Lift probs....

I have a set of 31's I want to mount by using Trimming and a lift.
A lift is definatly needed as I have a 4 door and cant trim the back. Some peope have reportes Vibration and such with a 3" so Will I encounter this with a 2" or 2.5" lift? The lift will probably be home-fabbed consisting of Coil Speacers and longer Shackles. Also will this setup wear out u-joints quickly? I dont want to have to install a trans. drop.....

You'll be fine with a 2" lift, I'm not saying you will have no vibes, but they should be minor. You may have to get a longer slip yoke to reduce bind ont he u-joint.

What's your backspacing on your wheels, you may have LCA rubbing, if you use the stock 5.25".

As far as the rear trim, it's easy



I know I trmmed off the Qrt Pannel, but cut slits then pound it back with a BFH.

Do you have a better picture of that so I could se the whole wheel-well area?

Re: Rear fender triming

bah if your gonna trim the rear do it right. Take so 3/8" rod and weld it along the crease where the body starts to come out for the fender flare and then trim the inner fender till you can push it up and weld it to the rod. that's what I did on mine and it turned out pretty good (those are 31" tires)

Centrevillemx said:

Do you have a better picture of that so I could se the whole wheel-well area?

Click to expand...

I'll take a picture later tonight. The best part of the way I did it, no welding and if you do need to trim more you can. BTW it's really simple and retains the OEM Unibody structure, uh just like I did with the Qtr panel trim,

Check on www.jeepin.com

I remeber Jason had a bushwacker install and he had some really good pic's of the whole thing.

There's no need to trim more than I have, I ran a 4.5" lift with those 33's and no rubbing in the rear at all along with 4.75" BS wheels.

If you have stock rims you don't need any lift at all to run 31" tires, all you need is extended rear bump stops.

http://members.aol.com/Stvns/XJhelp2.html

Eagle, I knew it would fit without a lift but I want to still have some good suspension for crawling and trails; I'm putting the tires on for functionality and not for looks...

Not mine, but he did a fine job.

Did he just Remove the flares? Or did he remove them and cut some, then bending it back with a BFH? I need a "Street-Legal" Solution. In this horribly Liberal State (Maryland, even with a new Rep. Governer) My Tires need to be completely covered to the outside edge.

The photos show flares removed. Since he bent back beyond the mounting holes, they could not be reinstalled except by drilling new holes higher up.

The point of my post is that you if you can run 31" tires with no lift, your proposed 2" lift will be fine with no cutting. With stock rims, what hits in the rear isn't the flare or the edge of the sheet metal, it's the tire tread coming up and hitting the inside of the wheel arch. This is going to happen regardless of lift, and regardless of how much trimming you do, so you still need to extend the rear bump stops. There is no "need" to trim anything, so if your state is going to give you heartburn, why make problems for your self?

I understand this first-hand. The '88 MJ I bought used a couple of years ago was trimmed very much like the XJ in the photos (except not as neatly). I run it with 31 x 10.50s. I was pulled over by a DMV safety team and given a citation for tires extending beyond the body. I was getting ready to leave for a trip, so I had ten days to get new front fenders, paint them, install them and the flares, and have it inspected before I left.

With 31" tires on factory rims the trimming you are proposing will not add ANY functionality. Don't bother.

Eagle is right, with OEM wheels, the rear doesn't need any trimming. This is the easiest way to stay legal or move to a more conservative state that is more liberal when it comes to motor vehicles. CA has the same laws, but are cops are too busy with bigger problems.

Your options of course if you wanted to trim would be Bushwakers, Rusty's, TJ or YJ flare or relocate your OEM ones.