New to the XJ. Have Noob Q's

Well I am finally selling my Turbo Civic. I am planning on buying an XJ with in the next 2 weeks. Here are some questions I have and I did use the search first.

1. I am looking for something with under 100k. Is one year better than another as far is lift kits, tranny strength and axles are concerned?

2. I have researched lift kits a bit. I am looking at the 4.5" kits and some 32's. Besides the actual kit is there any mods that NEED to be made that the lift descriptions don't list? Pinion angle, driveshaft issues or other wise?
Can I leave the drive line alone and still run this high a kit?

3. I am open to Auto's or sticks. I prefer a stick. Are the autos really soft and worthless to wheel with?


Thanks in advance.
Dave

CSaddict said:

Well I am finally selling my Turbo Civic. I am planning on buying an XJ with in the next 2 weeks. Here are some questions I have and I did use the search first.

1. I am looking for something with under 100k. Is one year better than another as far is lift kits, tranny strength and axles are concerned?

2. I have researched lift kits a bit. I am looking at the 4.5" kits and some 32's. Besides the actual kit is there any mods that NEED to be made that the lift descriptions don't list? Pinion angle, driveshaft issues or other wise?
Can I leave the drive line alone and still run this high a kit?

3. I am open to Auto's or sticks. I prefer a stick. Are the autos really soft and worthless to wheel with?


Thanks in advance.
Dave

Click to expand...

1. Not really. Try to get the Chrysler 8.25 rear axle instead of the Dana 35. With the 8.25 you won't have to worry about ABS, too.
2. Driveshaft issues will most likely need to be addressed with 4.5 of lift. You'll probably have vibes. Search on transfer case drops and pinion angles.
3. The XJs auto, the AW4, is generally looked upon as respectable. It works for me. I feel like I'm cheating after wheeling a stick for a couple years.

I ran 32 x 11 ATs with my 4.5 inch lift. Only mild rubbing experienced. You will want 4.75 BS rims so the tires tuck inside the fender wells. Bump stops will stop the rubbing, I didn't put any new ones on mine at that time.

I'm partial to the 97 and newer models. Though as you look around here you'll see lots of notes on the quickness that the 97+'s have with drive line vibrations. My 01 would not settle down till I put the SYE mod in the T-Case. I tried a custom double cardan drive shaft, shims, and T-case lowering cross member but it still shook like it had only 3 wheels.

Mine's an auto and it performs just fine off road. I've modified a few things, like seperated the cooling lines from the radiator and a couple of electronic control things. The Auto has a higher 1st gear ratio than the 5 speed, which by itself is bad for rock crawling, but can be overcome with T-case mods and lower gearing.

If you just want a lifted street machine, 4.5 is probably larger than you need, unless you are set on 32s.

Look around, there are a ton of threads all the topics you addressed. Although I asked much the same Q's 2 1/2 years ago when I was looking to buy one. My goal was to build a rock eater, and I did not plan to drive it on the road for very long. I'm happy to say I'm pretty much there now.

01 XJ, D-44's 4.88's Detroits, 35's, 8 inch long arm, 4:1 T-case, and a lot of dents. Just finished cutting for the 37's. So far managed to keep the rubber side down and the windows in, but that could change.

Good luck.

Thanks for the reply. I wish these 4.5 kits listed recommended related parts for the driveline vibration issues..... Maybe I should go 3.5"

DaffyXJ said:

I ran 32 x 11 ATs with my 4.5 inch lift. Only mild rubbing experienced. You will want 4.75 BS rims so the tires tuck inside the fender wells. Bump stops will stop the rubbing, I didn't put any new ones on mine at that time.

I'm partial to the 97 and newer models. Though as you look around here you'll see lots of notes on the quickness that the 97+'s have with drive line vibrations. My 01 would not settle down till I put the SYE mod in the T-Case. I tried a custom double cardan drive shaft, shims, and T-case lowering cross member but it still shook like it had only 3 wheels.

Mine's an auto and it performs just fine off road. I've modified a few things, like seperated the cooling lines from the radiator and a couple of electronic control things. The Auto has a higher 1st gear ratio than the 5 speed, which by itself is bad for rock crawling, but can be overcome with T-case mods and lower gearing.

