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More lift really worth it!?

N

Nickster

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Charlotte, NC
So quick story...my first jeep was a 04 wrangler rubicon. ABSOLUTELY LOVED it..all i did was a 3 inch BDS lift w/ 33's and the thing went anywhere and everywhere...beat the $H!T outta it and never a problem. (too high payments so i sold it). Last year i got my first xj (01). Got a RK 8'' LA kit, LP 9'' rear, HP d44 up front, Detroit auto in rear, 5.13's, nice high steer setup w/ dedenbear knuckles and parts mike high steer arms, etc. Long story short, i had endless problem. DW, TC cracked, tranny slipped (so i sold it before it went), etc. (spare the you didnt install your shiz correctly stuff.)So, im buying another xj (96-99, auto, 4.0l) and i was planning on just doing a 3.5 RE super ride w/ 31's, stock gears and axles. My question is, for those of you who went small (2-3 inches), then went bigger (above 4''), was it really worth it IYO (money wise, streetability, and maintenance, for the boost in offroad performance? Im not into the serious stuff like i use to be but i still wanna wheel it through the "small stuff" and have a nice handling, reliable DD. Sorry for long post and thanks in adv. for the replies!
 
You might consider just trimming and go with larger tires. I know of a few people with great success with 3.5" and 33's. Non-stick was definately one of them. I wheeled with him for quite a while until he parted paths with his xj and he went all over. (kinda reminded me of a slug though....had a ton of armor on his rig and humped more rocks than crawled, but that's cool too)

So maybe just don't go large, stay small?

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  • I wouldn´t go any bigger than 31" for a DD, but that´s because I drive about 100 miles per day - so I´ve got a DD on 30" and a trail rig on 35".
  • A XJ w/ a nice lift on 31" tires, locked, disconnected can do a lots of trails and when properly armored should also take a beating
  • I´d buy a 3.5" RE kit, 31" MT tires, get a 8.25 axle from the junk yard, ZJ disc brakes, Detroit Locker rear, ARB or lunch box locker front, some skidplates, tow points, replace rocker with square tubing and call it a day - that should give you a good DD and a capable trail rig. Slap a roof rack and some additional lights on for these longer trips.
 
i started at 2" on BFG 30's - it was not enuff clearance to give me a "warm n fuzzy" feeling and i shyed away from some obstacles. so i went to 3.0 then to 4.5 on 31's. going to 4.5 was cheap b/c i used spacers/shackles so it was worth the piece of mind, tho really at 3" w/ 31's i could have a good time.

imho 31's w/ an auto n stock gears (3.55) will do you well as a DD while 3-4" lift will get you thru most of the fun obstacles. add a no-slip locker to the rear and u are the business :)
 
Just Go with the 4.5" With 32" tires. It will save you the trouble in the future when you decide to go bigger.

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So this is more an opinionated question, but relatively how much more sluggish is the 4.0l power with 32's. Is is like goin from a 6cyl to a 4cyl or not too bad? Id rather not go to 33's with stock gears and axles, and im sure the tranny wont like it. Hell ill just get the 4.5 kit and start with 31's no trim. When i get more money ill do axles, gears, lockers, and bigger tires. Anyone got pics of a 4.5 lift with 31's?
 
You won't see a power problem persay with 32's and 3.55's and a 4.0.. but your gas mileage will SUCK. You can get up to a 30% gain in mpg by going to 4.56's with 32's.. not to mention not frying your trans (which will happen with bigger tires and stock gears). With 3.55's and 32's, I got about 13 mpg. With 4.56 gears and 32's, I got 20.

I'd do the RE 4.5" lift only because its *far* more complete, but if you add extended brake lines, trackbar, upper control arms and a MJ shackle to the 3.5" lift (the shackle so it flexes a bit) it would be fine.
 
Nickster said:
So this is more an opinionated question, but relatively how much more sluggish is the 4.0l power with 32's. Is is like goin from a 6cyl to a 4cyl or not too bad? Id rather not go to 33's with stock gears and axles, and im sure the tranny wont like it. Hell ill just get the 4.5 kit and start with 31's no trim. When i get more money ill do axles, gears, lockers, and bigger tires. Anyone got pics of a 4.5 lift with 31's?
Click to expand...

