with that or do I need that 4 to 4.5?

Do I have it right that 4 BS moves the wheel closer the truck than 3 BS? I assume it helps not rub on the fender flares?

My biggest fear is having Death Wobble. If I go with a 1" drop TC and some 4 shims and no SYE, but do go with the adjustable track bar, is this going to eliminate the DW thing?

Thanks in advance!
Jason
 
T-case and shims have nothing to do with DW at all. Adjustable track bar might, but only if the old track bar has sloppy bushings or Tie Rod End.
 
I forgot to ask. I saw somewhere a tech article about installing some brackets that lower the Front LCA's. Is this a good thing, and should I do it, or is it for a bigger lift?

Thanks,
Jason
 
the control arm drop brackets are not needed for the 3.5" lift.. any higher and i would go with them if it was a daily driver...
heres how my rig sits now.. its actually a lil higher in the rear cause this pic i was loaded down with a week worth of Moab tools and gear..

mike

standard.jpg
 
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OK, cool on the DW.

sidriptide, thanks for the pic (I pasted to browser) that looks SO sweet. I can't wait to order, just want to make sure I have this right before I go and spend a bunch of cash not needed.

Right now, I am leaning towards doing disco's later, and I have actually run lots of hard brake line before, so for the money, I am just to lower the front hard line. (will still extend rear)

Anyone on the wheel and backspacing info? I currently have stock alloy 5 stars. How much can I sell these for with 75% good rubber on em?

Jason
 
Jason...

where in northern indiana?

do you know about attica badlands yet?

THAT will be a destination to visit after your new stuff is installed.
 
something else to think about is the swaybar end links... if you are lifting and keeping the stock links they wont last long.... the lift tips the ends of the bar down and the stock end links are designed to work with a horizontal bar.. the bushings will squeeze out and bend/break the top of the end links.. this happened on my budget boosted rig.. if you are doing an RE kit the discos should be part of the kit.... the only other way around this would be to use a swaybar drop mount.. just some last minute info to think about..

mike
 
Red97XJ said:
OK, cool on the DW.

sidriptide, thanks for the pic (I pasted to browser) that looks SO sweet. I can't wait to order, just want to make sure I have this right before I go and spend a bunch of cash not needed.

Right now, I am leaning towards doing disco's later, and I have actually run lots of hard brake line before, so for the money, I am just to lower the front hard line. (will still extend rear)

Anyone on the wheel and backspacing info? I currently have stock alloy 5 stars. How much can I sell these for with 75% good rubber on em?

Jason
Click to expand...

I sold my stock 5-star steel rims without tires for $75 to somebody local.
 
I live about 40 minutes south of South Bend IN. (near Notre Dame). I have heard lots about Attica. First visit with the lift will be to Silver Lake MI. There they have about 3,000 acres of sand dunes! (so I am told). Then Badlands is #2.

Does everyone with a similiar lift know what backspacing they are running? Does it rub? What size tire?

Thanks
Jason
 
you guys rock. I feel very comfortable ordering the RE 3.5 kit with goodies to go, but still very unsure about what to do about my rims.

I love the Mickey Thompson Classic II's 15x8. Does anyone run these with a RE 3.5 lift and 31" tires? Or anything similiar? It will cost me around $1,125 and thats alot to dish out without knowing more about it!

Thanks for ANY and all input!

Jason
 
I'm kinda in your boat as well but I'm taking the slow/patient route with the wheels.

I'm lifting and adding lockout hubs at the same time. This will move the hub around in the wheel well a little bit. I already have a set of 15x8x4BS ARE-767s kicking around with no tires mounted from a different project. Once I get the lift on I'm going to mount them up and see how they look. Maybe add/stack some washers on the WMS to get an idea of what BS I need to run with the tires I settle on. I will probably settle BFG 265/75-16 ultimately - this is a DD rig and the 16" wheels will let me upgrade to WJ brakes if I ever feel the need. I still need the 15x8s for my CJ anyway...

You could do the same with your stock wheels and then order the correct BS depending on how the wheel looks in the wheel well.

Just an idea.

HTH

r@m
 
Jason ... I've ran 3.75" of BC using 30" x 9.5 x 15 for about 10 years on an MJ and for the first several months of ownership with the current XJ. With this BC, I always had to deal with some rubbing when loaded (in the MJ) or when compressing the suspension.

I am currently running 3.75" of BC with 32" x 11.5 x 15 tires on 4.5" to 5" lift. I had some rubbing with these but did some fender trimming and extended bumpstops. This has stop the rubbing but at a cost of not having as much suspension travel.

Les

Les
 
Root Moose said:
You could do the same with your stock wheels and then order the correct BS depending on how the wheel looks in the wheel well.
Click to expand...

This is probably obvious but...

IF you do try this - DO NOT DRIVE WITH STACKED WASHERS ON THE LUGS!

This would be just for eyeballing the wheel placement while parked in your laneway. You can't drive with the washers in place - there won't be enough clamping surface and the lugs will shear and you'll lose a wheel (or four).

Not fun. Don't ask me how I know - not related to stacked washers. LOL

r@m
 
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