If you just want a lifted street machine, 4.5 is probably larger than you need, unless you are set on 32s.

Look around, there are a ton of threads all the topics you addressed. Although I asked much the same Q's 2 1/2 years ago when I was looking to buy one. My goal was to build a rock eater, and I did not plan to drive it on the road for very long. I'm happy to say I'm pretty much there now.

01 XJ, D-44's 4.88's Detroits, 35's, 8 inch long arm, 4:1 T-case, and a lot of dents. Just finished cutting for the 37's. So far managed to keep the rubber side down and the windows in, but that could change.

Good luck.

Click to expand...

Well I plan on driving this on the road most of the time but I do want to do some trail driving. Not any hardcore rock crawling. Not really anywhere to do that around here. I really like the stance of the 4.5" lift and the 32's. I am really not looking for a headache though. I just got finished with the turbo car where I built everything myself, including all the ECU modifications and chipping. Now I am looking to get the Jeep and throw a lift on and do some mild wheelin. No more turbo headaches....unless I turbo this Jeep because I cant stop myself.

here's a few small pics of the XJ with the first lift (4.5") and the 32's. I did put on 1.5 inch rear shackles and a hocky puck above the front coils. 3/4 inch as I recall. So it was actually more than the base 4.5" lift.
http://www.tqci.net/~scot/index.html

DaffyXJ said:

here's a few small pics of the XJ with the first lift (4.5") and the 32's. I did put on 1.5 inch rear shackles and a hocky puck above the front coils. 3/4 inch as I recall. So it was actually more than the base 4.5" lift.
http://www.tqci.net/~scot/index.html

Click to expand...

And what type of driveline mods did you have to do?

CSaddict said:

1. I am looking for something with under 100k. Is one year better than another as far is lift kits, tranny strength and axles are concerned?

Click to expand...

Later year..the better.

CSaddict said:

2. I have researched lift kits a bit. I am looking at the 4.5" kits and some 32's. Besides the actual kit is there any mods that NEED to be made that the lift descriptions don't list? Pinion angle, driveshaft issues or other wise?
Can I leave the drive line alone and still run this high a kit?

Click to expand...

Best advice here.....wheel it stock height for a while, a long while, then worry about a lift.

CSaddict said:

3. I am open to Auto's or sticks. I prefer a stick. Are the autos really soft and worthless to wheel with?

Click to expand...

Good luck finding a stick in good shape...they are few and far between. The auto will be fine.

HTH

Rev

It will be lifted the first 2 weeks I own it. Im an old CJ guy. I owned 6 of them. I know already its needs some height. I am going with the 4.5 and I will drop the transfer case and shim the rear axle. I believe that will take care of the vibes from what I have been reading.

As with everything, there's always another opinion...

RockTracXJ said:

1. Not really. Try to get the Chrysler 8.25 rear axle instead of the Dana 35. With the 8.25 you won't have to worry about ABS, too.

Click to expand...

The 8.25 is generally regarded as being stronger than the D35, particularly from '97-on when they went to a 29-spline setup. What usually gives in the D35 are the halfshafts, not the differential itself - photographic evidence can be found here that illustrates the point a bit better. In any event, they are known to get flaky quite regularly if you go over 31" tires. YMMV.

ABS isn't a problem in my eyes (except for the Bendix system) - for off-road use, yank the fuse to the ABS motor and the problem's solved. The downside to ABS: if the XJ has it, it has the D35 rear. All ABS-equipped XJs used this axle.

2. Driveshaft issues will most likely need to be addressed with 4.5 of lift. You'll probably have vibes. Search on transfer case drops and pinion angles.

Click to expand...

Also search on slip yoke eliminators.

3. The XJs auto, the AW4, is generally looked upon as respectable. It works for me. I feel like I'm cheating after wheeling a stick for a couple years.

Click to expand...

I like the AW4. The engine's torquey enough that any tranny loss isn't noticeable, and only having to operate two pedals instead of three is a major plus in certain situations.

Other stuff I can think of off the top of my head:

- Rocker protection. The XJ's unit-body, so sill damage can be a lot worse than just a couple of ugly dents.