Im not sure what you're asking but I think you are asking if anyone has gone from a taller vehicle with bigger tires to a shorter one with smaller tires.
I have, but not to the extreme that you have. I had a YJ with 4.5" lift and 33" swampers, now I off road an XJ with 3" and 31s. When I first took the XJ on the trail, I seemed to scrape it over and got hung up on everything. I got used to the new clearances in no time though. I also gave up lockers when I went to the XJ. That probably hurt worse than lossing the height.
All in all, I havent looked back because I still have as much fun off roading as I did and the trip to and from the trail is alot nicer.
The truth is that an XJ with 3.5" and 31s probably has as much, if not more, clearance under the belly as a Rubi with 4" on 33s, you just have to pay closer attention to your diffs.
 
Nickster said:
An xj with 3.5'' lift and 31's has as much clearance as a rubicon with 4'' lift and 33's???
Click to expand...

Sure, check out the clearance under the t-case crossmember of a stock XJ vs. a stock Rubi or TJ.
 
I have a hybrid 4" lift and I am running 31's with no rub or trimming. I just ordered 33's. I am just going to trim. I like the lower center of gravity.
 
I just looked it up because I wasnt positve of the numbers myself.
Stock XJ = 10.6", stock Rubi = 8.8".
The XJ starts off nearly 2" higher in the middle than a Rubi and only has 28" tires.
 
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An example of why lift it? The whole point of a lift kit is for tire clearance - it does very little for the lowest object on the vehicle - the differential. Only big tires really give lift in that area, and if you're gonna crawl, you have to clear the diff.

Older jeepers remember that we always tried to avoid humpin anything because no skids were available - so we worked trails from side to side and kept clearance under the tranny. I understand that's not so cool today, and I see why, but it's still a valid technique when you can - just like limiting where you go because you have no lockers.

Anyway, I see trimming the fenders as a lot cheaper than a $2000 kit - and the ride is just as fun - especially since you now have that to budget toward making it an all-around vehicle. Like adding a winch, lockers, air, etc. which will get you out of things a lot more securely.

The old saying still holds - 4WD will always take you 100 yards further than it will get you out, to which I add, every inch of lift is another inch deeper than you really meant to go.

And you still have to clear the diffs to get out.
 
i had the same questions about a year ago and i think i currently have a great setup that drives great and does trails pretty well.

I went with the RE 3.5 OME shocks(Long travel)
TnT trac bar
bfg 31s
rear arb and stock gears to save coin
jks supernerfs
JB SYE and TW cv shaft.

For the perfect daily driver i would regear to 4.10 on 31s, but i plan on going bigger some day so i dont want to regear twice.

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/[email protected]/#page1

mines the black one with the rack

good luck
 
I have the RE3.5 w/ 33's and lockers on an stock drivetrain. I don't notice a real loss of power but the gas mileage does suck. I have an axle in the garage that will be getting 4:56 gears to remedy that. I love my setup. I can't run every trail out there, but I can do most of them without too many issues. I may go to 35's but that would require many more mods I really don't want to do just yet. I am actually leaning toward sheetmetal mods to make them fit instead of suspension mods.
 
Always remember that your build up should also depend on your wheeling opportunities. Theres no reason to build a monster if all you do are forest roads or beaches.
For instance, Ive got to drive at least three hours to get to any trails that a lifted and locked vehicle is needed, and then its an off road park with a good choice of easy and intermediate trails. In short, I dont need a rig on 35s for anything nearby. I can have alot more fun on 31s and not have to travel a whole day to do it. By going bigger, I just limit the number of local challenging off roading opportunities.
 
Thanks for all the replies...im just gonna get the 4.5 RE kit and start with 31's. When i save up ill get the axles, lockers, gears, etc and ill still have enough lift for 33's minor trimming. Im sure this has been well covered but how complete is the RE kit? or will i have to get anything else other than DS/SYE.
 
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