xj needs new shoes

ok guys, before you peg me as a newbie, i'm not. i've read quite abit on here,ran the search before i asked questions(one of the reasons i don't have many posts).i have a 1996 xj sport, with 4.0/aw4/d30/crappy35/3.55:1gears , have a 68mm throttlebody,2inch spacer,k&n coldair intake,dynomax headers and exhaust(the thing screws) . right now i'm running a 2 inch bb on my xj with 30 bfg at's. i'm leaving in the last week of july to head to washington state(from the east coast) soi do have a deadline to try to beat, knowing me the jeep will be finished the night before i leave. now i live in one of those craapy new england state with crappy lift laws(4 inches here in RI). so i don't really want to go over it.....much maybe 5 inches tops. i'm looking to run at least a 33 inch tire maybe bigger if i can stuff it underthere. so i figured on using tj flares to help a bit. i will be carrying a load of stuff. front bumper with winch, rear tire carrier with twin j-cans, since i'll be pretty low i'll skidplate the hell out of it. plus the 2 kayaks and 2 bikes and other gear. most likely around 300 to 350 pounds total. on the bumpers i am trying to watch the weight. along with tire weight. guess the big question i'm looking for an answer for is spring rate. stiff springs don't bother me anfter all it is a station wagon version of a truck(besides that's what suspension seats are for) does anyone know a decent lift with a high spring ratein the height range i'm looking for? i'm working on a budget around 6500 total, which will have to include shipping. i need a lift,tires,front and rear bumpers. most likely a SYE and shaft. going to upgrade to a 8.25 rear. and i want to use a grand for a lil internal engine work. already looked in RE too much money for my budget unless i go AAL, i do have new HD springs in the rear.anyoter ideas? i thought of rustys but i do have a time limit and need to get this thing together. damn i'm confused!:smoker:

well its now june 3rd lift kit takes maybe what a day to 2 days to install or longer depending on if shit breaks. Bumpers take at most a day of course unless shit breaks. Uh unless the 8.25 is what you have now id say screw that and just get a 44 although that 8.25 housing is beefy as hell. Since you have little less then 2 months id say get stuff ordered and get working it should take that long.

i'd look into some DPG stuff. you may end up peiceing together a lift kit, but if you give dirk a call he could probably build you just the kit you are looking for. he knows his stuff really well too. http://dpgoffroad.com/

Well....Instead of spending that $1000 on internal engine work, ide get an 8.25 or dana44 if you can and REGEAR! 3:55s and 33s isnt a very nice combo, especially on in automatic. As for lift, ide look at rustys. I know they ahve a pretty heavy duty spring, its just a time thing with them. No matter what, with a front winchbumper/winch, your going to see some sag eventually. When you do, order the JKS adjustable spacers. They give you something like 1 1/4 inches of lift, but you can get as much as 3 out of them. Just my 2 cents