Looking for my first jeep(and want a lift)

hi, im 17 years old and have a 90 honda prelude, i know you guys hate rice burners but it was my first car and it was a good deal, thats why im here, i need to get rid of it because i NEED a jeep cherokee. well i dont NEED one but i want one really really bad, im bored of my honda. now i have been looking all over the place and researching things, i have read the march 2003 JP magazine at the cherokee article a bunch of times and i found out that i want a 96 cherokee automatic 4.0 4x4 4-door. i will get the skyjacker 8"lift with their slipyoke eleiminator kit. what do you guys think about this model of the jeep. one thing i read in the JP magazine that got me paranoid was the part on page 28 where they talked about some welds that have doors popping off and roofs coming loose. is that only on the 84s throught like the 91's? or did they fix that by the 96 model year? it says check seams carefully before buying. what else would i need off the bat with the skyjacker 8" lift, new driveshafts, different axles for offroading? are there other slipyoke eliminator kits? or should i just buy the skyjacker one? i dont know what i missed but im sure ill be on here alot and you guys could help AND
i like the new body styles too, but if i got the older body style, i would want the last year of it, which was 96, which one do you like better over all, and what do people do about their august99-01 cherokees? on the skyjacker site, it says that the 8" kits wont work because of a bottom drive front axle, so what do they do? because what if i find, say a 2000, thats a really good deal, should i not get it because the skyjacker kit wont work? because i know no matter what i get, i want a skyjacker 8" RR system. is skyjacker the best suspension lift out there? i dont want to start off with a small lift, im not gonna spend all that money on a lift when im gonna get an 8" eventually anyways.

SKIHIGH975 said:

hi, im 17 years old .....

because i know no matter what i get, i want a skyjacker 8" RR system. is skyjacker the best suspension lift out there?

Click to expand...

why are you asking if skyjacker is good if "no matter what" you will get it? what if people told you skyjacker is crap (some do call it skycrapper)? are you going to do any fourwheeling or just mall crawling? what size tires do you want to run?

a lot depends on how big of tires you want to run
there is a lot that goes into one with over 3" lift
steering set up,sye,cv driveshaft

8" lift= 35" tires+regearing both diffs

You can lift a 96 enough for 31s for about $300-$500 depending on what you get new or from a junk yard

For the same amount you can go high enough for 32s with a pre96

With 8" you have the cost of the lift+redoing the steering+sye+cv driveshaft+regearing the diffs
And now its time to buy tires and wheels

Are you sure your ready for all that
How much 4wheeling have you done, you may want to start small and develop a skill before you go all out. Your only 17. you've got all your life to go bigger. Think about when you are broke and you brake something on a trail, then you have to wait untill you fix it to drive it again. By not spending a lot right away you have money for repairs, upgrades, gas

Its not bad to start small, parts can be sold when you are ready to move on, or posibly even used with the next set up

Unreal

First Jeep.
Skycrapper 8".
No prior knowledge of the XJ or it's inherent offroading capabilities.
No idea what is involved with lifting a Jeep properly and all of the gremlins you WILL have to chase.
Nice knowin' ya.
You'll put your eye out.
Hasta.

We all stated somwhere. And we are more than willing to help where we can, and provide insite to our experiences where we can so that you can learn from them if you are interested.

A couple of thoughts.
Spend a lot of time on this forum, do not believe everything you read but take it all in so that you can have a good understanding of the basics (lift, gears, tires, trimming, what years what advantages).

A 8" lifted Cherokee is much more capable and safe if the person who built it started with a 3" lift and not a 8" lift.

Everyone has a opinion, get as many as you possibly can before you make a decision or spend any money!!

Michael

You have a lot of questions and I got tired of re-reading the post, so I'll just answer some of them and give some general information. First, as stated above, 8" is a huge chunk to bite off all at once when you're new to it. That said, the Skyjacker kit is fairly complete and addresses most of the major issues. Most of the guys here prefer the Rubicon Express (RE) stuff. The RE kits are fairly complete too. The newer Cherokees have worse angles for driveshafts and such, which is why you might not be able to go up to 8" without additional modifications on some model years that wouldn't be required on other years. There are only 2 versions of the slip-yoke eliminator kit really, ones that come with a HD shaft and you just swap it in, and the cheaper RE kit that you have to cut and tap. The brand of the SYE probably doesn't matter too much IMO. Don't stress too much about seams popping and all that, just make sure the doors shut properly on whatever you buy. Do you have a lot of money to throw at this? Because what you're planning will require A LOT. Try and find a Cherokee with an 8.25 rear (since you're looking at newer years) instead of a Dana 35.

