could I get some help with choosing lift components?

I need to know everything that I can know about what I'm going to need for a RE 3.5" lift for an 87 xj. I need to know what shoocks to get, if or which sye or t-case drop kit I need, and if there is anything that I need to do to keep the vehicle safe. I will not be wheelin all the time, but I do plan to.

LOL...how about this if you arent gonna be hard core wheeling DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON RE!!! I have had the 3.5" SF kit in my 00 jeep for over 2 months now and truthfully for us guys who dont wheel a lot, i'd rather save the 250 bux and lose out on the extra inch that RE gets you and go back to Rusyt's...i put his 3" spring pack kit on my old 93...had 4" total of lift for about 8 months, then it settled to 3.5" and stayed there till i sold it 7 months later....the re kit i have now...got me an overall 4.5" and then settled to about 4" after the two hole months ive had it in. I paid 670 or so for the RE and i paid around 450 for rusty's and only gained about a half inch overall w/ the RE that i paid the extra money for. But anyways, if you do go w/ the RE, i highly recommend a SYE and d/s...i used AA and Tom Woods shaft...so far so good....but then again lift it first b/c w/ ur older jeep u might not have the vibes i had...might only need a t-case drop. My 93 didnt need anything. other than that, if you go w/ the RE kit...i highly recommend jks quicker disco's to help flex b/c your not going to get any for the first few months...i still cant get my rear to tuck. Aside from that, deffinatly go w/ OME shocks....i just put them in on my buddy's wrangler and i cant believe how much of an improvement over the stock ride it has. Good luck and i'd deff. wait on my opinions or search b/c i'm a little p-ed off about wasting so much money. Good luck

Which RE 3.5? There are four, but if I had to recommend one in particular it would be the RE6030 - Super-Flex arms and full leaf packs. I have the DT3000 shocks, but Bilstein (5100s?) are supposed to be a good match for the Cherokee as well. I drove a prototype pair of the Rubicon monotubes and they were good but I don't know about the pricing...

You may not need a t-case drop or SYE with the 87. If you do need a t-case drop, see http://go.jeep-xj.info/ for his instructions. Go there anyway if you want to add a thousand new projects to your "to-do" list. If you DO need an SYE, I'd recommend doing some searches in here for some of the threads where the benefits of certain SYEs and driveshafts have been hashed out.

Don't forget to get it aligned after the lift - it's the most commonly overlooked thing that causes handling problems and Death Wobble....

JeepXJ93 said:

LOL...how about this if you arent gonna be hard core wheeling DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON RE!!! I have had the 3.5" SF kit in my 00 jeep for over 2 months now and truthfully for us guys who dont wheel a lot, i'd rather save the 250 bux and lose out on the extra inch that RE gets you and go back to Rusyt's...i put his 3" spring pack kit on my old 93...had 4" total of lift for about 8 months, then it settled to 3.5" and stayed there till i sold it 7 months later....the re kit i have now...got me an overall 4.5" and then settled to about 4" after the two hole months ive had it in. I paid 670 or so for the RE and i paid around 450 for rusty's and only gained about a half inch overall w/ the RE that i paid the extra money for. But anyways, if you do go w/ the RE, i highly recommend a SYE and d/s...i used AA and Tom Woods shaft...so far so good....but then again lift it first b/c w/ ur older jeep u might not have the vibes i had...might only need a t-case drop. My 93 didnt need anything. other than that, if you go w/ the RE kit...i highly recommend jks quicker disco's to help flex b/c your not going to get any for the first few months...i still cant get my rear to tuck. Aside from that, deffinatly go w/ OME shocks....i just put them in on my buddy's wrangler and i cant believe how much of an improvement over the stock ride it has. Good luck and i'd deff. wait on my opinions or search b/c i'm a little p-ed off about wasting so much money. Good luck

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:bs: You DID not waste any money. REs products are so far superior to Rustys its not even funny. Yeah I know all the rusty lovers are going to come out here and say how fine a product he has and how his C S has got so much better....BS. Just do a search and see how much of his crap is breaking all the time. Then try and find the same type of post about REs stuff.
What it comes down to is getting what you pay for. Yeah REs stuff is kind of costly but there is a reason for that. ITS QUALITY stuff.
I would however get JKS's quickers also...RE's are not the best. As far as there other hard parts though...its hard to beat them quality wise.

Good point about the discos - it looks like they still have the Gen1 discos in the pack. Whoever you order through can credit the RE discos and charge the difference for the JKS Quicker Discos.

Don't forget to positively ID your rear axle when ordering; on an 87 it could be a D35 or preferably a D44, and you need different u-bolts.

