suspension questions

i have a 97 XJ sport, and i want to get a lift. im not looking for anything huge as its still a DD, i was thinkin of around three inches. my three ?'s are what do you folks think are the best lift kits for the money, how big of a tire can i fit without MAJOR cutting of the fenders, and lastly how much of an impact would this stuff would have on my mpg.

You're gonna need to run a search on this stuff. it's been covered ALOT.


Not trying to be a smarta$$ or anything, but it has.

ok ty.

Here, I'll try -

1- Best lifts for not hard trail driven rigs are whatever used 3" coils you can find. Add a leaf's out back (full length). Buy some decent 3" lift shocks and you're good to go. Redrill the hole where the front track bar connects to the axle to recenter the axle after the lift and get an alignment.

2- 31x10.50r15's fit great with a 3" lift. Stick with the stock wheels, or at least close to stock backspacing to keep the best fender clearance.

3- Tires will affect your MPG more than the lift. Agressive, heavy meats will suck down the fuel - while lighter less agressive tires will affect it less. Expect to lose 2+ MPG with 3" of lift and 31" tires though.

Good luck-

Jaredatriot:

i would go with Rubicon Express. (http://www.rubiconexpress.com/) you can get a 2 inch budget boost and fit 30/9.5 tires nicely. or you can spend a little more money and get the 3.5 inch kit which is what i have on my 2001 Daily driver. sent you a Private message.

ty both vm for your help, what i really want is to be able to go mudding with my buddies when they go, but for the most part it will be a daily driver. i run the BFG A/T 30x9.5's now with no problems at all, and i love the look it gave the stock cherokee. if i can fit the 30x9.5's with no problems, would i be able to fit 32x11.5 tires with the correct backspacing (3.25 - 3.5?) on the wheels with a RE 3.5 lift? im a lil new to this so if this is a stupid question please let me know

I would stay away from rims with less than 4" of backspacing. I'm running 15x7 w/3.75" of backspacing and had to do a lot of trimming to get 31's to fit. They stuck out so far that I was hitting the plastic fender flares and popping them off. I'm running 4.5" of lift too! Anyway, I say do a search and you'll find most of what you are looking for. I myself am going back to my stock rims (I've repainted them matt black and kept the silver cap) since I don't like the 3.75" BS issues. I also don't want to replace me wheel bearings in the near future.

Later,
Rough

ty rough, the only problem i have with that is that i very much dislike the steel wheels on the cherokee, i personally think they look cheap.

Puckhead21 said:

ty rough, the only problem i have with that is that i very much dislike the steel wheels on the cherokee, i personally think they look cheap.

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Hey now easy on the stealys......lol JK ...Give Rough Country a shot. I have there 3 inch lift and i have been happy with it so far. comes with coils, Add a leafs, small degree wedge. I cant remember if it came with the shocks or not. Bout 300 bucks i think it was
Ryan

ty rebel ill check that out too.

ps. no offense to anyone on the steel wheels =]