ok guys thanks, i dont know what i was thinking. i wont do that much offroading, if any at that, i just want a lifted jeep because everybody around here has the imports and no modified jeeps, they are all lowrider trucks and imports. i just wanted something different. thanks for all the help, you guys really do care, your just trying to save me money and tell me whats best for me, i appreciate it. i just wanted the biggest right off the bat. i want a 96 cherokee sport 4wd 4.0 automatic, i finally decided on the RE 3.5" super-flex kit, that is in my price range and i will be more than happy with it, i wont even need to upgrade the wheels and tires. would you guys recomend getting new shocks with this lift? if so which ones and their part#'s. maybe in the future i can upgrade to the RE 5.5" XJLA extreme duty kit and get 33" tires. now im embarrassed, i sounded like a spoiled little brat. sorry guys, thanks again for everything
Ray

33" tires on a 3" lift will require a lot of cutting on the fenders. Stick with the 31" tires to start with. A 3" lift with 31" tires is cheap and doesn't require much modification. It will generally drive better on the road than a Cherokee with an 8" lift too. The SYE is still a good buy even with a 3" lift, but you can get away with a cheaper 1" transfer case drop until you get the money.

is the 96 exactly the same as the 88 cherokees? if not whats different, and yes, i will stick with the 31" and get the 3.5" RE super-flex kit.,i dont want to cut anything. whats SYE? i have to lower my transfer case with this lift?

and where can i get a bumper and brush guard like on the grand cherokee on Robicons express homepage? i really like that style, what other companies make bumpers and brushguards like that for the xj's?

SYE stands for Slip Yoke Eliminator. At 3.5", you MIGHT need an SYE or t-case drop. Try it without it first. If you get vibrations, then throw a drop or an SYE on.

I know your new to this whole thing, but if you do a search for bumpers, SYE, etc... You'll find tons of stuff that will keep you busy for days on end. When you get to specific products, then ask about the servicablity, instalation and what not. The information is already here. Have fun!

Agreed.
Sorry to be harsh, but you would be in the poorhouse trying to go from a 90 Honda to an 8" lifted XJ, or the deadhouse.
Good luck and good choice on the 3.5" super flex.
Hasta.

yeah i know, i could get $4K-$4500 for it because it is an Si and has a good honda 2.1L DOHC engine, but that will pay for tires, lift, shocks, intake an maybe exhaust on the jeep

so, what, in your opinion, is THE BEST company out there for xj suspension lifts? there are so many, i just picked up the september 2003 issue of Petersons 4-wheel and Offroad mag and see a bunch of different companys, so far i like RE, but thought skyjacker seemed good but why do some people call it skycrapper? some companies that i saw were: Rough Country, Superlift, RE, Skyjacker, RockKrawler, but whats the best. and what are some of the places online that you guys like the most, and that carry RE lifts?

it dosent matter what the best is you are not going offroad and your only putting 31 under it
justget the cheapest 1.5 shackle with a 2 inch adaleaf and some 3.5 coils. You are getting to involved for not being a 4 wheeler.

This is good stuff!!! :bs:

You'll need new tires

If you go with the RE 3.5" kit you'll definitely need new tires to fill up the wheel wells. If not you're gonna look like you're riding around on donut spares. My first lift was a 3" Skyjacker kit. It did ok but the leafs in the back sagged a bit in a couple of years. Their trackbar and disconnects are for sh*t. I replaced them both with JKS units and swapped out the rear springs for some RE 4.5" with ORGS shackles. I added ACOS to the front 3" skyjacker coils to level things out. As far as shocks go you can't beat Old Man Emu. When I swapped them from the Skyjackers the ride difference was incredible. You're making a good choice getting an XJ, just take some time and do the research before laying out the cash. Good luck.

I know your intentions, but what is your budget?

In My Very Humble Opinion, there are currently three mfg's. out there that are worth doing business with when it comes to the XJ.

Rubicon
Rusty's
Off-Road General Store

If your doing it purely for form to pick up the ladies and make your homies jealous at the local "fast & furious" drag strip, go straight to a 4.5" lift with 31's mounted on an 8" rim with 4" backspacing. It will look good and still drive good on the highway. Lifting a XJ causes vibes, which a Slip Yoke Eliminator (SYE) will eliminate, most of the time. You may be able to get away with a transfer case lowering kit until you can afford to install a SYE. Do a search on SYE's and read up on the why's. You'll have to beat the tenderonies away and the boys will be hangin' their heads in shame with this set-up.

Ignore some of the juvenile posts your going to get about not wheelin' your XJ if your going to mod it. To each his own!


Flowers

So you like Rusty's.....but Old Man Emu is not worth mentioning?
What color is the sky in your world?