I think he is wanting to get the RE6025 3.5" Super Ride w/ Rear Springs XJ. I have talked to him. He is just real new to all this and I can understand that it is not easy to sort through the massive amount of info posted here.
He is looking for the surest way to get a 3.5" lift on a '87 Jeep XJ that will still be a safe and good ride on pavement, but also would be quite capable to get into and out of some pretty rough terrain. The cost does matter but quality and performance rule for a set up like this.
RE6025 advertises this but can any of you that run this setup verify this?

Jeeppie said:

He is looking for the surest way to get a 3.5" lift on a '87 Jeep XJ that will still be a safe and good ride on pavement, but also would be quite capable to get into and out of some pretty rough terrain. The cost does matter but quality and performance rule for a set up like this.
RE6025 advertises this but can any of you that run this setup verify this?

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RE6025 and RE6030 both use the same rear springs; the difference is in the lower control arms. The 6025 uses rubber bushings similar to the stock ones where the 6030 uses spherical bearings that give more flex but can be a rougher ride on-road. I'd still recommend the same JKS Discos regardless of which kit he chooses.

Personally I think you should go with a bigger lift something like 4.5" , I think its about perfect for the amount you plan on wheeling so id say anywhere between 4-5 inches of lift , you might not like spending the extra $ but in the long run you save money because your gonna get that 3.5" lift and then wheel your xj fall in love with wheeling and want to lift it higher , believe me I understand how it works with $ Id say just wait on it till you can do the little big bigger lift.

And you wont need a Slip Yoke Eliminator at 4.5" , im at a true 6 inches of lift (I only say true because its a new lift and hasnt sagged yet) and I dont have a sye yet , not that im saying its right believe me in the long run get an sye but for you on 4.5" of lift there are other things that should come first like skid plates and winch and whatnot because 4.5" lift you should be fine already but if you needed to you could put a yj slip yoke on your shaft because its just a little bit longer and if you needed to you could do a t-case drop (preferably the rustys which loses no ground clearance).

So he should get the
RE6025 3.5" Super Ride w/ Rear Springs
JKS Disco's instead the ones with the kit.
I guess he probably does not need a SYE.
He should get a TC drop kit.
31" tires
Alignment
Then that leaves the shock choices. Any preferances here?
If he gets all this together he should be set to go?

Jeeppie said:

So he should get the
RE6025 3.5" Super Ride w/ Rear Springs
JKS Disco's instead the ones with the kit.
I guess he probably does not need a SYE.
He should get a TC drop kit.
31" tires
Alignment
Then that leaves the shock choices. Any preferances here?
If he gets all this together he should be set to go?

Click to expand...

On an '87 with only 3.5" of lift, you will most likely not need to worry about dropping the t-case. My '89 is running a 4.5" RE kit and I didnt drop the t-case nor am I running a SYE and have no vibe issues.

As for shocks, from what I have read on the forums here, OME or Bilstiens are the favored flavors. I will be looking into Bilstiens soon myself.

I installed the same components a few months ago. I bought my kit from http://www.jeepinoutfitters.com/scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=62 , and it included shocks. I would say that this kit is awesome. This combo of lift with the super flex LCA and the 31" tires will dramatically increase your off road capability, and at this lift level, you don't have to worry about extra expense of pitman arms, SYE conversion. Do make sure that all your front suspension/steering parts are in good shape. I went to get the suspension aligned after, and they wouldn't do it until I replaced the front hubs, track bar and all ball joints ( oops I didn't notice!!). Do also include protection for your next upgrade - rockers, and skids below - you'll quickly find you need them

This has been very helpful, I now need to know how to identify my axle, and I was also wondering what tires to get. I heard that BFs are pretty good, I am kind of concerned about it being top heavy after the lift. I would like to put some wider tires on. what do you guys suggest?

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=48657
A thread running currently about mud tires and deals.

I have the RE super-ride kit but with AAL, becaue it was more affordable. I got the RE shocks that RE recommended with the kit. However, make sure to pick up some Bar Pin Eliminators (BPE) with your kit. They will increase your options for shocks and get rid of annoying shock rattles

BPEs definitely make it easier to install new shocks; I wouldn't say they increase the shock options though unless you change the front mount type, but JKS BPEs don't do that.

ID your axle:
http://www.yuccaman.com/jeep/gear1.html#axle

Like xtremewlr said, you probably won't need the t-case drop or SYE, but be aware that one or the other may be needed. Change the u-joints in the driveshafts (particularly the rear one) after the lift, as the change in operating angle can cause harmonics and vibration that will drive you batty until you find it.

there is so much bogus stuff in this thread it isn funny... i dont even want to take the time to point it all out...

Yucca-Man said:

BPEs definitely make it easier to install new shocks; I wouldn't say they increase the shock options though unless you change the front mount type, but JKS BPEs don't do that.

ID your axle:
http://www.yuccaman.com/jeep/gear1.html#axle

Like xtremewlr said, you probably won't need the t-case drop or SYE, but be aware that one or the other may be needed. Change the u-joints in the driveshafts (particularly the rear one) after the lift, as the change in operating angle can cause harmonics and vibration that will drive you batty until you find it.