- Tow points. At least hooks front & rear; receivers would be my preference, though. If you're going to tow, plumb in a tranny cooler if it doesn't already have one.

I agree with the '97-up comments, but my personal choice would be to avoid a '97. Not that there's anything wrong with them, but they are a changeover year and have some things on them that aren't quite in line with the '91-'96 or '98-'01 models. Nothing major, but I'll let someone else field that one.

2000 and '01 models got distributorless ignition and dropped the torque peak down by 1000 RPM to (IIRC) 3950. I'm prejucided towards these years partly for those reasons, but also because those are the only two years I've owned

Lots of great info. Thanks guys. I am now considering year and lift height. If the 97-up get flacky with tires over 31 then why should I go that direction?

CSaddict said:

If the 97-up get flacky with tires over 31 then why should I go that direction?

Click to expand...

It's not the '97-up models that I was referring to, but rather the D35. Take a look here for more axle info; I really shoulda been clearer about that. Also:

Rev Den said:

Best advice here.....wheel it stock height for a while, a long while, then worry about a lift.

Click to expand...

Can't agree with that enough.

From what I've heard the 97+ has a bit stronger "frame"

But the older XJ's have a better chance of not have as bad of DS vib's when lifted, but 4.5 might be pushing it. 91+ have the High Output motors. I think that all the differences add up to very little in the over all scheme of things. It comes down to what you can find, and how much you want to pay.

.02
Daryl

I am looking to spend about $4500 on the XJ itself and about $1500 on lift, tires,and general used car repairs. Looks like 3.5 and some 31's will do. Thanks for the Tranny link. Now I know what to look for.

id get a '99, seems the best to me.

97 is my vote. New body, new interior, better fit and finish... and a High Pinion 30 front axle. Oh and its still got the traditional ignition too. In like 99 or 00 they went to that weirdo coil-less whatchamacallit. Best bang for the buck for XJ's in my humble opinion. 97 also saw over 20% more manual trannies than did the following year. And they declined each after. (cool stat I found on a jeep history site).

If you want a stick, look around, search the web. There seems to be more out West for some reason but don't give up. I replaced my '89 5 speed with a '99 5 speed last year - it took a month or so of constant searching and a few phone calls till I found the perfect XJ.

ArcticXJ said:

In like 99 or 00 they went to that weirdo coil-less whatchamacallit.

Click to expand...

Gonna hafta disagree on that one, at least as far as it being 'weird' goes.

If you've ever got a distributor cap thoroughly wet - either through inclement weather or screwing around in the wet stuff - the coil rail is a *lot* easier to deal with. It also seems to seal the spark plug holes better than the boots on plug wires do.

Just my $0.02, though.

to those saying that finding a 5spd in good shape is hard - i have this to say

for 2700 dollars I left a state surplus auction with a 95 XJ, 4.0, 5spd, abs, airbag, and one incredibly worn out am/fm radio.

the only thing worn out about the jeep was the radio (and belive me, that is long gone now thanks to the guys at best buy), I hold all the service records, and can proudly say that I am the second owner (after the state of washington that is)

now to the guy willing to put out close to 6 grand for a jeep with an auto, I will tell you that the autos at the auction were going for 4 grand - cause all the soccer moms there wanted one.

the five speed like I said cost 2700 bidding dollars. 3 grand with the loan interest - that leaves you 3 grand to invest in the lift and tires , along with any other performance mods

if you cant tell - I seriously advocate state surplus auctions.

and with all they money you saved, you could get some nice tires and wheels, all your driveshaft mods.

and then move into the engine and drivetrain performance - you're gonna need more than a k&n air filter to move larger rubbers round and round.

I'm actually looking into a edelbrock muffler, or 4whd cat back turbo exhaust, high flow cat, throttle body spacer, rock-it high flow throttle body,mallory ignition box, and a jet chip - for all my gravy performance mods, to go on top of my existing accel ignition parts and platinum plugs.

not to mention that one of the highest recomended gears for 33's is a 3.73 ratio, thats for the person with an affinity to asphalt.

and I think that all that will run under 3K with a few labor charges

my personal experiences shared

Stay away from the V6.