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Ok, I am almost positive that I have a Danna 35, so I was going to look at getting a 44. Me and my Dad thought of going to a junk yard to scrap one off of one of their jeeps, do you think this is a good idea? If not, then who are some reliable people to purchase one from. I am also going to look into lower gearing after my lift. but I'm kind of confused, I did my best to search the forum (even though I probably over looked somthing) but all I found was 5.56 this and 4.88 that on a 8.25 etc..... I guess I'm just a little confused, How low will you need to go with a straight 6, 4.oL with a 3.5" lift and 31" tires, and all skidplates and possible a tubular cage and still have plenty of power, and still be capable of highway speeds.

For the gears, the only part that really applies is I6, 31" tires and the tranny. If auto, 4.10s will bring your highway RPM up a bit higher than stock but that's good because it puts the engine in a better powerband and helps propel all the extra weight more easily. If you have a stick, it's a little more debatable but 4.10s or maybe 3.73 will be a good match for those tires.

Dana44s come up on the Sale section from time to time. They are supposedly in some 87-89 Cherokees, but realistically almost every one of them is from an 87 but even those are rare. If you are positive that the rear is a D35, options include the Ford 8.8 or even a 29-spline C8.25; the C8.25 is virtually a drop-in since they were in Cherokees for half the production run. The 8.8 is close, and you can get the bracketry required through M.O.R.E www.mountainoffroad.com

Yucca-Man said:

For the gears, the only part that really applies is I6, 31" tires and the tranny. If auto, 4.10s will bring your highway RPM up a bit higher than stock but that's good because it puts the engine in a better powerband and helps propel all the extra weight more easily. If you have a stick, it's a little more debatable but 4.10s or maybe 3.73 will be a good match for those tires.

Dana44s come up on the Sale section from time to time. They are supposedly in some 87-89 Cherokees, but realistically almost every one of them is from an 87 but even those are rare. If you are positive that the rear is a D35, options include the Ford 8.8 or even a 29-spline C8.25; the C8.25 is virtually a drop-in since they were in Cherokees for half the production run. The 8.8 is close, and you can get the bracketry required through M.O.R.E www.mountainoffroad.com

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, but I'm still confused with the gearing stuff, you said that I might want to look at 4.10s or MAYBE 3.73's, now, do you actualy change out gears in the transfer case or in the transmision?You also mentioned that I might want to get a Ford 8.8 axle, now what does the 8.8 actualy mean? does it have somthing to do with the gears in the differential? And what about the "29-spline C8.25", whats a spline, or a C8.8? Sorry about all the questions, I apreciate all the help so far.

Jeeper

Jeeper said:

Thanks for the link, but I'm still confused with the gearing stuff, you said that I might want to look at 4.10s or MAYBE 3.73's, now,

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yes - but if you ever plan to go bigger, 4.56 wont be too bad (depending on opinon) on the street with 31" tires... the cost of re-gearing will make you want to do it as few times as possible.

Jeeper said:

do you actualy change out gears in the transfer case or in the transmision?

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No, the gears that we are talking about are in your diferentials. T-case gears can be changed via the Tera 4:1 kit. I am not sure if there are any other gears for any of the transmissions that jeep's came stock with...

Jeeper said:

You also mentioned that I might want to get a Ford 8.8 axle, now what does the 8.8 actualy mean? does it have somthing to do with the gears in the differential?

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The ford 8.8 is a rear end out of: Ford f-150, Ranger, Explorer, Expedition - most people want the 8.8's out of the 96+ ford explorers for their 31 spline shafts and disc breaks as well as thier track width that almost matches the XJ. 8.8 refers to the ring gear diamiter IIRC.
more reading on an 8.8 and its aplication in a jeep here:
http://www.jedi.com/obiwan/jeep/ford88.html

Jeeper said:

And what about the "29-spline C8.25", whats a spline, or a C8.8? Sorry about all the questions, I apreciate all the help so far.

Jeeper

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a 29 spline c8.25 is a rear end that is found in non-ABS equiped XJ's starting in 1996 if memory serves... The 29 spline differs from the 27 spline c8.25 which was in non-ABS equpied XJ's from 91 to 96 again if memory serves.
"c" in c8.25 stands for chrysler - so correctly typed - Chrysler 8.25 rear end...

A spline is the contact patch between the axleshaft and the carrier (in the case of axles). More splines generaly means more contact and more surface area touching the rest of the moving parts - therefore stronger (most of the time).
here is a pic of the end of an axle shaft with 19 splines - on the end of a ford d44 - you can see the axleshaft sticking out of the spindle there - all the way out of the end - the goves in it are the splines - similar to the threads on a bolt... (click the image to view full size)

hope this is helpful!

good luck!
-Ranger